If you liked this video and want more, check out my video on how to make 20 CRAVEABLE meals in an hour. It's like this one, only tastier: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dH0WAYgWAOE.htmlsi=a-9-grpXKb40n5GR
i doubt you read this, but i just wanna thank you. i'm a very very depressed and fat person who gave up a long time ago, but as a regular viewer of your videos i decided to go ahead and give this a shot. i''ve lost 50 pounds, and even though i'm still obese, for the first time in years i finally found the urge to try. kinda random, but somehow this video just hit me at the right time, so thank you.
I’m proud of you! Keep going. And when you hit a bad bout of depression, just say to yourself “this too shall pass” (that helps me with my worst bouts), or “just keep swimming, just keep swimming”, or “there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and it ain’t a train”. Or whatever works for you.
@@BrianLagerstromI'd love some variations, for example - seasonal variations, ideas for pasta instead of rice, maybe some people are interested in veggie or vegan ideas? I think the concept (preparing sides and mains and throwing together in different variations) is pretty straightforward, but not everyone may find it as easy to find good combinations. Especially if you don't like or don't/can't eat one of the main components. Therefore i think variations would be helpful
@@BrianLagerstrom Get an artist or graphic designer to make an infographic flowsheet. You could even sell it as a poster. People want simple and easy to follow which this video is (as are all of your videos). A reference like that would be great. For a bonus, you can add wine/beer/bubbly water pairing suggestions to the final products at the end of the flowsheet.
@@BrianLagerstrom Secondly what would be great to elaborate on - in my opinion- is the technicalities of storing the food: What kinds of food can be cooked,, stored and reheated easily? What foods aren't good with reheating? How long will the food approximately be good after cooking and storing? What are early warning signs for foods that are on the verge of turning bad? What veggies work well with this system, which don't, which ones can be boiled well, or which should be pan fried or oven roasted or whatever.
@@BrianLagerstrom honestly I'd love to see what your budget looks like for a plan like this. I feel like too many people think that healthy eating has to be expensive but it absolutely doesn't have to be if you know what you're doing. Keep up the great work Bri!
Finally a realistic meal prep made for real actual people. Please do more, theres so little content out there like this. Most meal prep is completely unrealistic, bland or for those with 2 to 3 hours to spare.
@@Umberspite-xs3yy LOL-- I know. Just make a chunky avocado spread in a glass jar: 1-3 avocados, lemon juice (very little, but keeps it from browning), and salt. I add a 1/4 c. of sour cream or Fage (even better: more protein). Season to taste, such as garlic or onion powder. Mix. Keep the lid on/just stir 1x/day)--and Voila! Just dollop on salads, tacos, bowls, etc. AVOCADOOOOO.
There are so many content creators. The problem is with helpful content. I need to see the creators use real, whole foods. No dollar store either. The cost of dollars at the dollar store is more than a regular grocery store. And yes, I understand the food desert issues. I've lived with that challenge before. I had to carefully and creatively get myself to a real store to feed my family healthy and affordable meals. I used to trade home cooked food in exchange for a car ride to the store. It was well worth it for us.
Wow just tried this today to meal prep for the week. My god the speed I could cook veggies at. Bro you just saved me like 2 hours of meal prep time. I made fish, chicken, kale, carrots, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, and red potatoes. IN AN HOUR. Pleasseeeeeeeee make more videos like this 🙏
Brian, I tried this method word for word today and something in my brain just clicked and was absolutely blown away by how simple and versatile this was. My husband and I just sat eating our dinners together beaming about how happy we are to try this method. Thank you!
Agree 100%. Great chefs can be kinda arrogant, but Bri is down to earth, explains everything clearly, and you can just tell he's a good guy who cares about food as well as his subscribers.
Yeah, fresh... but you aren't going to make any of this... kinda a waste if your looking for cooking recommendations. His earlier content was so much better before this junk.
