To ask - if you're trying to reduce your UPF intake, what sort of meals do you prepare for the week?

[WeCouldBeNiceToEachOther]

Just that, really.

I tend to go for the same thing each week - yoghurt with some sort of berry compote (I stew down frozen berries), a soup for lunch and some sort of meat based dish for dinner.

This week I've branched out and stewed some apples and made granola for my breakfast, and made a loaf of wholemeal bread for lunch.

What sort of things do people prep? I really want to reduce my UPF intake as far as possible!

Roasted veg (whatever’s available). I toss with seasoning, oil, and seeds, and often some cubes feta as well (the proper stuff, made with sheep and goat milk). Stick all in the oven at gas 6 until it’s browning. You could serve this on its own or with brown rice. If I don’t include feta I might also roast chickpeas or serve it with fish.

I also make a vegan chilli which you can serve alone, with freshly popped corn (yes really! Like croutons), or with rice. I usually add cheese to mine. If you don’t mind a bit of UPF it’s also good with nachos or tortilla wraps.

That sounds great!!

I’ve also made a chicken stew for weekday meals, given how cold and minging it’s been this week

We roast a chicken most weeks and I turn the bones into broth, then use that as base for noodles with greens, poached eggs etc. Yum. Still eat buckets of absolute shit most weeks though, so hard to break away from packaged snacks in particular.

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta/seven-veg-tomato-sauce/ I make this once every couple of months but use four tins of tomatoes not two! This yields 9 x 500ml cartons of sauce which I used in a bolognese/lasagna/meatballs. I very rarely buy pasta sauce now.

Edited to add that it freezes brilliantly.

I need to start doing this to up my veg intake!

At the moment I'm doing chicken thighs marinated in yogurt and peri peri spice mix from waitorse. Cheap as chips and 8 thighs last a week of lunches. Mix with salad or rice.

Bolognese with lots of veg, chilli con carne, oven baked orzo dishes, katsu curry, curry, casserole, frittata, stir fry, burgers, fajitas. Everything pretty much, I just don't buy pre made stuff, make it all from scratch and I always have done, so it doesn't seem like an extra effort and for the most part it doesn't really take that much time or effort.

Overnight oats / Birchermuseli

Breakfast is the easiest to tackle if you want a meal to focus on, but we have a rotation of

roast chicken
chicken soup
"" ""
Omelette
Pasta with UPF free sauce or homemade
... with veg/rice/chips alongside.

Occasionally homemade burgers, schnitzels.

Weekends tend to be heavier on UPF here.

It's not letting me edit my earlier post... didn't want to sound smug, but it may have come across that way! I struggle more with breakfasts to be honest, so I've switched to shredded wheat. In the summer I tend to eat more fruit with plain yogurt. And lunches also I struggle to get away from bread! DH often makes bread in the bread machine, and i prefer to buy Jasons, but DD and DH hate Jason's bread! Im not great at making soup either. More effort needed for lunches for me.

Breakfast - home made bread /toast and home made jam or cheese or a UPF free peanut butter or banana or eggs

lunch homemade bread buttie - as breakfast but also possibly tinned fish or homemade humus

dinner - homemade bean burgers , roast dinner, various stir fries , home made veggie chill or curry , Mexican beans, lentil bolognaise , jackets with cheese or tuna and home made coleslaw , broths, risottos , home made pizzas … anything really . Lots of frozen veg , big spice rack

I don’t think it’s smug! I find breakfast quite easy but I’ve eaten the same thing everyday for 2 years

At the moment I'm having porridge for breakfast with honey or fruit on or scrambled eggs with mushroom and tomato.
Lunch is a jacket potato with tuna or salad. Stir fry. Corn on the cob or homemade soup.
Dinner is fish, perhaps meat with veg and rice or potato.

A couple of times a week I do a huge roasting tray of veg - sweet potato, courgette, garlic, onion, leek, carrot, peppers, celery, parsnip - anything I fancy really. I have it with my evening meal just like that or turn it into veggie chillis and curries. Then, if I have any left over I blitz it and call it soup.

We have things like -
Beef curry in the slow cooker
Chilli (slow cooker)
chicken curry
Roast beef dinner
Spaghetti bolognese
maple chicken with coconut rice and salad
Crispy beef with rice and salad
Cottage pie
Gammon, roast sweet potato and salad

Bacon and poached eggs or poached eggs on toast or fruit salad for breakfast

Fruit snacks

Home made baked goods

I have significant allergies so we aren’t low (almost no) UPF by choice, it’s just we have to cook everything from scratch anyway.