January 30, 2014
Ok, so I have gotten several emails from people asking what food prep I am doing with this new eating thing. So here are a few ideas.
1. Get a picnic bag you can carry to work. Yes, not a “lunch bag” those are too small. The company I got mine from is here.
2. Buy a ton of sandwich bags.
3. Multitask
Ok, so under this “Multitask” is where I get my food prep done. So usually when I am getting the kids ready for school is when I get my prep done. Sometimes it is Sunday night. I typically make food for 2nd breakfast and 2nd lunch only right now. Eventually I will “move up” to carrying lunch as well. One step at a time though… So My “plan” for 2nd breakfast (assumes I have worked out between first breakfast and second breakfast), so it will have:
2x hard boiled eggs
1.5x bacon (lean)
greek yogurt w/ fruit
fruit
bread
some peanut butter
And second lunch will have something like:
Nuts
cheese sticks OR Greek Yogurt w/ Fruit
fruit
How do I prepare it? It’s actually amazingly easy and fast – which is key for my hyper-lifestyle.
Hard Boiled Eggs – we buy those (well, my wonderful wife does, like magic they show up!) so I take two and put them in a baggy… repeat 5x. Done for the week~ 1 week done in 30seconds.
Bacon – Precooked (Costco or somesuch? again my wonderful wife handles that magic), so I just pull out 1.5 strips and wrap them in a paper towel, nuke them for 20seconds and then toss it into a baggy. Repeat 5x. DONE! 1 week done in 1.5minutes.
Peanut butter requires celery as a carrier. So I cut up a whole stalk of celery. Wash it off, hack off the ends like a samarai warrior (battle cry optional, especially if everyone else isn’t up for the morning) and then slice them up. Takes MAYBE 2.5minutes and then baggy them all up. Then I take a few baggies and apply peanut butter inside the groove and toss 2-4 chunks into each baggy. Repeat 5x. DONE!
Greek Yogurt w/ fruit – that’s store bought. DONE!
Fruit – we have choices here. Either pre-peel some oranges (for no-muss no-fuss eating in the car, office, etc) or grab a bag of apple slices. DONE! Peeling 5 oranges takes about 2.5 minutes.
Bread – right now I’m using wheat gold fish. .5oz on the food scale, it’s about 30 which is about a handful. So I pull out 5 bags, put in 1 handful each and then measure. Adjust as needed. DONE! under 1 minute.
Nuts – not doing this right now but will be adding. With bags and food scale, this will be easy too.
BONUS FOOD: I usually grab a cucumber, samurai off the ends and then use the magic peeler to remove the outside. Cut it into half. Baggy each half. These don’t last more than 2 days, so I only do 1 cucumber at a time.
Now remember, everyone’s needs are different, so don’t just copy this! Do you have my body? My awesome cholesterol? my workout schedule? And the rest of my eating for the day? No. This is only a part of a much bigger picture.
More as I continue the journey. Any other tips for speedy food prep for mobile-meals? Please comment below!
This is what I struggle with the most. So going healthy on these meals is HUGE for me. Lunch is my second challenge, we’ll talk about that next time!