Health is often described as a journey. Cheesy, yes?
And like many cliches – strongly rooted in truth!
A big part of this journey is making alterations to your routine to set yourself up for lasting change. This can be overwhelming and new and confusing…and a bit frustrating.
FEAR NOT, KIND SOULS – We’ve got you covered with some culinary strategies and tasty tips from our very own nature and nourishment-loving Astren.
He’s got a strong posterior chain and super strongbackground in the kitchen, having had a prior life as a chef before joining the team at 5EW. We’ve peppered some resources throughout his blog to get you geared up for a fun time in the kitchen…we’re talking playlists and produce guides, so your cooking space will be atmospheric and prepped as (ham)hock!
Bon appetit, comrades.
This is an in-depth guide to get you preparing healthy food at home to set you up for an entire week (yes – you heard correctly) of meals.
If you can follow this guide correctly, I can guarantee that you will minimise food preparation time while absolutely maximising your tasty results – containers full of scrumptious and nutritious food!
Why meal prep?
Preparing a week’s worth of healthy food ensures that you are well set for the upcoming challenges you may face during the week. Whether it be training hard with the assistance of your personal trainer, heavy-work loads and surprise deadlines, long commutes or precious family time, with your meals prepared well in advance, you will be able to dedicate yourself 100% to the task at hand, with the reassurance that your nutrient dense, homemade fuel is just a Tupperware away.
Can you see the advantage of not having to cook as much during the week when life gets a little busier? It’s time to say goodbye to rushed, fast food eating!
Before you start
Here are some helpful hints and things to consider when preparing for your clean-eating healthy meal prep session:
- Choose your recipes: Decide on what produce you want to eat (and are content to eat for a few days) and the recipes you will need to follow.
- Shop your pantry BEFORE heading to the market:Check out what you already have in your kitchen and make a list of everything you need. Whenyou go on your market haul, you’ll pick up everything for your week’s worth of meals without doubling up or skipping over ingredients. If you’re cooking on a budget, read our Eating Healthy on a Budget Blog and discover some fantastic food shopping tips.
- Invest in low-toxin food storage containers: Opt for food storage containers that are made of materials such as glass, limiting your exposure to BPA and other potentially harmful toxins found in common plastics.
Alright, let’s get into it.
What you need
Time
Set aside 2 and a half hours of your week, preferably on a Sunday(or whichever day suits your schedule best).
An equipped kitchen
This prep requires multi-pot cooking, roasting and pan-frying. Ideally, aim to have:
- couple of pots for boiling
- three roasting trays
- an oven and stove top
- sharp knife
- tongs
- slow cooker (optional).
High-Quality Produce
Get your hands on a wide range of beautiful veggies, nourishing meats, high-quality eggs, good cooking fats and healthful fish. Try your best to shop organic, grass-fed and free range where possible – your body will thank you for it.
Astren’s tip: For more variety in taste and flavour, it helps to have an arsenal of citrus, herbs and spices on hand.
Take a look at Sustainable Table’s Seasonal Produce Guide and plethora of online resources
- Seasonal Produce Guide
- Sustainable Table All Things Ethical Eating Gudie
Before we begin…
Stand tall and proud in your kitchen, you are the master of this domain for the next 2.5 hours.
Your commitment and presence to the task is vital! My advice?Crank up your favourite tunes and get started!
Setting it all up
- Fill a pot with water and get it on the boil
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius
- Make 2 piles on your kitchen top counter
- 1 pile of proteins
- 1 pile of vegetables
Stand back and marvel at your nutritious bounty. Now, get out your shield and sword and prepare for battle!
Or maybe just your kitchen knife and chopping board, that should do just fine…
Loading the oven
Line your oven trays with parchment/baking paper and set them near your chopping board.
Vegetables
- Chop up the veggies you want to roast
- Dump into following 2 trays:
- Tray 1: Hard veggies (carrots, beets, pumpkin, sweet potato)
- Tray 2:Softer veggies (eggplant, zucchini, cauliflower, mushrooms)
Astren’s tip: To make things run smoothly aim to have similar cooking times throughout the entire tray by chopping vegetables to similar sizes and correctly distributing by firmness.
