We thought of sharing some things that we do to keep our house in order and our plans for eating real food at home on track. Here are the top 10 things that we do and we think it will be helpful to begin on the right foot this year planning, cooking and eating as healthy and REAL as you can!
1) Make a weekly or monthly grocery and staples list: Honestly, it doesn’t change much even if our recipes vary. Once we have good ingredients and seasonings on hand, we can cook whatever we want. Our list is in excel and we just update it when we run out of something. Using a grocery planning template we have made may be helpful, but you can use any form, template or app for what works for you.
2) Plan at least a week’s worth of groceries: Don’t just stop there, make a list of all the things you need and then make a plan for the meals you are going to cook with them. Then, plan when and how you will cook them (ex. Monday night defrost chicken for Tuesday night stew chicken and sweet potatoes). Once a week or once a month we write ours in a shared calendar on our computer and on the wall (just in case), that way we both are reminded what we will be cooking and when. Some people use apps, chalkboards, picture frames with dry erase markers…you name it. Whatever you do, keep it simple and stick to it.
3) Stock up on simple real food ‘frozen’ basics: Having a good stock of various spices, oils and a few types of frozen vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, peas, spinach, brussels sprouts) and frozen chicken legs and thighs you can make almost anything!
4) Wash, peel, chop & store: Either the day after or the weekend after shopping, spend some time washing, peeling and chopping the fresh four or any other ingredients that you use as a base for many recipes. We clean, chop and store them in ziploc bags or freezer safe containers. Onions, scallions, green pepper, ginger and garlic store especially well among many other things.
5) Cook large amounts Batchcooking or OAMC: Once a week we will Batchcook. A few years back, every few months, we would do a {OAMC} “once a month cooking” spree. We love doing this because we can prepare large amounts of food and have food ready to go for when life gets crazy or we know we will be having a busy month coming up. For Batchcooking we prep for the week and it saves a ton of time. For OAMC, we would usually cook 6-10 different types of meals and freeze them in heavy duty aluminum catering style “HEFTY” pans. We would then defrost them 2 days before serving in the fridge and usually heat them up in the oven or on the stove.
6) Cook a double batch: If you don’t have time to cook for a whole month, then at least cook double the amount of food for one given recipe. You can either eat leftovers, or freeze the extra the same way we do for OAMC.
7) Portion and save: After cooking a big meal, try to portion, save and store some of the meals into ‘single-serve’ containers or large ziploc bags and either freeze or refrigerate for breakfast, lunch or dinner leftovers. Doing this ahead of time, instead of storing the food in a large container will help you during a busy week.
8) Use your crockpot: Plan to use a crockpot to make breakfast (like eggs), soup, sweet potatoes, or meat overnight. When you cook overnight you either have breakfast, lunch or dinner for the next day. If you prefer to have dinner made when you come home, prep the food in the crock the night before and leave it covered in the fridge, then turn it on in the AM before you leave for work. Then when you come home, dinner is ready! You really can’t go wrong. We’ve tried some jerk chicken legs in the crockpot and they were amazing…not really ‘jerk’ in cooking style, but definitely in flavor! We have also cooked whole sweet potatoes in the crock and they came out soft and crispy.
9) Shelf stable ‘go-to’: Have a shelf-stable ‘go-to’ recipe that you can make on nights where you’re not prepared or you forgot to stick to the plan. We always have canned salmon in the pantry and our ‘go-to’ quick meal is salmon burgers with some sweet potatoes and broccoli or just salmon burgers with a green salad. No defrosting and no prep required. This is the easiest meal we can make. Takes 5 minutes to prep and dinner is ready in 25-30 minutes.
10) Greens and eggs (not green eggs): Always have some pre-washed greens and boiled eggs on hand. Boil some eggs on the weekend, peel them and store them in a container. You can eat the eggs as a quick breakfast, a snack or make a nice egg salad with the greens. These are two things (along with bananas) that we ALWAYS have in our house at all times. You know the top 3 things you need at ALL times to function…for some it’s milk, eggs and bread, etc…for us its eggs, greens, and bananas…etc.
We hope some of these tips help you to start on a real-food path or stick to it. In the world we live in, it can be hard to stay on track and be encouraged to cook and eat clean. We need all the help we can get! You can start planning by using a simple grocery planning template like this one below…now get cooking!