Finally someone who embraces thinking smarter not harder in the kitchen. They make these pre made sauces for a reason! So many amazing dishes from simple plentiful items
I love cooking, but struggle with chronic fatigue and usually only have enough energy for cooking a full meal one, maybe two days out of the week. This technique you showed just might enable me to have a healthy, tasty meal every night for dinner. You’re a lifesaver, Bri! Thanks for all the hard work you put into your videos!
Along with Brian's approach I also Highly recommend making bulk meals you can freeze that are quite flavour dense and heavier than your fresh meals. Freezing meals like Spicey lamb curry or stew. Beef bolognese. Thai chicken/ pork curries. These are all nutritionally dense meals that are delicious that can easily be paired with rice or noodles which are quick to make. I find this helps me immensely.
You can break this over 2-3 days. I break them down by cooking method: 1) boil eggs and pasta, 2) cut veggies for salads/sandwiches or for 3) stir fry the next day, 4) roast meats, 5) cook grains. Cook enough to last 1-2 weeks between my husband and I
@yennlow Yes that works well for me. Except usually I cook a big meal that I can freeze once a week when I don't have energy to do several. If I do it every week it keeps us in freezer meals. Especially when I have felt better and do like you said 2 or 3 days. Take care!
This is great for us that don’t have a large income , want to eat healthy, and need to make the most of our precious time by preparing ahead!!😊 Thank you 🌻🌻🌻
As a full time worker and a mother. This is the best meal prep so far. Everytime I cook a dish, I then will see it at least the next 2 days. I will try this method. Thank you for sharing ❤
This is game changing. I have been cooking more "over the top" meals pretty frequently and was starting to get burned out on it. I normally do big pots of stew, chili, etc. in the winter, but it's just too hot for that kind of meal every day right now. This is perfect. Thank you!!
You forgot to add pretty please lol so I’ll do so now Pretty Please Brian and wife could this become a series? Maybe once per month? Amazing content and fantastic idea! Love it!!!
Even as a person who enjoys periodically going above and beyond for home-cooked meals, finding ways to minimize and streamline meal prep is an essential skill to have and there is nothing wrong with it, in my opinion. Finding that perfect balance between healthy, tasty, and easy is key and this video helps to give me some new thoughts and perspective to my weekly meal preps for work lunches. Thanks, Bri, your content is top notch!
Fantastic video...I prep the same way! Never underestimate the power of a good sauce/dressing. I would also add in fresh herbs. When you blanch veggies, put them immediately in a ice bath. It does wonders to preserve the colour, and to cool it down to stop it from further cooking! Putting hot/warm food in a refridgator is soo hard on it. You are making it work too hard to keep everything cool. Ice bath for veggies and letting the rest cool at room temp is ideal.
Definitely would like more meal planning like this. I hate sacrificing half of my Sundays for meal prepping. We always cook the protein in bulk, but fall short on the veggie/fruit sides. Thank you for the concise and clear directions and the reasons why.
This was easily THE most helpful and realistic weekly meal prep video I’ve seen. More like this! So many are full of bland recipes or call for eating leftovers, this feels manageable. Love the ideas!
This is absolutely a life changing strategy. I first heard about it from Ethan Chlebowski and it completely changed how I approach cooking for myself. The meals are fresher, it costs less, there's variety, and all it costs is a little creativity and the willingness to have a well stocked pantry and buy in bulk.
About an hour ago I was making a menu plan for the week... "pizza, casserole, tacos, something with ground beef..." and then this video came out. I just wrote a new grocery list. Looks like we'll be feeling lighter and I'll be in the hot kitchen less; win-win!
Watched this whole genius video and said to myself, "Now, if only there was a shopping list..." Checked out the description and BAM, you not only laid out a sectioned shopping list, but the full instructions as well. And with sauce recommendations which, I agree, is where it's at! Unbelievable. Thank you very much for the concise, helpful, and healthy video!
