Meal prepping on a budget

Today marks the 16th week of Sunday meal prepping.  What’s on the menu for breakfasts and lunches this week,  and what’s the cost?

Breakfast prep

Breakfast – a loaded frittata. Six slices of gluten free bread on the base, topped by sweet potato, wilted spinach,  tinned champignon pieces, finely diced Spanish onion, and diced bacon. The egg mix that bathed the top and flowed down between all the nooks and crannies was mixed with cottage cheesefor extra protein.

Now, I’m no food stylist,  but I reckon it looks pretty good. And loaded. Now, the entire dish holds $40.49 of ingredients. And I reckon there are at least 10 serves in that baking dish, maybe even 12. Let’s say 10, so that’s $4.05 for breakfast.

Lunch? In my shiny new 490ml Thermos food containers,  will be soup over a mixture of rice, barley and lentils. All kept nice and toasty hot.

Reckoning a price per serve for them is trickier. The rice, barley and lentils all come from my pantry,  purchased some time ago. The soup pouches are about $3 each, for two serves. I have chicken and mushroom,  chicken and vegetable, pea and ham, sweet potato and chickpea and pumpkin soups to choose from.

Add in snacks of carrot sticks, and either an apple, a banana or a mandarin, and that’s a full day’s eating for me for about $7.50 a day.

I think I can safely say that I have conquered that skill regression that flipped me into an autistic meltdown 16 weeks ago. The routine, so helpful for me, is well and truly established.

I’m working on adding other routines now. These are a  “good morning” routine, from waking to walking out the door,  and a “good evening,  welcome home” routine.  If I tick off three-quarters of each routine, that’s ok for now.  I can build up to them.

These routines include self care for the start of the day and the end of the day.  And my skin is already feeling much better – the wonders of interoception.  My face and neck are now moisturised and hydrated,  and I can distinctly feel the contrast of the dryness of my legs. 

That’s another routine to be built,  but not for right now. Right now,  “good morning” and ” welcome home” will be in their second week,  and will take some time to become fully routine.

At the age of 52, it’s quite strange to think about these things as “new”, but that’s what unmasking can do.  It can tear parts of your life apart,  and it’s about learning to work and learn authentically, being true to my autistic self and making accommodations for myself.

And,  regardless of neurotype, how much better would it be if we were all authentic to ourselves?