- Sprinkle salt and pepper over your trays of veggies and pour your choice of cooking oil over them (ghee, knobs of organic butter or coconut oil)
- Sprinkle with a mix of exquisite spices – try smoked paprika, caraway seeds, curry powder or crushed cumin seeds.
- Place your trays in the preheated oven for roughly 20 minutes. Check occasionally, giving them a mix with a wooden spoon.
Protein
- Place your proteins on Tray 3.This could be in the form oforganic sausages, gluten free burgers, skewers, rissoles and chicken thighs.
- Drizzle some oil over them and add spices where needed. Place them in the oven.
Astren’s tip: Don’t worry if it’s a squeeze with oven space and trays, we’ll free up the veggie trays once they’ve been cooked!
On the stove
By now, our pot of water should be coming to a rolling boil.
- Chop up remaining cruciferous veggies (broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower) and dunk them in the boiling water.
- After a few minutes, stab the stalks with a small knife to ensure they are cooked, use tongs to remove them and pop aside and wait for the water to come to a rolling boil again.
- Once it’s boiling, place in your second load of veggies.
- Repeat until all your cruciferous bounty is blanched. This should take 3 to 4 minutes for each batch, depending on the thickness of the veggies and your cooking preference.
- Once you have completed the cooking and preparation of your vegetables, the next step is to re-use the pot to boil rice, gluten free pasta or quinoa.
Astren’s tip: Use the kettle to get some water on the boil fast.
6. Check up on your boiling goods frequently and stir with a wooden spoon.
Aim to re-use all kitchen appliances several times during your food prep session, this way you will reduce time washing up carnage once you’re finished.
Reap what you sow
It’s time to take your trays of protein and vegetables out of the oven!
- Using an oven mitt, remove trays after ensuring that your produce is cooked.
- Place all food in separate containers using tongs and let it cool down with the lids off.
- Re-use the vegetable trays – this time for your fish or alternate proteins.
- Place fish fillets, prawns and other seafood in the already lined and greased up trays, sprinkle some jazz (aka salt, pepper and spice) over them and stick in the oven.
Of course if you feel like you need additional veggies, you can always roast more by following similar steps. The same goes for your meat – this is your chance to stock up and cook for the whole week, so go hard!
Almost done!
- While your fish is roasting away nicely, check on your rice/quinoa/pasta. Pick a bit out with a fork and give it a taste, you’ll instinctively know when it’s ready (if crunchy let it boil longer, if not then tip out the water in the sink using a strainer).
- Get the slow cooker outand place it on the bench near an electrical outlet. If you don’t own one, no biggie, just use a deep roasting tray instead.
Astren’s tip: If using a slow cooker, place it on the low setting and let it cook for anything between 5-10 hours. If preparing in the morning, it will be ready in the evening. If prepping in the evening, leave it on til the morning.
Alternatively, you may be using a deep oven tray instead of the slow cooker. Layer the tray with 2 coats of foil, making sure there are no holes for steam to come out. Turn the oven down to 120 degrees and place the tray in for 4 hours.
- Throw a good piece of organic meat into it (lamb shoulder, shanks or pork neck make a great slow cook!)
- Chop up your last scraps of vegetables (sweet potatoes, celery, cabbage, carrots) and chuck those in there too.
- Pour in some tomato passata and add a splash of organic wine. Toss in a few bay leaves, heaps of your favourite spice mix and of course the all important salt and pepper.
- Stick the lid on this bad boy, plug it in and forget about it for a few hours.
- Once the slow cook is on, take your last trays out the oven and place the contents into your containers. Finish up by cleaning down the bench and tackling the much dreaded washing up – I’ll let you take the reins from here!
- Secure the lids on all your containers of food and stack that goodness in the fridge.
CONGRATULATIONS!
You now have enough healthy, nutritious, home made and cost effective food to get you through an entire week.
Your chest must be pounding with pride and confidence, knowing that no matter what happens in the upcoming days you will be fit to tackle every challenge because you have the correct fuel!
Final tips
No one is born an expert, it will take a few attempts for you to perfect your strategies in the kitchen. Now that you have the tools and structure, there is nothing keeping you from achieving epic food prep other than practice – so get cooking!
If you’re meal prepping with this guide, make sure you keep us in the loop by using #5EW and@5EW