All I can say is this is awesome. You made the best affordable Whole Foods into amazing healthy meals. Already made a list and aside from the sauces everything only amounts to abt $45 (with your portions) and that’s only for one person! Only $150-180 a month on food. So affordable if you compare it to my monthly take out expenses (it was like $275, hence why I’m following this asap, healthy gut + more money in the pocket) 😅
This has pretty much been my weekly meal prep for work lunches for the last few years. Just chuck a bunch a stuff onto a sheet pan and roast it. It's one of the laziest forms of cooking there is, but still yields decent results. I started doing that back when I had to work 12 hour nights in the summer heat. I was always too tired to cook, and eating fast food every night was expensive and very unhealthy. Chucking a bunch of stuff onto a sheet pan and letting it roast while I did something else helped me get back on track health-wise while saving money.
Thaaaank you. Getting back into the gym has created the need for goal-minded meals, but most meal prep videos online don't itch my desire to still have fun with my food and get creative. This is a great inspiration
I think your "Weeknight Guac" is emblematic of why I really appreciate your approach to weeknight cooking (and a lot of the other stuff you put out). "It's not authentic, but it tastes damn good." is such a great philosophy for trying to maximize that balance btwn flavor/time-investment. If it gets you *most* of the way there, but took 1/3rd of the time to make - that's perfect. Still tastes great, still approximates the flavors you were aiming for, but doesn't necessarily turn into a big, convoluted thing. On a weekend I'm willing to put in the effort, on a weeknight I just want something to eat before I either fall over or give up and order something.
This might be my favorite video you've ever posted. I've seen other creators try for this style but never has it delivered so fully. The way you showed each ingredient and then showed how you would use them through the course of the week, even including sauces and seasoning was so awesome. Thank you for sharing this!
Just whipped up your recipe! Except instead of kale and broccoli I substituted for bok choy and cauliflower. Everything came out perfect and delicious. You're the man Brian!!
This is awesome, Brian - I think my favorite video of yours yet. I love the idea of batch-cooking various proteins and vegetables, and really appreciate the tips about how to store them and the various combinations and condiments used in a week. Keep up the great work!
I did this on Sunday and we are enjoying it right now. It ended up taking me about 1 1/2 hours, but I know that will get faster. Tonight we had salmon with rice and broccoli. The game changer was putting teriyaki sauce and chili crisp on it. That combination of sweet and spicy hit so hard. It was so incredibly good! Bri, please make more content like this…. Preferably by next week lol. It is by far my favorite.
Love this. This is such an understandable and practical way to do meal prep for a week of varied and interesting meals without breaking the bank or spending a ton of time.
Bodybuilders have been eating like this since the 70s. It is an effective and easy way to cook for the week. The key to not getting bored is to have plenty of go-to sauces you like. Chicken and rice gets boring pretty quick. Lean ground beef, or turkey also works well. Same with pork tenderloin, tilapia, and canned tuna. Breakfast was also easy if you batch it. I used to make a large batch of steel cut oatmeal for the week in the pressure cooker and eat it for breakfast. Mix in some frozen berries, peanut butter, honey/maple syrup. Usually a bunch of egg whites or a protein shake if you need more protein.
I've spent HOURS on Sundays doing meal prep so much that I said ENOUGH, and needed my sanity back. I think you've given us the perfect guide to meal prep.
This organized method is so helpful to drop the summer weight without even realizing it. The key is your sauce suggestions and your own great sauce and dressing recipes. The Italian vinaigrette from your Summer Pasta Salad video is the one I always want! More sauce and dressing recipes please. Great video, thanks!
I’m thrilled about this episode. I’m in a program where we eat only what we cook at home. I really liked seeing how you approach it logically so I’m going to prepare more so I don’t have to cook as often. This was really great and I really appreciate the motivation to keep going. Sure we can eat out but we learn it’s much better at home to eat simple and tasty. Thanks again.
Your 20 healthy meals in 1 hour are a game-changer! Reminds me of my lifecoach Lisa Haisha's retreat in the Philippines, emphasizing efficient and mindful living. Your cooking skills and Lisa's wisdom inspire me on the path to greatness. Cheers to nourishing our bodies with ease!
I like the direction of the newer videos where you include some store-bought stuff that you like. Sometimes it is difficult to do every single component homemade.
