What is this meal prep meme that is sweeping the normies

Better than eating shit fast food because you have no time to cook.

>Work 14 hours, get 6 hours of sleep
same here
>work 16 hours
>16 bux an hour
>no OT
>AG trucker
>get 5 hours of sleep because i lift
I thought Lincoln abolished slavery. reeee

All of this. Wageslaves who like to cook come up with the bright idea that they can spend part of their weekend making food in advance for most of the workweek. Which isn't so bad if you don't mind eating leftovers of the same thing day after day. Alternately you can learn ways to transform each night's dinner leftovers into lunch the next day with a few minutes' effort the next day (leftover rice becomes fried rice, leftover pasta becomes a frittata, leftover meat/fish and potatoes becomes a salad). But that requires more effort and creativity than just making a bunch of the same thing portioned out on Sunday afternoon.

>works this much, sleep this little and still lifts

you sir, are a better man than most of us

I don't understand meal prep. it's like people do it to avoid the 'chore' of cooking. I don't understand how cooking a simple, tasty and relatively healthy meal isn't an absolute joy to do every day.

>buy meat/veg in large enough quantities as to be economical
>cook them before they go bad
>eat leftovers the day after

its that easy

It's real food that's grab and go, that's the appeal. Most people can't double-down on "the joy of cooking" due to time constraints and responsibility.

>Do I feed and walk my dogs or make a delicious from scratch chicken alfredo.

>Should I change my baby's diaper or roll this dough for a chicken pot pie.

Clearly you have very limited responsibility in life.

Or he likes cooking more than he likes dogs.

Then he should cook the dogs.

>Everything I don't understand is a meme

personally, I like cooking but I very much value my time and hate, *hate*, how much time it takes to cook, and how much time it takes to clean up afterwards.

Why not clean up as you cook to avoid having to deal with it afterward. There's always some time while you're waiting for a pan to heat up, a pot to get to a boil, etc. Use that time to clean up.

>Most people can't double-down on "the joy of cooking" due to time constraints and responsibility.
That's a choice. You choose to watch TV or shitpost online instead of cooking. Responsibility has nothing to do with it. For most people responsibility just means embracing a shit set of priorities in hopes it will somehow pay off for them and/or their family. If you're eating grim food it's not really paying off, is it?

careful user. you are triggering a lot of literal slaves with that one

meal prepping is pretty much just what we call "making your own damn work lunch" nowadays. If you have a normal office job you'll soon realize that lunch is a big expense (~$12) if you're eating out every day so the obvious answer is to make it yourself, and doing one big "meal prep" for the week is the logical way to do it if you're too lazy to make your lunch every day. In terms of the concept's "sweeping" of the normies - that's just social media propagating an idea that everyone can relate to

>Responsibility has nothing to do with it.

it sure does, but as you said it's a choice and you get to chose your responsibilities to a certain degree. If you sign up for something that you know is going to take every ounce of waking time you have, it's going to be hard to cook.

and then you sometimes dont have a choice too.

>That's a choice.

This. It's all about priorties. Personally I think that preparing yourself proper meals is nearly as high a priority as it gets. It's certainly more important than luxuries or recreational activitites like pets, watching TV/movies, shitposting online, video games, sports, etc. Since diet is directly tied to both your health and your budget I have a hard time thinking of anything that's more important. Basic hygiene is really the only thing that comes to mind.

That doesn't mean you have to go nuts and cook yourself 5-course gourmet meals 3 times a day. But preparing wholesome meals is pretty high priority IMHO.

gonna lose your good boy points if you keep shitposting, user. how will you get your extra tendies, then?

Is meal prep really such a new thing to you guys? Have you never eaten leftovers in your whole life, or made lunch for later? Never prepared food and packed it for a picnic? Never eaten half of something, then eaten the other half the next day?
This is like those memes where people mock white people for "discovering" things later than literally everyone else.

All of those things you mention are perfectly normal. Everyone eats leftovers, makes larger meals expecting there will be some left for the next day, or prepares a bag lunch for work or food for a picnic.

But prepping and packaging the exact same meal in large quantities many days in advance? That's 'tism right there.

I can't make a small batch of pasta sauce. That's why I have a freezer.

I bet you have a different flavour of toothpaste for each day of the week.

...

>*hate*, how much time it takes to cook
A lot of good food takes time to make. If you want delicious, healthy food on a budget you have to put the time in cooking it. The same way if you want to stay strong and fit you have to work out if your job isn't physically demanding. And you have to go to work in the first place. And you have to shower, shit and do everything else you might not feel like doing. But if you cut corners on cooking you're really just screwing yourself, because you're the one who has to eat it.

What does that have to do with "prepping" like OP's pic?

