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Home » Uncategorized

Day 5: The Prep Check

Published: Dec 17, 2025 by Abhi · This post may contain affiliate links · Nutrition values are estimates only. Leave a Comment

Welcome to Day 5 of The End of "What's For Tomorrow?" challenge. You have your dishes, your preferences, your nutrition tags, and your formulas. Now let's figure out how to actually prep all of this.

Goal

Know what to freeze, what to batch-prep, and what to cook fresh.

Why This Matters

Knowing what to cook is only half the battle. Knowing how to prep it efficiently is what makes meal planning actually work. Some dishes freeze beautifully. Others need to be made fresh. Some can sit in the fridge for days. Others don't.

Once you tag your dishes, your Sunday prep becomes automatic. You'll know exactly what to make ahead and what to save for day-of cooking.

Your Task

  1. Open your worksheet
  2. Find the "Prep Ahead" column and the "Day-Of" column
  3. Go through every dish
  4. Mark what you can do before the day you eat it (Prep Ahead)
  5. Mark what you do the day you eat it (Day-Of)

Open the Home Menu Worksheet

How to Tag Your Dishes

Prep Ahead column. What can you do before the day you eat it?

  • 🧊 Freezer: Make a big batch, pull when needed
  • 📦 Fridge: Batch prep, lasts 4-5 days
  • 🔪 Cut: Chop veggies ahead, cook day-of
  • Leave blank if nothing to prep ahead

Day-Of column. What do you do the day you eat it?

  • 🍳 Cook fresh
  • 🔄 Reheat or microwave
  • Leave blank if it's ready to eat

Quick Reference

DishPrep AheadDay-Of
Rajma🧊 Freeze full batch🔄 Reheat
Chicken Curry🧊 Freeze full batch🔄 Reheat
Channa Masala🧊 Freeze full batch🔄 Reheat
Dal🧊 Freeze full batch🔄 Reheat
Sambar🧊 Freeze full batch🔄 Reheat
Plain Rice🧊 Freeze full batch🔄 Reheat
Dosa🧊 Freeze batter🍳 Cook fresh
Idli🧊 Freeze batter🍳 Steam fresh
Egg Curry🧊 Freeze base🍳 Add eggs
Upma🧊 Freeze full batch🔄 Reheat
Poha🔪 Cut veggies🍳 Cook fresh
Veggie Fries🧊 Freeze full batch🔄 Reheat
Cabbage Stir-Fry🔪 Cut cabbage🍳 Cook fresh
Raita📦 FridgeReady to eat
Chutneys📦 FridgeReady to eat
Salads🔪 Prep base only🍳 Add dressing

New to freezer meals? Start small. Pick just one or two dishes to try freezing first.

What You'll Discover

Your freezer stars. The dishes you can make in big batches and pull out whenever you need them.

Your fridge friends. The sides and accompaniments that last all week with minimal effort.

Your fresh-only dishes. The meals that taste best made day-of, so you know not to batch them.

Your prep rhythm. Now you can see exactly what to do on Sunday (freeze and batch) versus what to do on Tuesday night (reheat and cook fresh).

table of day 5 prep check list with dish names

What's Next?

Tomorrow is Day 6: Your Weekly Template. The final day. You'll put everything together into a reusable rhythm that fits your life.

Share your progress in the WhatsApp group. What dishes are you most excited to freeze? Any surprises about what can be prepped ahead?

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Abhi indian food blogger focused on Marcos

Welcome!

I'm Abhi, and I help busy people eat balanced Indian food without spending hours in the kitchen. Here you'll find freezer friendly curry cubes, hands-off oven recipes, and macro balanced thali meals designed for real life: toddlers, work deadlines, and everything in between. Cook once, eat all week.

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