Great video. My partner and I tried this out this week and it works wonderfully. We really struggle with staying interested in what we’ve prepped through the week and having these quick and easy options available to toss together in minutes is a lifesaver when I’m barely awake before a night shift. I do hope you decide to do another version with some different proteins and influences! Keep up the fantastic work.
I actually would love to see more meal prep concepts like this. Where you can make a big batch of something and construct it into different meals through the week. I usually plan out dinners for each week, but make extra for leftovers, and this would help so much. Hopefully you have more ideas catalogued for this type of thing! Plus I can have a little section in the fridge dedicated to grab and dump style meals. I love this!
Why has it taken me so long to find this guy. The videos are awesome. I love it all: simple multi use and meal prep for the whole week. So realistic, helpful and yummy! Thanks so much!!! Keep it coming.
I love all your videos but this one couldn’t have come at a better time!Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! We’ve been trying to eat healthier and I’ve been scouring RU-vid/internet for meal prep ideas that won’t cost me an arm and a leg and take up my entire Sunday cooking and washing dishes. Definitely a game changer. This is happening this weekend!!
Ditto! I have seen a few videos about this topic, but none were as appealing to me as this one. Many I have seen are for prepping for a family of 4 or more, where this one hit the sweet spot of cooking for 2...which is my scenario. This is all ingredients that I enjoy and the mix/match combos he created all appealed to me. I realize I will do some of my own tweaks, but this approach is perfect for keeping me from having to overthink a meal plan each week as a bunch of individual dishes.
This was awesome. I came back from traveling and needed a food reset as well. I used this plan for 2 weeks and it made weekday/weeknight eating so much easier and healthy. Prepping food doesn’t have to be complicated all the time.
Love this video. Please continue to make more like this. I've struggled to make healthy meals on the regular post covid/back to the office. This is just what I need.
Brian, I love this type of video. I enjoy cooking, but find it hard to dive into an in depth recipe during the weekday, which usually results in eating something quick, easy, and unhealthy. Mixing up the same ingredients into different dishes is something I really like and look forward to trying this stuff out. Thanks for all you do!
I'm struggling to prepare meals while I'm in dental school so this is an extremely timely video! Time to go shopping this weekend! More meal prep/fast recipes would be awesome! Thank you for this
Thanks Brian, this is really helpful to evolve from trying to knock out something nearly every night into a plan for a week. I really like the efficiency of getting the three bases prepped and the creativity of how to stretch it different directions with the sauces.
This is just the video I need for the next few weeks: My brother and his fam are moving to a new house (just down the street!) and I’m going to have so much fridge/freezer space to try out some healthier meals.
Literally just did this, making a few veggie substitutions (but same number of steps). 1 hour 10 minutes. But the last 20min was just the veggies cooking because I didn’t swap my pans as quick as I could have. (Also halved this for 1 person.) Amazing! Would love to see more videos like this!
Can confirm - went out today and basically adopted this menu and subbed the proteins for tofu and seitan. I essentially halved my grocery bill (score!) and am hoping to save some time during the week. This is literally the best content ever.
I absolutely love that I saw you drinking spindrift at the end. I tell all my friends how I swapped soda out for spindrift and I've been feeling so much healthier while still satisfying my fizzy cravings
Bravo, and thank you for sharing your tips ! In addition, you could have made another meal very easily. Don't throw away the water used for cooking the vegetables, because you have there a vegetable broth than you can turn in a soup in a few additional steps. Add to the boiling water, now vegetable broth, an uncooked chicken breast cut in cubes and 3-4 cups of uncooked vegetables cut in cubes. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 8-10 minutes. Add 1 cup of short pasta, continue cooking for another 8-10 minutes. Salt-pepper. There you go, another meal for your family!
Just when you thought things could not get any better… I'm a single guy, I have a GF, but I live alone-ish. For the past 4 years, I've been on a keto lifestyle and I prepare 99% of all the food I consume myself. I enjoy making food for my gf and myself, as long as it's very simple. I have never mastered any form of meal prepping, but this video just shows me how easy it can be, but best of all it gave me ideas. This guy is good. I put him alongside Helen Rennie, Adam Ragusea, etc, but not for there cooking skills, per say, but for there techniques, philosophies, ideas, etc.