When you make a big batch of pasta sauce do you pre-measure it out into a dozen little containers, each with its own serving of pre-cooked pasta that you will eat according to an exact pre-planned schedule?

Or do you just store any leftovers you end up with and re-purpose them for other dishes or eat them randomly as you feel like it, perhaps freezing some for long-term storage?

A lot of delicious healthy cooking can be done with minimal effort. There might be some hands-off time involved while the food cooks, but that's hardly effort on the cook's part.

>If you sign up for something that you know is going to take every ounce of waking time you have, it's going to be hard to cook.
No one does that. Thinking like this is just advertising telling you you're too busy to cook so you'll buy some sort of convenience food. I get that some folks have a lot less free time than others (like working parents), but almost no one has every waking hour booked, and those who do are either mentally ill or very bad at managing their time.
>you sometimes dont have a choice too.
You ALWAYS have choices. They might not seem like good choices because of whatever situation you've managed to get yourself into, but there are always choices.
This is how I cook. If you manage time in the kitchen well you might spend an hour cooking, but the meal will consist of three or four different dishes.

>pan literally heats up in 1 minute
>not doing your mis-en-place while water is coming to a boil
>not exactly syncing your differents pots and pans to be ready at the same time

I hate the clean-up afterwards, I try to do some basic cleaning during, but damn those dishes. I came to accept that the dishes are an equally important part of cooking. Still wish I had someone to do them for me though

Are you suggesting that you can't fit both mise en place AND cleanup into your waiting time?

>not exactly syncing your differents pots and pans to be ready at the same time
What does that have to do with anything? Of course you do that when you cook. Buy why would that prevent from from cleaning as you go?

Sounds like you're making excuses user.

it's great when you want to eat healthy and cheap with minimal time investment. for many people, food is more than calories, but i'm mostly about efficiency so taste/texture is not a large concern of mine. it takes a lot of the effort out of unwinding after a work day.
recently, i've been taking myself out to a nice restaurant every other weekend to spice up my food life, this has been more than enough for me but ymmv

good man
try to make sure you sleep enough. you'll want to live long enough to see the gains from your gainz.

Drop the cash on a dishwasher. Fucking game changer. At the end of the night just take everything from the sink, load it in, push a button and you're done. The couple things you dirtied that shouldn't go in the dishwasher can be cleaned in under a minute.

*eat healthily

>taste/texture is not a large concern of mine.
Plenty of folks eat a turkey sandwich on white bread every fucking day. Whatever works. I made my choices so I make a little less money than I could, but have more leisure time than most. I spend a good chunk of that cooking because I like it and it allows me to eat veryfuckingwell for very little $$.

This. I put my dirty cookware directly into the dishwasher as I cook. At the end of my meal I put my dirty plates & silverware in there too, then run it.

Wash my good knife and cutting board by hand, then that's it. Done with very little effort.

And dishwashers don't have to be expensive. When I moved into my current house, 16 years ago, I bought the 2nd cheapest model I could get. So far it's still running great. The only problem with it is a little rust here and there on the rack inside but that doesn't harm anything.

Re-purpose. Making a meal plan for a week or so doesn't really rub me the wrong way. I don't diet because I'm a skinny fuck already, but I see no harm in properly cooked portioned meals. Like what the fucking issue?

Lets say your a registered nurse working 70 hour week. On your one or two days off you make a pile of meals so you can wake up, take a shower and then go to work with a properly cooked meal. Maybe a coffee and some crackers. What the fuck is the problem with that?

>Like what the fucking issue?
Prepping many of the ingredients in advance harms their quality. Why slice veggies days in advance so they will dry out instead of slicing them the day of? That kind of thing.

It's also autismo central to assemble identical-looking perfectly portioned meals with no variety.

>>nurses
Gordon Ramsay did a great episode on that. In less time than it took for one nurse to go out and get takeaway and bring it back he and other other nurses made a fully from-scratch meal in the breakroom.

That would require prep and is completely unsanitary for a hospital setting. Yeah bring some raw meat on to the oncology floor, great idea.
>Using Ramsay as an argument.

I was suggesting the prep at home.

The only reason why I mentioned the Ramsay thing was to illustrate that it doesn't take as long as people think to prepare fresh food. Sure, a noob might not be that fast but with a little practice it can be. I'm no pro chef but I have no problem making a wholesome meal quicky.

As for the "unsanitary in a hospital setting": Why is it OK to eat there but not to cook there? That seems a bit backwards. I'm not worried about contamination regarding food going into a hot skillet & being fully cooked. I'd be a lot more concerned about random infection just walking around and touching things in the hospital. If the nurses are there for 70 hrs/wk then potential contamination from cooking is the least of their worries. Touching a door handle is a fuck of a lot larger risk than putting some food in a hot pan.

