Part II: Planning Healthy Meals for the Week

How to Get Started Prepping Meals for the Week

     Last month I introduced you to what has motivated me to start cooking/preparing my own meals versus pre-made bought meals. As a review I am trying to avoid chronic debilitating painful and expensive conditions such as: Type II Diabetes, Obesity, Arthritis/Rheumatoid Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Depression, Anxiety, Heart Disease and Neuropathy or worse. Many scientific studies have shown great improvement and reversal (in some cases) by using a Whole Food Plant Based approach to eating. To clarify what this kind of diet is I will explain. 

     A Whole Food Plant Based approach to eating is not necessarily Vegan or Vegetarian.  It is trying to increase the amounts of Whole Foods (unprocessed food in it's most natural state), like not "corn meal byproduct" for example, in your diet. By increasing the amount of high quality (organic if possible) whole foods you can avoid many preservatives and additives that can cause imbalance within your body. These imbalances can cause symptoms from as small as skin blemishes, to larger symptoms such as irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety, metabolic syndrome and achy joints. The Plant Based portion of this kind of eating, or way of life, is just about adding more plant based foods into your diet, more fruits and vegetables. These ideally are as close to their natural state, and as unprocessed as possible. Plant foods have natural healing properties that in their most unprocessed form are able to help your body heal on an intra-cellular level. This does not have to mean you can't eat meats, dairy, or other foods. It is just adding more of Whole Food Plant Based foods into your diet. After some time you may recognize which foods feel better in your body, and which foods make you feel worse. Then you can begin to find your own unique balance of what kinds of foods you do best with to include or avoid.

Getting Started with your Meal Plan

     Organizing your shopping trip. Find 2-3 Key recipes to focus your shopping on. I like to pick 2 entree recipes and 1 snack or dessert type recipe. Making something that is a sweet snack or dessert sets me up for a go to safe snack when I get a sweet tooth. I make a grocery list based on the areas within the store, so that I get all of what I need when I am in that area and I don't have to back track further down in my list. When I write down ingredients from the recipe I skip over any items I already have in stock such as herbs/spices or oil/vinegar etc. This makes my shopping trip very specific and can speed up the time I spend in the store and decrease the amount I spend since I am sticking to a list. Knowing my meal plan for the next few days also prevents other purchases that can be expensive like pre-made meals and snacks. 

     Reading through each recipe thoroughly before I start prepping and cooking, helps me to plan appropriately and make sure I have what I need ready. I pull out pans equipment and tools needed so they are available. I also place all the ingredients I need out. Before I get started with anything I have to work on start to finish or pay close attention to, like cooking something on the stove-top, I look through the recipe to see if there are any veggies that needed slicing, dicing, chopping etc. I can then also pre-measure any ingredients such as flour, spices etc. into small dishes, so they are ready to throw together. This organization and prepping really helps the cooking process go more smoothly, where I won't forget a step, ingredient, or be distracted looking for an ingredient while something boils over on the stove for instance (which has happened in the past).

     Sometimes I may begin one recipe and while it's cooking I may work on the second. It just depends on how comfortable I am with each recipe, multi-tasking, and if I have any other distractions going on during that time. The more time you spend learning new recipes and how to prep for each one, the more comfortable you get, and less time consuming it is. The best part is when your food is prepared, you have that sense of not only accomplishment "Look what I made!" But also you have this good nutritious food at the ready for your next few days. So no matter how busy your schedule gets your meals are already set, so you don't have any last minute "oh what are we going to eat?" going on. Which generally would then lead to making more unhealthy and expensive choices such as fast-food, or frozen dinners.

     Let me know if you have any great tips to share that you use to prepare meals for the week, any time saving tips you may have. Please leave your comments.

Thank you for taking time to read my Blog, I hope it has been helpful for you,

Tina

Redwood Whole Health Coaching