Member Reviews

Plans are well organized and the recipes are easy to follow. All ingredients are grocery store staples so no unknown or hard to find items are necessary. Thank goodness as meal prep is used to save time, not keep people running around for exotic foods.

I was impressed seeing specialty diets: Low-Carb, Vegetarian, Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free. Once I realized only 4 were included I was disappointed that a Diabetic and Keto plan were not included. Many people are afflicted with diabetes where meal planning is essential to their health. Plus Keto is very popular right now so this book already has a passe feeling.

The format works but has poor aesthetics.

I received a ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

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This step-by-step book is great if you are struggling with the best ways to meal prep. I often get overwhelmed when I get home from the grocery store after I have sworn I will meal prep, and instead I give up on the idea. This book helped me get organized and set up in such a way that I didn't feel overwhelmed and was able to do the cleaning/chopping/full prepping. It is important to point out that this is not a cookbook (although she does include 4 simple meal plan ideas, with cooking instructions, so that you can get a better idea of how to do the step-by-step), Each of the plans she includes cover a specific type of diet (gluten free, vegetarian, etc.). She also included a great list of ingredients to have on hand so that meal prepping is easy.

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This is an amazing starter guide for those interested in meal prepping. It has information in relation to the different types of equipment and containers needed for this, as well as a starter shopping list. One of the key selling points of this book is that rather than having single recipes, it has weekly plans and the instructions contained help you to make all the items needed for that plan in one session, with all the times for the various ingredients. For those who want a bit more freedom, it also contains the individual recipes for you to follow yourself.

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Things I liked:
The inclusion some vegetarian options and recipes (because I am one)
It would be fairly simple to swap in a recipe or two of your own into the plan
3 meals and 2 snacks a day and she says you’ll likely lose weight
Variations for gluten free or dairy free
Healthy
Home cooked is way better tasting than fast food
I think there is great variety in the recipes - some Mexican, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Thai, dessert, soups, wraps, beef, fish, chicken, vegetarian, pastas, salads, stir fries, snacks, dips, etc.

Things I disliked:
She says the prep time is 2-3 hours once a week, but then later she gives some instructions on doing some things the night before
To save on complicated prep, she suggests you eat the same meals twice each week. I think this will bother some people, but if time is more valuable to you than variety, you might disagree. Of course you can choose to plan different meals every day and the time required will increase accordingly.

Full disclosure: I haven’t actually tried the prep plan yet, so my review is based on an untested method.

I think this would be a delightfully easy starting point for someone who wants to try a bulk cooking/meal prep plan. Seeing how most women work these days and have very limited time for putting towards cooking, I think this could bring a lot of sanity on weeknights, especially when you have young children at home. I myself work full time and still have 1 child at home. I leave home at 6am and sometimes I’m not home until 5:30pm. That leaves me very little time for planning and cooking, and very little energy to execute any plan. I find cooking a lot more enjoyable when I’m not starving, at the end of my rope, or extremely limited on time. This plan could help solve all those problems.

If you are super picky and don’t like some of the health foods that are becoming more common, such as quinoa, whole grain pasta, cauliflower rice, lack of creamy sauces and cheeses, zucchini made into noodles, etc., you may not like these recipes. However, I think with a little planning, you could try this meal prep method with your own recipes.

There are a handful of recipes I’d like to try: Thai Bowls with Peanut Sauce, some of the Greek Yogurt dips, the Ginger Soy Chicken Thighs, Roasted Vegetables, and several others.

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Meal preparation might seem like a challenge, but this book helps you prepare several meals and snacks in advance. Batch cooking made easy. A lot of lean, healthy recipes that I wouldn't have thought of on my own.

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As a student who has always wanted to meal prep, I had to check out this book
Erin does an amazing job introducing the purpose and benefits of meal prepping. She goes through an in-depth and comprehensive explanation over what meal prepping is, and what it means to incorporate it into your life.
What is nice is that she goes through every step of meal prepping, from getting the right containers to buying groceries to finally prepping. Where most books and YouTube tutorials would only mention the recipe, Erin provides as much advice possible.
My favourite preps are:
Breakfast: Egg and Cheese English Muffin Sandwiches
Lunch: Pan-Fried Teriyaki Salmon
Deserts: Apple Cinnamon Walnut Muffins
The recipes that Erin provides are easy to follow. I'm really excited to give this a shot one day when I have to plan a week's worth of food.

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Thank you Quarto Publishing for a copy of The Visual Guide to Easy Meal Prep for review. Available August 6/19.

Lots of easy to follow information for beginners to meal prep, like me. Plenty of easy recipes as well but I really appreciated the walk through of what to prep and why meal prep works. Tips and tricks along the way will save plenty of time along the way.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Race Point Publishing for The Visual Guide to Easy Meal Prep by Erin Romeo. This is a book by the self-proclaimed Food Prep Princess who says her method for meal prep is “life changing.” This book is to help you meal prep so that you can save both time and money, as well as, eat healthier. Meal prep is all about routine, which this book provides you.