Nice! This is the style of meal prep I prefer. Most everything out there is making one recipe and eating the same thing for 5 days. Mix and match is the way to go!
Excellent point! I don't mind making a big batch of something that I can freeze portions of for later, but this video feels more like what I really want in easy meal prep.
Hey Bri! I've lost 7lbs in a week eating this meal plan for lunch and dinner mixing it up. I tell my wife you're my new best friend:) She's tolerating me encroaching into her kitchen. I've been wanting something like this for a long time. It's nice to experience these combinations of textures and flavors. I had a lot of fun making the components of the meals. I'm excited to try experimenting with these concepts to use our CSA shares with other proteins and mix it up.
I've been trying to "weeknight" and feel like I always run into dead leftovers.. as cheesy as this sounds: this is a kind of creativity that can prevent wasted food. Thanks for your work. Liked and Subscribed.
This is a really great video! I think it would be good paired with a "quick weekday sauces" supplement so then we can know what to grocery shop for each week!
I love healthy food, and I'm getting much better at cooking over the past year, but I'm finding my main problem is... FOOD STORAGE! I do so well shopping for healthy stuff at the grocery store and avoiding junk, but unless I plan out my week PERFECTLY, a substantial amount of it ends up going bad! Especially as a single person living alone, it can be so difficult. I'm always tossing produce that got moldy way faster than I anticipated, or eating a bunch of green beans for dinner because if I don't get to them *now* then I suspect they are probably going to spoil. This video definitely helps in that regard by using healthy "building blocks" instead of dedicated meals, so *thank you* for that! But I still have so much to learn. If you would consider in the future discussing your food storage habits, that would be a lifesaver for me and I'm sure many others. I'm surprised to find that's my BIGGEST obstacle in eating healthier... NOT cooking meals and making things taste good. For instance: What do you put in the fridge vs. what do you leave on the counter? What produce do you buy frozen (or freeze yourself) or canned without a substantial loss in quality? What about freezing meat -- is it good to buy in bulk and freeze some of it for later? (And when I want to use it, do I just move it from the freezer to the fridge the day before to thaw?) Do you vacuum seal things? And when you're storing produce, what do you store together vs. separate? What herbs do you think MUST be fresh vs. what can you get buy with dried? Do you pat leafy greens dry and store them in a ziplock bag with a dry paper towel, or do you use some other method? Could those silica gel packets help keep things dry and thus fresh longer? Does organic food spoil faster? And if so, is it worth it to avoid the preservatives? I just have a million questions and I get lost in the sauce. There's so much information out there and it can be helpful in bits and pieces, but hearing it from someone like you all summed up would be amazing. And it would be refreshing to hear if you also struggle with food waste, or your journey combating food waste issues. Honestly this could be a whole video series instead of just a single video, there is SO much to go over. (I suppose instead of just complaining I should also mention that I LOVE this channel and it has helped me SOOO much as a newly-divorced guy living on his own for the first time ever at age 35. Thanks!!)
To avoid food waste try doing a stew or chili at the end of your grocery week 😊. Throw it all in a pot and freeze for a lazy easy cook day. You can also wash and freeze some fresh produce before it goes bad. I sometimes only need half a can of corn or refried beans so I freeze the other half and use when I need it! Goodluck on your journey
Super inspiring, Brian! I'd love to see more of this meal prepping content. Switching things up with different sauces is a totally new idea to me. I love it!
We have been doing Meal Prep Mondays in our house & this video really inspired us to simplify it. We now cook two sheet pans of veggies, a full pot of curried rice, & a casserole dish of chicken & or fish. It's a game changer! Saves us money, time, dishwashing, & the stress of deciding what to eat every night. We also have more time for fun & are healthier bc less restaurants! This week we played cards one night, & hide n go seek another! We laughed our asses off! Brilliant, Brian! Thank youuuuuuuuu!