NBM, many patients have it. Laying in a bed with a "nothing by mouth" diagnosis while somebody is cooking chicken two rooms away isn't just rude, it's cruel. That's why doctors and nurses leave to eat.

Standard procedure

I've never worked in a hospital, but are breakrooms and such really that close to patient's rooms?

In every job I've ever worked you could never smell anything being heated in the breakroom from the normal customer-centric or office areas of the building.

At night, no, most doors are closed. During the day, yes.

Also I guess it depends on the layout of the hospital.

It's called time management, you nigger.

I worked in a hospital for many years.

More often than not the "break room" is nothing larger than a closet with a fridge. Due to staffing requirements you're expected to have your food on the floor while watching your patients.

You mean meal planning? A lot of adults do that, sweetie.

I have a 3 year old child and another on the way. Cooking something good for my family and watching them enjoy it such a satisfaction that doesn't get old. it *is* my responsibility so responsibility doesn't get in the way. cooking is fun because doing my responsibilities well is fun.

Thanks, Regular Joe.

>user can't afford to spend 30 minutes cooking
>still finds time to post on the burmese mcchicken subreddit
Incredible.

Holy fuck lads, get a smaller apartment, move the fuck out of the city, divorce your wife or SOMETHING, cause that is a shit life. I literally fell fucking sad rn after reading that.

it's a shame the build quality of appliances is nowhere near as good today as it was 15-16 years ago. you're lucky if you get a 2 year guarantee as standard with a dishwasher/washing machine/fridge in 2017. usually try and rope you in to a monthly protection plan

Enjoying your shit life, cuck?

I only prep food that can be re-heated at home like making large amounts of rice/chili etc, I don't like eating microwave heated food and whatnot

Fuck off, normie

This. No one says anyone has to work 14-16 hour days. I know guys on Wall St who have days like that, but they pull down high six or seven figures, so I get it. Pays for their places in the Hamptons. But if you're not making that kind of bank why do that to yourself?

>The only reason why I mentioned the Ramsay thing was to illustrate that it doesn't take as long as people think to prepare fresh food.
Ramsay whipping out an already sharpened chef's knife and cutting up some vegetables and chicken that an intern bought for him after years working in kitchens is not the same as a non-chef planning a menu, buying fresh ingredients in one-person lots every day or two, and doing this consistently for long enough to make it a habit.

>I'm proud of my mental illness
Fucking snowflake.

The idea is that you make dinner, but there is leftovers, so you divide the leftovers into containers, and then use them.
Its the kind of thing, that makes a lot of sense when you live alone, because it removes the restriction on meal size, and by proxy: Amount of ingredients you can use

The failure version is that you make a large meal, and then don't eat it, and just divide it. But at the least it saves you the hassle of buying lunch, which is actually a big improvement.
And thats also ignoring repurpose of leftovers: Tomato sauce can be used for a pizza, rice can be used for almost anything, a lot of meat can be seasoned after cooking and reused.

it's cuz everyone these days is perma single and too poor to have a family, so they live alone, and it's not worth it to cook every day if you're only cooking for one person.

I used to have a "prep day" on my weekends where I'd make like a pot of soup, some kind of protein like some roast chicken, then prep up some vegetables and rice or pasta so that when I got home from work I could whip up a dinner without a lot of time or mess.

How so? Keeping a knife sharp is not hard, it's normal. Any anyone can read a recipe, buy the ingredients, and execute said instructions. They might be slightly slower at it than Ramsay is because of the difference in experience, but it's not as if anyone is going to be making really complex dishes that require fancy knife skills for an everyday lunch.

I prepare all my meals for the week on sundays because I'm extremely lazy. Also buying stuff in bulk is less expensive. I'd rather spend an hour cooking 10 meals on sundays and then not have to do anything for the whole work week than cook everyday. I only do it for monday to friday though, I usually eat at restaurants on the week end

That's not "meal prep".

"Meal prep" is when autists carefully measure out ingredients in advance and assemble many identical-looking containers to eat from later in the week. It's got nothing to do with "leftovers".

You're not describing "prepping". You're just talking about normal use and re-purposing of leftovers.

>Keeping a knife sharp is not hard, it's normal.
So's changing your car's oil and replastering holes in the wall, and almost nobody can do either.

You need to watch someone who can't cook trying to learn. You'll be amazed and delighted by the ways in which they fail. For example, my housemate just destroyed a rice cooker by taping down the button because "it wouldn't stay on and I thought that's what you were meant to do".

I've taught many beginners to cook, user. Your example seems cherry-picked to be unusually bad.

Anyone can follow a cook-along video.

>leftover meat/fish and potatoes becomes a salad
>leftover meat/fish becomes a salad
>leftover meat/fish salad
gag me with a spoon desu

Everyone can do those things, but few bother to do so.

