just me, living here

I will never be a weekly meal prep kind of person.

I actually hate eating the same thing over and over again. Every time I see a TikTok for meal planning I think to myself, yeah that looks good but “do I really want to eat that meal everyday this week?” No ma’am, not going to happen.

And, we are simply not a leftovers family.

We have the very best intentions: wrapping things up nicely, sliding containers into the refrigerator, promising ourselves we’ll eat them tomorrow. And then… we don’t. Hamburgers, chicken, chili, and Thanksgiving dinner are basically the only meals we’ll eat two days in a row.

Add in the fact that the three of us can rarely agree on what to eat, and things get even trickier. Breakfast and lunch are usually every-person-for-themselves. Dinner is maybe two out of three of us… on a good night. My husband doesn’t like casseroles, gravies, sauces, creamy anything, most soups, or foods where several ingredients are combined together all at once. So many meal prep foods are never ever going to be eaten by him. My daughter usually doesn’t want what we’re having, so she does her own thing. Which means, I’m cooking for one, two at best.

Because both my husband and I work from home, there’s also no real need for grab-and-go lunches. So traditional meal prep, full meals portioned out for the week, just wouldn’t work for us.

What does work is planning our menu for the week (see my previous post on the Meal Planner Calendar). https://justmelivinghere.com/2025/08/22/one-of-my-favorite-things-i-didnt-know-i-needed-weekly-meal-planner/

Food prep, however, is my jam.

I have grown to love it. And Sunday is my food prep day.

I really like having food ready to go during the week without committing to eating the same thing over and over.

My most consistent weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) prep is washing and storing fruit. This alone is a total game changer. Somehow, having fruit already clean is the only motivation I need to actually eat it. Suddenly it’s an easy snack, as if rinsing fruit is a massive hurdle, which clearly it is for me. (Only fruit I do not pre-wash are raspberries, I find that they want to retain moisture and mold faster if washed in advance. Does anyone else have that problem with raspberries?)

We’ve been trying to stop buying pre-shredded cheese because, honestly, once you think about it, it’s kind of gross with all that powdered cellulose dust added to it.

So now, about once or twice a week, we shred a block or two ourselves. Also go ahead and grate some Parmesan too. We’re a big cheese-eating family, so this has become a non-negotiable around here. I use a rotary shredder (Westmark Rotary Grater) that’s a replica of one I had growing up, and I love it. It works great and cleans up easily in the dishwasher. We love having this prepped and ready to go.

Buy on Amazon: Westmark Rotary Grater (I have no idea why this is so expensive right now, I found it for about $25.00, so maybe it’s a collectible now???)

I also like to make hard-boiled eggs to have on demand during the week.

Now that my daughter eats them too, it makes even more sense to keep a batch on hand. I’ll eat them plain, add them to a tuna sandwich for extra protein, or make what I call “faux deviled eggs” by adding a dollop of mustard and mayo on top when I need a little more flavor. Try it, tastes just like a deviled egg with out all the scooping and mixing!

A few years ago, I bought these Bentgo plastic compartment containers and I absolutely love them.

I make up three or four each week and fill them with fruit, cheese, crackers, nuts, salami, hummus, cucumbers, carrots or whatever sounds good. I use them for lunch or as a nighttime snack and lovingly refer to them as my adult Lunchables.

They’re great for portion control, clean up nicely, and since I never put anything hot in them or heat them up, I’m fine with them being plastic.

Buy on Amazon: Bentgo Easyboxes – Reusable 5-Compartment Food Containers, Stackable 8-Piece Set

Other regular food prep includes marinating chicken ahead of time or pulling hamburger out of the freezer on Sundays so it’s ready for the week’s meals. Sometimes I’ll also make hummus, Greek salad and dressing, or a dense Mexican bean salad, or things we can add to several meals throughout the week without feeling like we’re eating leftovers. (The Mexican Bean Salad can be thrown on top of rice, eaten as a dip with chips, or just by the spoonful. Recipe to come soon on this one!)

Even my daughter has gotten in on food prepping.

She makes herself a yogurt, Weetabix, and fruit cup dessert to satisfy her sweet tooth, and she genuinely enjoys it. Since we only have 2 fancy cups for this treat she makes it twice a week. The fancy cups make it taste more bougie.

None of this is new or groundbreaking.

People have been doing versions of this forever. I just know it works really well for me. Because of food prepping, Wednesday me and especially late-night me is always very grateful for Sunday me.

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