My week in food - menu and prepping tips
Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! I had a very nice time in Pennsylvania with my mother in law. It was gorgeous weather so I spent a lot of time outside playing with my children. We had some very nice and delicious meals with smoked salmon, herring, asparagus, roasted lamb and eggs of course. Actually similar to what I had on my menu suggestions last week (might have something to do with that I was partly in charge of the menu...).
This week all my children´s activities are in full swing which means more meal prepping and planning needs to be done from my side. I still want us to have a healthy home made meal that we eat together at night. How do you cope with your days when all you do is driving your children to and from activities?
A beginners guide to food prepping
- Start with your weekly menu, if you have one or familiar recipes that you are comfortable making. Make a menu out of easy prepping meals.
- Make a list of all the things you want to make ahead and can make ahead of the week.
- Do several things at the same time. Cook something in the oven, a few things on the stove, chop vegetables while things are cooking, rinse the fruit, make snack bags, set a dough etc.
- Double or triple your recipes, especially if you make soups, stews or casseroles. It doesn´t take much extra time when you are doing it and you will have a ready meal in the freezer for a busy day.
- Buy some good food containers to store everything in for the week. I have these from Costco that works well.
I wrote a longer piece on food prepping with more examples of food that can easily be prepared ahead of time. Read it here.
Weekly menu (prepp friendly)
Monday Quesadilla with corn, zucchini and onion (do ahead: sauteé the vegetables)
Tuesday Pasta with asparagus, crispy bacon and leek (do ahead: cook pasta and drain, cook asparagus and leek, fry bacon. Heat everything in a big wok or skillet a few minutes before dinner)
Wednesday Turkey patties with zucchini, brown rice, yogurt sauce with garlic and dried tomato, steamed broccoli (do ahead: turkey patties, cook and cool rice, cold sauce)
Thursday Cauliflower soup (do ahead: the soup)
Friday Chicken satay, Basmati rice, steamed Bok choy
Saturday Slow baked salmon, bulgur with cooked beets, feta cheese and red onion
Sunday Swedish meatloaf, (I use the same recipe as for meatballs just bake it differently) boiled potatoes, roasted carrots and turnips, Lingon berries
ENJOY!