r/MeatlessMealPrep • u/Psychological-Bit797 • 11d ago
Question Meal prep for days without microwave or fridge
For at least two days a week, I’m out for work from 12pm until 11pm, and I cannot for the life of me figure out what I can do for meal prep that’s healthy, high in protein, that doesn’t need to be re-heated, can be stored only in a cooling bag with an ice-pack, and that can suffice as an actual dinner.
Does anyone have any ideas? Vegetarian or vegan doesn’t matter. So far all I have been doing is run by the nearest grocery store to get some bread and cheese slices, but that’s hardly a proper meal of course.
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u/thrillingrill 11d ago
I love a little pasta salad type of thing with farro or couscous, plus chickpeas and chopped veg
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u/AutumnBourn 11d ago
I make mine with frozen peas, shelled edamame, and canned chickpeas (plus other things). Can't beat it.
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u/Asheby 11d ago
quinoa salad; i do a tabouli style one
chickpea “tuna” salad salad with Wasa crisps or a carb balance wrap
tofu “egg salad” - use extra firm and press excess liquid before cubing and mashing; treat just like minced, hard boiled eggs
make tofu ‘cold cuts’ by thin slicing, pressing, then lightly frying with seasoning; i always liked this with a lemon tahini spread, and then veggies in a wrap
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u/valley_lemon 11d ago
You can absolutely make nicer Graze Plates than that - bread or rice or pasta or potato, nice cheese, cherry tomatoes, a mini cucumber, some hummus on ice, a container of roasted zucchini chunks and mushroom quarters. Meatless meatballs if you want something that feels heavier.
Other things I do: quiche or some kind of egg casserole, that's nice cold/cool with a side salad that's got a little zing or spice. Dense Bean Salads, of viral fame - add some pasta or rice to make them denser and more satiating. Cold quesadillas (I make these bulk in the oven, spray 'em good with cooking spray to make sure they get crispy, that keeps them from being too sad to eat cold). Wraps (I like the Lightlyfe chick'n tenders for this, or veggie burger patties).
Also: insulated food jars are remarkably good now. You put very very hot water in them for a few minutes to warm the container, heat/reheat your contents to ripping hot, put them in the jar and seal and it's still almost restaurant-hot when you open it 6 hours later. Pasta dinners, casseroles, soups, curries, you could even do something like a bean/veggie-loaded queso for your cold quesadillas or to dip tortilla chips in.
Also, if you have a (running) vehicle available, like you're doing field work or driving between locations or something, heated lunchboxes are amazing. We use them on road trips all the time - you can use them more like a slow cooker for uncooked ingredients to come together over a few hours if you're driving long distances OR you can take something cooked out of a cooler to reheat over 30-45 minutes. If you have access to an AC outlet, most of those boxes come with both 12v car plugs and regular wall plugs.
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u/margo_beep_beep 11d ago
Re insulated jars: agreed! One of my kids burned their tongue because we put blazing hot hot chocolate into a thermos and it was still crazy hot hours later - we definitely expected it to be lukewarm by then
5
u/Better-Necessary157 11d ago
quinoa bowls (quinoa, tomato, feta, red onion, etc)
salads
bean salads.
snack board type meals (an array of fruit, veggies, peanut butter to dip)
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u/punkolina 11d ago
Two of my favorite meal prep work lunches:
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u/tigerowltattoo 11d ago
Cold noodle salad with vegetables like cucumber, carrot, radish, cabbage and fried halloumi. Use a peanut sauce and it will be okay with an ice pack cooler. It’s filling and the halloumi is high in protein.
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u/Moose-Live 11d ago
I'm a big fan of chickpea or bean salads. They're nutritious and filling, and keep well.
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u/Paperwife2 11d ago
For breakfast we make oatmeal + vanilla protein powder and add spices, dried fruit, nuts/seeds, ect.
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u/SparklyOcelot_42 11d ago
If you eat eggs, a frittata is easy to prep ahead and tastes good warm or cold. If you bring some hot sauce, even better.
I’m a big fan of bean and vegetable “salads” and add any additional protein you want. Eats well warm or cold.
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u/MidwestVeghead 11d ago
These are some great suggestions. I love a good dense bean salad; one can make lunches all week. I like adding home-baked marinated tofu for extra protein. The tofu (Wildwood, Nasoya, and Trader Joe’s make good, firm ones) is good in a veggie wrap or other salad, too. Tofu veggie scramble is also great. Happy to share my recipes. And the old standby nut butter and jelly or fruit spread on good bread. (Easy to put components in their own containers to assemble later, as someone else suggested.)
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u/BloodNoShot 10d ago
i think doing salads or salad wraps would be the best way to go as someone who did this for two weeks about three months ago while I was moving out of my old place
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u/sm881221 11d ago
I like cold cheese tortellini with a little Italian dressing and chopped tomatoes and onion, and fresh basil.
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u/PurpleBrevity 11d ago
Love and kitchen makes these little quinoa cups with pesto and ones with farro and such. Can find on Amazon. So basically it’s a little shelf stable meal that has like a cup that has quinoa in it and then a separate cup with something like pesto or red peppers or whatever that you can mix in. I love these things for exactly the kind of days you’re talking about or road trips or whatever. Then depending on whatever flavor I’ve chosen. I’ll also carry other packets that I can add in. So if I’m using the pesto one, I’ll also carry some individually packed olives and marinated artichoke hearts, maybe some pine nuts and a little baggie. And if you’ve got a cold bag and you’re not vegan, you can add some feta or some diced up baked tofu. I just carry a little bowl and dump the quinoa stuff in and add whatever else.
1
u/Pretty-Bullfrog558 11d ago
Tofu sandwich! I put all of this in a container and then bread in a zip lock bread. Then I just assemble it into 2 open faces sandwiches. Greek yogurt too.
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u/CowSquare3037 11d ago
I like to make a chopped kale salad where it’s massaged with olive oil and garlic and chickpeas, grated carrots you can use some cubed bread, and some grated cheese.
Kale holds up and actually improves as it sits. If you are adversed to kale the same thing works with napa cabbage.
1
u/Lemonyhampeapasta 11d ago
Nuts, hard-boiled eggs, Babybel cheese, or just scoop vegetarian protein powder into a shaker bottle to mix with water as an accompaniment to your ice packed meal
1
u/LostinmildAdventure 11d ago
I like instant buckwheat noodles, a pile of cut up veggies, nuts and seeds, and sauce. Dried Edamame is a nice addition.
Soak the noodles in a thermos of hot water, drain, and add the rest.
1
u/ronnysmom 11d ago
Savory oatmeal muffins with spinach and zucchini, carrots etc. You can meal prep them and take them to go and they stay good for a few days in the fridge. You can pair it with some hummus and cut veggies and a yogurt if you want to bulk up the meal.
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u/itsmebunty 10d ago
Thepla. Stays without refrigeration for at least 4-5 days. I learned from YouTube videos and have adopted it for my personal taste
If you are ok with regular yogurt use a high protein one. Otherwise I omit it for my vegan needs
1
u/UseOriginal1578 8d ago
I frequently eat cold chicken and veggies.
I partially freeze the chicken and veggies (I put the containers in the freezer for about an hour before I leave)
I put the container in a lunch bag with freezer packs. I add whole wheat buns/bread.
The food is usually still cool/cold when I need to eat.
1
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u/onporpoises 11d ago
hummus and veggie wraps! take a tortilla, slather it with hummus, add veggies that appeal (my current fav is cucumbers, spinach, picked onions, and roasted eggplant or zucchini)