Love this! I’m just starting a new regimen and this is super inspiring - I’ll probably leave some of the kale uncooked and use that in place of the arugula since I am a freak who actually likes raw kale (dressed of course)
definitely do more videos like this its so hard to find the energy to cook sometimes and having these options already in the fridge ready to go would help SO much
I agree that a series like this would be amazing!!! Definitely will be following in hopes you make more like this. Will be trying these recipes next week 😊
Please make this a series!! I love this approach and I think it’s just what I need to turn things around here. I have two neurodivergent young adult children who regularly order out because of the overwhelm of trying to put something together with the energy they have that day. With this I could create a menu that’s flexible enough to be quick and easy yet still encompasses whatever today’s safe foods are. Only one of us eats salmon though, and none of us eats kale. I’d love to see more proteins and veggies covered.
This video is dope, comes at a great time. The wife and I are trying to balance schedules and getting good prep options suggested is always a valuable idea-lending. I struggle with OCD and the kitchen is one of my control spaces, so sometimes structuring recipes to front load effort like this can really unshackle my brain at 7pm on a Wednesday from trying to craft a burre blanc salmon Bordelaise en franc croute mierde de taureau. So sincerely, thank you 🙏 also for the impeccably cringe worthy wordplay. You got a physical face palm from my wife with the pepperoncin-dogs 👍
As someone who’s been meal prepping weekly for 6months and constantly trying to make it easier- I can confidently say that this IS IT. This is the ultimate guide to meal prepping. No wasted time, no over complicating, healthy whole ingredients that stay well in the fridge over time, and the ability to mix up combinations. For anyone looking to get back into a healthy lifestyle and set a new fitness goal, this video is all you need to set up a meal plan that you can stick with weekly! DO NOT OVERCOMPLICATE. Yes of course anabolic Mac and cheese sounds delicious! But do you really want to spend an hour boiling pasta, making a roux, and shredding cheese. Then to be slapped in the face with 3 more hours of cooking and cleanup because you want to make air fried coconut chicken tenders and a salad with 10 different vegetables that need prep???? No, it sounds good but it’s never worth it. Eat simple and throw a fancy sauce on it if ya like S/o to Bri for this All-Killer-No-Filler How-To-Guide
Thanks man. Really appreciate that. This is actually how we eat at home a lot these days so I thought I'd sum it up in video form. Glad to hear that I got the point across!
Hi Brian! I find this video helpful: clear instructions, has nuggets of kitchen hacks in between, and easily replicable. Hope you can make more videos like this!
It’s bad for your fridge, for the food it’s fine. It soaks the fridge with an amount of heat that the compressor is not sized to deal with adequately. Resulting in raised temperature inside the fridge and continuously running compressor. The raised temperature could be a hazard to spoil other fresh foods. Depending on the size of the fridge and the level it’s filled it can take 6-24 hours before temp is restored. You can mitigate this a bit by using the Supercool function if your fridge has one, you have to enable it 24 hours before loading it. And you can add some ice packs on different levels. Overloading the compressor can result in a reduced life span.
So I would recommend letting things cool outside the fridge (maybe in a cold spot in your home or garage, closed lid of course) or on ice if you have to.
Awesome work but you really should not put steaming hot food in any fridge 😁 leave it to stand a bit longer or you shorten the life of your fridge as you keep sending it into overdrive lol
I loved this idea so much. I feel it's easily customisable and the concept is really cool. Looking forward to seeing a video where you show us how you use the vegetable stock from boiling the veggies!
I absolutely eat like this in summer, but in winter I’m more of a soup/stews/pasta kinda guy, because I can make a ton and freeze it up. I made a batch of your baked tomato soup just yesterday, because it’s been a staple go-to since you dropped that video... I don’t care if it is August!
I'd say replace the chicken and salmon with large chunks of roasted beats, large marinaded trumpet mushrooms and your favorite tofu preparation. Should give you large entree feeling proteins to mix and match with the rest of the prep