That's irrelevant in a discussion of people talking about cooking for themselves because it's already assumed the person has the motivation to do so.

It's not even "priorities". I can make a whole bunch of nice stuff over a weekend, throw it all in the freezer, and have pretty good meals for a few weeks. Then I have plenty of time to do other things like waste time here on Veeky Forums telling idiots about cooking stuff ahead of time.

Are you the same guy hating on the 14hr/day user? I don't know his work schedule, but I still hit the 40hrs/wk mark working 12 to 14 hour days, and it means that after I do my work at the start of the week, I have nothing but leisure time on my days off to devote myself to things that a lot of people could not, because I have both a lot of free time and a lot of money to spend. If you hate your job then those few days are hell but I enjoy what I do, so it works out.

>Works 14 hours
>6 hours of sleep
>Then back to work

Hmm something doesn't seem right here user.

I prefer normalniggers desu

...

The proper with this bullshit comes to health. I'm pretty well versed about the interactions of food and health since it's my job but let me tell you something, the key here is VARIETY.

V A R I E T Y

If your meals are the same, or with a little variation here and there, on a daily basis you're fucking screwed. Period. Even if your meal is "healthy" from your whatever uneducated standards it doesn't mean shit. If you don't eat varied you might as well eat fast-food,

Man doesn't die, man kill himself.

>*problem

You're a fucking retard

You're a fucking retard

As a nurse who prepares my own food for night shift, I'll say that it's about 50/50, but it is honestly doable or I wouldn't be doing it. It's just a hassle and Gordon walks on-set in front of the cameras to make a fresh meal instead of walking off a 12-hour shift of dealing with patients. I can't speak for any other specialty in healthcare, but as someone who works geri psych I'll tell you that the job is draining as fuck, from the patients who are one step from falling and breaking a hip to the psychiatrists who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground when dealing with old people medical problems. Point is the job is draining when you're on a stretch of nights.

It's still easily doable if you have some forward planning, even if you don't make a large batch of something to take for 2-3 nights in a row. I typically make my meals during my last off day going into my first night or work, when I have the most energy and can best plan out something I can stand eating for 3 days straight. A lot of my coworkers make the mistake of budgeting their time to cook as before they go to bed after work, instead of waking up earlier to make the meals when well-rested. People are stupid.

Hey guys I hate cooking what should I do

As long as you get your nutrients you will provide for your physiological needs, but there is something to be said for what it does to mentally when every meal is the same shit every time. That's why I don't think that's a problem for most anyone because nobody but the most autistic fuck is going to sit there boiling 10 pounds of chicken for the 50th time and think "yes I'm just going to eat this and this only, I am satisfied with this."

Mix the leftovers with some leaves you like and maybe some veggies that work well raw. Make a nice vinaigrette in a small container. When lunchtime comes pour vinaigrette over container of salad. If there's enough in the way of protein and potatoes it will be a legit meal.
I wasn't hating on anyone, just pointing out that working a 14-16 hour day is a choice. So is working a job you hate. Maybe you have great motivation - maybe your family is poor and it's on you to claw them out of poverty. Maybe your other options are worse. Whatever. My point is no one has to work a day like that - they choose to for whatever reasons.

>carefully measure out ingredients in advance and assemble many identical-looking containers to eat from later in the week
I think you're confusing pictures from blogposts and social media with what people are actually doing.

If they're weren't actually doing it then why are there photos of it?

Normal people pack leftovers or re-purpose them for other things.

Spergs "meal prep" like the OP pic.

Why do you care what shit other people do in their own kitchen, if you don't like it then don't do it.

No one meal preps because they want to

>if you don't like it then don't do it.

Obviously. But aren't you ever curious how and why other people do things? How are you supposed to learn if you don't do that?

food doesn't keep it's tasty long enough to do this. especially rice, you live it alone for an hour and it's dry.

I just don't think it's helpful to tease people for being organised with their food. Nothing wrong with it.

Normal people stop by McDonald's after a 12 hour shift and become morbidly obese (at least here in America)

*leave

I literally get anxiety flares at the idea of cooking something I've never made before. Should I just end it?

I am talking about what Meal Prep is, and what it means.
How its used is , is a different matter.
>"Meal prep" is when autists carefully measure out ingredients in advance
Thats how cooking works, even if you just guestimate the amount
> and assemble many identical-looking containers to eat from later in the week.
And? Thats how assembling food works. The lazy version is to compile it into 1-2 pots and make a daily lunchbox from it.
>You're just talking about normal use and re-purposing of leftovers.
Prepping is just oversized cooking, and then box assembling it. If you eat it or not, or if you end up using the rice portion in another dish... thats just what prepping is.

>Never prepared food and packed it for a picnic?
This, picnics are the fucking shit.