Recently I decided to try doing some meal prep. I had a few mishaps, but yesterday I finally had a success. So I decided I'd write a bit of general advice about what I actually tried and what worked for me, because I saw so many guides that were either way too complicated for an amateur like me, or were just so specific it was hard to apply any of it to what I wanted to cook. This guide is meant to be helpful to amateurs like me, not pros who already know what they're doing.

The Deets:

Planning

First of all, choose a recipe. I chose a one-pot classic chicken and rice recipe because it sounded tasty and wasn't too hard to make. But as a rule, you could choose pretty much anything that

• reheats well
• is easy to make a lot of (like soup or other one-pot things)
• most importantly, is a food you like!

I decided to double up the chicken and rice recipe so I could have it for lunch all week. 

I also decided to roast some carrots and zucchini as a low cal side dish, but that's optional.

Shopping

Another reason I chose the recipe that I did is that it used a lot of things I already have at home- like chicken breast, chicken broth (I use powdered bullion), and rice. That way, I don't need a million different ingredients around taking up space. 

So, I went to the store to get the few things I still needed. One big benefit of cooking something big at the start of the week is that you can buy things in bulk. For example, I was able to use a big bag of frozen carrots because it was a better price than buying fresh carrots.

Because I don't remember the price of the ingredients I already had at home, I don't have the math done on how much each serving cost. But it was probably cheaper than cooking one day at a time, so just trust me on that.

Cooking

"The recipe is more what you'd call guidelines, than actual rules."

-Captain Barbossa, Pirates of the Caribbean 3

Cooking began smoothly, until I realized I forgot to buy the parsley. So I just left it out. Oh well.

Apart from that, I just followed the recipe. (Mostly, and I'll explain later.) 

Because I'm not new to cooking, only new to meal prepping, I already knew how to do everything like cutting up the vegetables and "sweating" (yes, that's the real word for it!) the celery+onion+carrots. But if you ever see something in a recipe you aren't sure how to do, Youtube is a great tool for learning terms like that. 

Once you have some more experience of how cooking works, you can make some minor edits to the recipe. For example, you could substitute chicken thighs instead of chicken breast in a lot of recipes, but not all. I'll definitely do that next time, chicken breast is just too dry if you simmer it. You can usually get away with changing the types and amounts of spices. After you make a few mistakes you'll learn what you can and can't switch out. Like cooked-yesterday rice vs fresh cooked rice. Completely different beasts.

Anyways, because this post is meant to be more of advice than a strict how-to, I won't go too far into specifics. 

Packaging

Once you're done cooking, the next step is packaging. There are 3 main types of package, bags, disposable tupperwares and reusable tupperwares. I chose disposable tupperwares and regretted it, but here's the reasons you might want each of those.

Bags

Freezer (not storage!!!) ziplocs or vaccum bags are 2 good options. 

The pros are that they're cheap, they don't take up much space empty, and you can reheat a bunch at a time by dunking them in hot water.

The cons are that they can be harder to pack, especially vacuum bags, they're a little more prone to leaking, and you can't really eat out of them without a plate or bowl or something. 

Disposable Tupperwares

You can either re-use yogurt-type containers or get them from the store. 

The pros are that you can throw them away when you're done, and they're easier to pack and eat out of than bags.

The cons are that because they're so cheap they break easily, which is why I regretted using them.

Reusable Tupperwares

Glass or plastic reusable containers are good choices. This is what I'd recommend.

The pros are that you can re-use them which is good for saving money, and that they're easy to pack and eat out of without a plate. 

The cons are that you have to lug them around and wash them, cowabummer! And you have to buy them in the first place, which can be expensive for high quality containers.

Storing

Your 2 options are fridge or freezer. It's a pretty simple choice, and you can always move things from fridge to freezer.

Most food lasts a week or so in the fridge, so if you're just packing lunches for this week, you're golden to put the food there. That way you don't risk freezerburn or anything.

If you want the food to stay good longer, then it's best to put it in the freezer. If you're putting a bunch of containers in the freezer all at once, let them cool down in the fridge first. That way, the hot food won't melt the other things in the freezer. In the freezer, things usually last about 3 months. They're still safe after that, but they might not taste as good or have a good texture.

Questions?

If you think I missed anything, or you want to know more about any part of what I did, or you just want to tell me how awesome I am for writing this post, just write it in the comments and I'll answer ASAP.