Going to be honest I haven't meal prepped in a couple years here and it was a giant pain in the ass to get it figured out in my new kitchen. But its done and I'm hungry. This is for the guys and gals out there that are looking to do something on a 'budget' to get the calories in you for a lean mass and strength gain. I focused on the macros for myself and you can definitely tweak whatever you'd like for your specific caloric intake. And by all means take it, run with it, pawn it off as your own... I don't care, I just thought I'd share what works well for me.

I'll start this off with the meals I wanted to make. I wanted to make chicken and steak. Boom too easy. figured I'd make 2x chicken and 1x steak a day. I'll also add that on top of those three meals I'm adding a breakfast and pre workout meal bringing my meals up to 5 (REAL FOOD) and two other meals having to be shakes post workout and pre bed. But ill be focusing on just the three main meals including meat for this post on the meal prep.

Meal layouts:
1) 8oz chicken, 100g white rice, 4oz broccoli or 4oz asparagus
2) 8oz flank steak, 5oz white potatoes, 4oz broccoli or 4 oz asparagus

Too easy right? As simple as I could get it as to not break the bank or cause the need for extra BS at the store (I hate people now days). Also adding that I've got an autoimmune disease and I can't do brown rice or complex carbs and sweet potatoes wreck my day. So I've made this to MY specific needs. You all can take this and switch them out to make them better for you.

Next step: MATH
Sat down did the math on how much I'd need and as any good human being would I added 15% to each so I didn't have to go back to the store. Got my numbers and rolled to the store.

LIST:
7lb chicken breasts
3.5lb Flank steak (lean steak with least amount of fat to trim off)
Big bag of potatoes (shit dont go bad and cheap)
Big bag of white rice (same as above^^^)
2x Big cheapest brand plain instant oatmeal
4 heads of fresh broccoli
4 rolls of fresh asparagus
Some coconut oil
Olive oil
Apples
Bananas

Got all of that for a grand total 89$ just because of the coconut oil and olive oil. Shits expensive. should have been 76$ but needed it anyways.

HOME PREP:
Got home and ripped apart my kitchen got out a crock pot, rice cooker (GET ONE they are boss), cutting boards, skillets baking sheets... all of it. get all the meat out and opened up and season salt and pepper only and get the meat to room temp. Cooks better just a heads up.

Started with the flank steak. I like to put it in the crock pot its just easy. In a skillet add some olive oil and sear all sides of the steaks. I got 2x 2lb flank steaks so it was easy. Seared and put right in the crock pot. Add some chopped onions and some garlic to the skillet post meat cook them down and then add a half cup of water to it. Get all the bits off the pan with a wisk and bring to a boil and then dump that right on top of the steaks in the crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours. Walk away.

Start the rice in the rice cooker and as many potatoes you can fit in the steam tray while rice is on... Not going to get into that. Its a rice cooker and if you cant figure that out we'll have Tommy come back there and beat you over the head with a tack hammer mmmkay (movie quote Tommy Boy)

Chicken... pain in the ass. But worth it. I cut my chicken into small strips to make it easy to cut off all the fat and also easier to weigh out for cooking. Turn the oven to 400 degrees and keep cutting. Get out the scale and baking trays and start weighing out 8 oz portions, make those into little mini piles so they are easy to season and put right in the oven. Once the piles are made and good to go on the trays either salt pepper or whatever seasoning you want. Make it your own gentlemen and ladies. Oven for 20-25 min. Might be a little long but my chicken wasn't dry and for me I'd rather overcook some of my chicken then under. You can always add a little some some later if too dry or needs some more taste.

Cut and prep your asparagus and broccoli. I toss both of mine in olive oil and season salt and pepper. also onto a baking tray into same oven at 400 10-12 min for both. usually right after the chicken comes out and is cooling you can pop them right in. too easy.

Once the veggies are done you can start to divvy up what you've got so far and wait till the steak is done. This also isn't rocket science. Just follow your meal layout and get to it. Once all of those individual meals are set the steaks should be done right around there. Finish up by cutting the steak and portion those out in your potato trays and you're good to go from there. I put two days in the fridge right off and the rest in my freezer. I eat three in a day. 2x chicken and 1x steak. And I'm a stupid happy camper. The ones I use the day before I replace from freezer to fridge.

I'll go over the Macros here real fast for these meals and explain my specific diet. I'm 35, 6'1", and currently sitting at 185-195 fluctuates quite a bit due to the autoimmune thing I had mentioned earlier. For JUST these three meals combined a day it comes out to:

Calories: 1800
Protein: 220g
Carbs: 100g
Fat: 40g

Now for the rest of my food for the day I do Breakfast with an oatmeal base And a pre workout meal I eat 30-45 min before my lift. If you guys want my exact breakfast and pre workout meal just holler at me and ill fill you in. but this already got longer than I thought it would. Combining both coming out to:

Calories: 825-850
Protein: 76g
Carbs: 92g
Fat: 11g

2x Shakes for the day post lift and pre bed come out to:

Calories: 400
Protein: 72g
Carbs: 9g
Fat: 6g

Nutrition for the day as a full total look like this:

Calories: 3025-3200
Protein: 360-375g
Carbs: 200-210g
Fat: 55-60g

These numbers are specific to me. And perfect for what I'm currently trying to do. But I know that you all will definitely tweak it here and there for mass and for cutting weight. but its definitely a great base diet on a budget. I'm still new here and not really sure how to post pictures to these threads but I'll add some pictures to the self pics and add the link here. I hope this helps anyone out there thats looking to budget buy meals for the week and gives some ideas to some guys that have been thinking about doing it. First time back was a bit of a pain in the ass but got it sorted and next week will be a whole lot easier. Oh and finally if you're a young lady trying to do the same just cut all the ingredients in half and start from there. should be great for any young lady thats getting it in hard at the gym as well. And a great starting point. Be easy, cheers boys. Keep eating and Killin it.

Here are some pics for you go guys hopefully it works otherwise its in the pics forum under self shots:

https://www.eroids.com/pics/meal-prep-on-a-budget-this-time