wellness

Werribee Families Cut Weeknight Cooking With $6 Sunday Meal Prep

Werribee households are shifting to Sunday batch sessions to cut weeknight cooking time while keeping meals under $6 per serve.

By Werribee Wellness Desk · Published 8 July 2026

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More than 180 families registered for the July meal prep workshop series run by Wyndham City Council in the first week of the month.

The registrations follow a rise in shift work at the Werribee Mercy Hospital and the nearby industrial estates, where many staff finish after 7pm and need ready meals for children. Parents report they now spend 90 minutes on Sunday afternoons chopping and portioning instead of cooking every evening after school pick-up on Tarneit Road.

The Wyndham City Council program operates from the Werribee Community Centre on Synnot Street, while the Werribee Park Farmers Market on Market Street supplies pre-portioned vegetable boxes every Saturday morning for $22. Both sites run free 45-minute planning classes that teach how to divide one roast chicken into three separate meals using only a single oven tray.

Cost and time data from local participants

A 2025 audit by the Werribee Wellness Network found that households following a four-day prep schedule spent an average of $78 on groceries each week, down from $104 the previous year. The same survey recorded an average 38 minutes saved per weekday evening once containers were already labelled and stacked in the fridge.

Participants at the Synnot Street centre receive printed templates that list exact gram weights for rice, lentils and frozen spinach so portions stay consistent across five school lunches. Market vendors on Market Street now stock 500-gram packs of pre-trimmed broccoli for $3.50, matching the template quantities exactly.

Next steps for new starters

Residents can collect the July template pack from the front desk at the Werribee Community Centre before the next session on 15 July. Those who prefer to start at home can buy the same vegetable boxes at the Saturday market and divide them using the free checklist posted on the council website.

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