11 foods to prep for a healthy week of eating:
1. Prep a bunch of greens at once (especially the hearty greens like kale, collards, and swiss chard). Clean them, strip the stems and slice them. They’ll store great in the fridge and you can easily grab them to cook up in your mix and match bowls or add them to smoothies.
2. Chop or Spiralize raw vegetables in advance. Cut carrots, onions, peppers and celery to grab as a simple snack, add to your salad or wrap or for a quick vegetable satuee option. Spiralize zucchini noodles and butternut squash to use for meals later in the week.
3. Roast a bunch of veggies at once. I usually do an oven full on Sunday and maybe once during the week. What’s included depends on what’s in season but it’s usually a mix of sweet potatoes, cauliflower, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, beets, parsnips, carrots, turnips, radishes, or fennel. These will all keep in the fridge for 3-5 days. Eat them cold or heat them up. Mmmm… so good! You can also do all of these in a crockpot!
4. Wash and cut fruit. Chop up a whole watermelon, cantaloupe or de-stem strawberries. You’re more likely to eat the fruit and there will be less spoilage if it’s ready to go.
5. Blended soups. Make a big batch or two of blended soup each week. Fly without a recipe here! Used roasted veggies (from above) or just add a bunch of veggies to your stockpot with chicken or veggie stock. Add some spices, garlic, ginger or coconut milk. Simmer until the veggies are soft and blend it up. Store in mason jars in the fridge for quick meals. Or store in individual or family size containers in the freezer to eat later.
6. If you eat fish, poach salmon or cod by boiling it in water or broth. It’s ready in under 10 minutes and you can add it to salads, wraps, or make it part of dinner. Canned wild-caught salmon or sardines are also a great go-to to add to salads or cooked veggies.
6. If you eat chicken, cook a whole chicken in your crock pot. Rinse it, shake some spices, salt and pepper on it. Cook it overnight or all day on low OR for 4-5 hours on high. The meat falls off the bone and you an use the bones to make bone broth.
7. If you eat lamb, pork or ground beef, make a batch of little meat patties. I use plain ground meat and add salt, pepper and spices (turmeric, coriander, cumin usually). Shape into little patties and pan-fry.
8. If you eat grains, cook a big batch or quinoa, millet or buckwheat. Make grains salads, make breakfast porridges, or use it with veggies stir-fries.
9. Bag up smoothie ingredients. Pre-assemble smoothie ingredients in a freezer bag for quick blending especially useful for hectic mornings.
10. Hard boil a bunch of eggs. Add some sliced eggs to salads, wraps or grab a couple for a quick breakfast or snack option.
11. Cook a big batch of bean or lentils. Dried beans and lentils are a great inexpensive source of protein. Cook a whole bag at a time and freeze the extras.
You can adapt this method to how you eat. For example, I don’t eat grains much, so I make a big batch of cauliflower rice each week. You can keep a “batch cook wish list” on the fridge that you can add to whenever inspiration strikes. Crossing things off the list as they’re completed is very satisfying and cooking this way has saves my sanity during the week! We also have “freezer Fridays” where we each choose something from the freezer on Friday mornings that we have for dinner that night. A night off from cooking!
Do you have any tips to share? I’d love to hear them!