You guys are going to benefit from my mistake this week. I read the scheduled topic for this week and realized I'd promised you the wrong topic, but since I promised information on meal prepping, you're getting that AND a separate blog on Food and Mood. Food and Mood will be what your challenge is based on this week. So everything that follows is just bonus information to help wrap up meal planning and modifying recipes. But! Your questions for the week are in this blog. Tricky Tricky!
Bonus Blog- Meal Prepping
We’re in the final week of this three-week series on meal planning, recipe modification, and meal prepping. Meal prepping is where we’ll put it all together.
As discussed in previous weeks, the first thing we need to think about is what we want to eat for the week. Then we find recipes and tweak them where we can to make them healthier. Now, we set aside time to prepare whole meals or parts of meals so that eating home cooked meals throughout the week is not only possible, but is easy.
Eating more home-prepared meals can save money and help you consume more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, as well as less sodium, saturated fat, and added sugar.
Meal Prepping Tips:
Choose recipes with similar ingredients
Two recipes that use the same bean, meat, or vegetable
Cook with someone else- Many hands make light of work.
I meal prep with my sister. We cook for six people. We make our shopping list by Friday evening, get our groceries on Saturday, split the cost, and cook on Sunday. We prepare four meals for each family and it always takes less than two hours. Prep with another family member, a neighbor, or a friend from work or church. You might get to try some new recipes too!
Look for recipes that are freezer friendly for the meals that will be eaten later in the week. Prepared food is only safe in the refrigerator for three to four days.
Many recipes from cookingmatters.org have a chef’s notes section that have directions for freezing meals. A word of caution: these recipes are developed for low-income families, using “non-convenient” food items as ingredients. Feel free to adjust recipes to work for you and your family. For example, if the ingredients list a whole carrot but the directions tell you to shred the carrot, you can just buy the shredded carrot if you’d rather save time than money.
Stock up on freezer safe bags and containers.
Put together a meal “work station”- Group all ingredients for each meal together so it’s quick and easy to find what you need.
Divide and conquer- There are a few ways to do this. You could have one designated chopper, or you could each work on your own recipe. You’ll find a method that works for you.
I hope you’ll try this 3-step system. It sounds like a lot of work upfront, but it’s not that bad, and once you start doing it, it all becomes a habit.
Question 1: How often do you make home-prepared meals?
Question 2: Do you have a good relationship with food, or do you feel regret and other negative emotions after snacks/meals?