The first third of the book is full of very helpful tips and techniques, including the five steps to meal prep success, details on how to read and decipher nutrition labels and ingredient list, and lists of approved foods for healthy meal prep. The book also includes sample meal plans for: low carb, vegetarian, dairy free, and gluten free. The meal plans include which recipes to use and a step-by-step plan on how to do the meal plans. The meal plans each include recipes for four days – three meals and two snacks each day, including repeated recipes.

The book then lists lots of meal prep friendly recipes by topic. Some of my favorite recipes are:
- Breakfast
o Breakfast Burritos
o Healthy Egg Cup with several variations
o Chocolate Raspberry Breakfast Quinoa
- Mains
o Spinach Fettuccine with Turkey Bolognese
o Zucchini Noodles Caprese-Style
o Broccoli, Chicken, and Cheese Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
o “Not Your Mama’s Meatloaf” Muffins
- Snacks & Sides
o Apple Cinnamon Walnut Muffins
o Chocolate Granola
o Roasted Vegetables
- Dressings, Dips, and Sauces
o 3 Step Tomato Salsa
o Avocado Aioli
o Hummus

The book ends with a very detailed index to help you use the book. I found this book extremely helpful in beginning to meal prep. The recipes are all meal prep friendly and delicious. The sample meal plans really help to show you the process to use. This book is a great resource for meal prep in addition to a great source of meal prep friendly recipes.

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Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

Really like the layout of the book, it's simplicity, and the recipes. I like the focus on the healthy aspect of batch cooking. I felt inspired to cook and meal plan. With that said, I would have liked a little more prep/planning assistance listed for each recipe and not so generally at the beginning of the book.

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I thought that there were so many delicious sounding recipes in the book that also are healthy which is a huge plus for me. I would eat nearly all of them. I was disappointed that most of the recipes were for meals that couldn't be frozen because that is really the type of meal prep that I am looking for. I am sure that there are many people who will find a book like this useful who want to meal prep one week at a time. I am looking for more bulk cooking, so I hope the author comes out with an easy freezer meal prep in the future.

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I like the basic idea of the book, but it was almost halfway into the book before the recipes started. The first part had listings of what tools and such to have. Sorry, but didn't need to know that I should have containers and a blender. Another thing I wish would have been added would be calories. While I do not feel I have to watch every little one, I still prefer to limit excessive ones for each meal. I did like the tips on storage. For example, the Mediterranean Chicken mentions the portions could be froze up to 3-4 months. A few had ingredients that are unfamiliar to me, which would make a difference, but overall still found this a good book. Have tried a couple of recipes, and found them tasty. Would recommend.

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I think this book will be great for people that are low on time and meal ideas, but still want to eat a variety of healthy meals. It is well explained and has plenty of beautiful pictures. I don't know that meal prepping will work for everyone, but for those who want to give it a try, this is a good place too start.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I love the idea of this book. I frequently cook meals that last for two nights. The idea of prepping for meals that last several nights is appealing. I really like the look of some of the chilli recipes and I am looking forward to trying them.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

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Beautifully displayed recipes and ideas for precooking your weekly meals. Unlike some meal prep systems, every dish is cooked completely and then reheated, as opposed to creating the basics for a meal and cooking on the day of eating (which I think I prefer). Very healthy recipes, and plans include gluten free, dairy free, and vegan options as well. For a book that calls itself a 'visual guide' however, there are fewer pictures than expected.

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I enjoyed this book and it is great for beginners who are making meal prepping for the week. I will have to try some of the recipes.

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The book explains what is needed and how to prepare meals for a week at a time. The recipes are easy to follow as well as being nutritious and tasty. I would recommend this book to anyone thinking of starting following a meal prep way of life.

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This book is interesting and full of great ideas I will surely try. The recipes are healthy and well explained.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

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This book can be used as a beginners guide to meal prep (or anyone looking for some additional tips). The author lays out instructions and tips for each recipe as well as her five step plan really well. There are a variety of recipes taking into account various potential food allergies and/or diet preferences (i.e. gluten free, no dairy, vegetarian). The recipes are simple and easy to follow and there are many that sound delicious to me and I can't wait to try. The pictures that are there are beautiful- I only wish there were more! Thank you to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Race Point Publishing for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

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So sorry, but this book was just not for me. Too much reliance on ingredients that my family are unable to eat due to allergies and intolerances and the recipes really don't appeal to me at all. I'm also looking for healthy recipes but I definitely don't want to be losing weight.

As this book was so wrong for me, I will refrain from putting this onto any review sites.

Many thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this ARC for which I have given my voluntary and unbiased review.

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A book that takes on the Instagram phenom that is meal prep. I was hoping with the title of Visual guide it would be like scrolling through #mealprep and seeing drool worthy photos of neatly made meals. It wasn’t. What this book does really well is take you through the steps of cooking and preparing the meals; not just regular exiles but how to plan out which parts to do sequentially and concurrently in order to maximize time.This book has some great recipes for special diets that are commonly associated with meal plans. Quite a few of the recipes are meal prep standards that if you have been doing it for awhile you have probably already tried a version of, but it would be really good for someone starting out. It is simple enough not to overwhelm someone into giving up on the process. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for a digital ARC to review.

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