Meal prep so easy a caveman can do it(newbie guide)

Intro: After years of dieting and trying to cook healthy with limited success, I've found a system that works for me. This is my easy mode meal prep, feel free to swap ingredients however you want. I am posting this more or less as a newbie guide to follow for those who are struggling to find a way to fix a meal that meets the holy trinity of being cheap, healthy, and easy. This isn't perfect, but what is? Have fun with it and make it your own.

 

Things you might want to consider purchasing BEFORE you begin your meal prep journey(these are what I use):

 

A scale
Microwavable multi-use plastic containers

 

According to MyFitnessPal the macros for this batch:
495 calories
59g carbs
4g fat
56g protein

 

PS:I threw in a LOT of broccoli so the cals are on the high end, but you don't have to. Do whatever you want homie. Usually my meals are in the 330-400 cal range.

 

Step one: Shopping(time to pull out your hard earned pennies)
For the sake of simplicity I am going to assume you already have some basic spices, cookware, and at least ramen-making level culinary skills. If you don't that's fine, but you'll have to figure that shit out on your own. I'm not going to do everything for you.

 

Below is the stuff I had to pick up from the store.. I was on a time crunch so I kind of just grabbed stuff. I change it up every time, but the important things to always grab are a lean protein (I always use chicken breast), good veggies that have a lot of fiber(Frozen, fresh, canned, whatever you feel like man.), and either brown rice or quinoa.

 

3lbs chicken breast=2.99/lb=$8.97
One big yellow onion=$1.31
Raw nonorganic Broccoli=3.28lbs= $3.24 (yeah nonorganic... I'm cheap)
Orange peppers=4/$5= $5
One box of brown rice=1.29
Add it all up...19.81
7 big meals for just under 20 bucks ...not terrible when you consider it's 2.83 a pop. If you aren't in the mood for a ton of veggies you can easily omit the peppers and onions and magically you are at 1.92 per meal! Even better! Cheaper gainz! Huzzah!

 

Step two: Go home.
Step three: Pre-heat the oven to 350.
Step four: Start chopping. Seriously. Chop like your life depended on it. I chopped up the broccoli, the peppers, the onions, and then the chicken. Weigh your ingredients now before you cook them, it's easier and later you can just divide your totals by the amount of containers you will equally fill and you have an easy way to get your macros. Much easier than weighing each container as you scoop stuff into it. Who cares if your containers vary slightly in size? It'll average out over the next few days.   The rest of these steps can be done simultaneously or in whatever order you feel like. Just prioritize starting the chicken and the rice before the veggies and it should all finish about the same time.

 

Step five: Get out a baking dish, something that can fit all that chopped up chicken that you're about to cook. Line it with foil, and fill it with your chicken. Season that shit up and mix it around. I used garlic powder, salt, pepper, and some generic poultry seasoning. Use whatever you want. When your oven is done preheating, throw your chicken in the oven. Let it cook about 30 minutes. Check it every 5-10 after that, cutting into it and making sure there are no pink parts left.
Step six: Follow the directions on the boxed brown rice. It's easy.
Step seven: Grab a large pan with a lid THAT FITS(trust me, it's pretty important) and throw all your broccoli in there with 2-3 cups of water. Put it on the stove and crank it up to high. When it starts boiling turn down the heat and put the lid on it. Cook/steam the broccoli to desired texture.
Step eight: Fry up your chopped onions and peppers in medium sized pan on medium-high heat.(I didn't use any oil but you can) You can throw in garlic powder or extra seasonings if you like. I did. It's done when the onions look glassy and the peppers are soft.

 

Step nine: Woohoo! You made it! The fun part! Now that everything is cooked to perfection you can put everything into your containers. I had seven on hand so this will be seven meals for me. I like to start with the rice and layer the chicken broccoli/veggies on top. I do this so I have to eat all the veggies before getting to the "good stuff."
Step ten: I drizzled hot sauce and soy sauce on top of each.
Step eleven: Pack it up, put it away, wash your dishes, and go calculate your macros. Easy peasey. You are done. Congrats. It should look something like this

 

TLDR: Pictures! 2-3 bucks a meal depending on how you make it, with good macros.(at least I think so)

Obligatory edit: This is not my only source of nutrition, and I do not recommend ONLY eating this meal as a diet. I eat these mostly for lunch and or dinner. I personally am doing iffym with roughly a 45c30p25f split on a small caloric deficit, but that doesn't matter. Make it work for you. :-)

Edit 2: whoa this got a much bigger response than I anticipated. If there is interest I can make a more detailed post explaining how I track macros, more meal ideas, ideas on making the meals better fit your macros and general advice on meal prep.

Edit 3: gold!!! Thank you anonymous super hero, I am glad you enjoyed my post. Hope it helps.:-)
Also if you guys look in the comments several users have recreated their version of the meal and posted their costs, pictures, etc. I recommend checking them out for addition inspiration and advice.
Edit 4: LAST one. A lot of people are still messaging me for advice on a wide range of things. While I am more than happy to answer specific questions I recently read a book that answers almost all the questions I've gotten. Bigger leaner stronger by Michael Matthews. I bought the ebook from amazon on sale for 99 cents and after reading it would have gladly paid $30+ for it. Fantastic read, backed by countless studies. Can't recommend it enough.(no I am not affiliated with him in any way, I am just a fan)