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Wanting to take meal planning to another level, I learned ways to eat quickly, but never haphazardly. These are the five things I put in my fridge once in a while, for a good and balanced diet without too much trouble during the week.
“I don’t have time to cook.” “We order from outside because we are at work all day.” “Diets are for those who have a chef prepare their food every day.” Do you know how many times I hear the same excuses/arguments/complaints? Especially when I’m asked what we eat at home and how I take care of our diet, I suddenly get the false image that I’m lazy, with an apron and a few spoons in my hands, like a cross between the goddess Kali and Nico Tselemende.
And yet, the time I invest every day in the kitchen is little , but methodical and organized. Many years of diets due to ballet, cooking workshops due to switching to a vegan diet for quite some time, plus the fact that I remain vegetarian to this day, made me a master of smart meal planning .
Good nutrition needs a way
Once upon a time – and while spending twelve hours at the office – I found time at home and even made kale chips in my own food dehydrator. OK, I admit that I have a bias on the subject, but this bias is what has given me the experience I want to share here, about smart solutions for economical and super healthy nutrition . They are reminiscent in logic of the meal prep approach , but with less preparation and more flexibility. And, by the way, ordering grilled fish and oil from outside is a certain solution, but not the most ideal.
1. Legumes
After you have soaked and boiled a large quantity of legumes , from chickpeas to giant peas or cowpeas ( fortunately, black-eyed peas do not need soaking), simply boil them with water and salt . Then strain and allow to cool thoroughly, and then divide into clear food bags.
- During the week, some portions can be put in a pyrex with tomato sauce, onion and salt and pepper.
- Some others to be made into a salad with fresh vegetables, cherry tomatoes and vinaigrette (below).
- A portion can be made into hummus, not necessarily from chickpeas but even from chickpeas or black-eyed peas. Experiment and throw them in the multi with tahini, lemon, or pesto, oil, garlic.
- You will put the remaining portions in the freezer for the following weeks (and you won’t have to re-boil legumes for a long time)
2. Fruits
Look for bananas at your local supermarket or grocery store. Choose the black ones, the super ripe ones , which are usually on sale. Take them home and let them enrich your diet with potassium and magnesium. How;
The ripe ones immediately become a nice banana cake /bread/muffins/nutritious pancakes with oat bran and oat milk.
The rest go cleaned and cut in half in the freezer , to be made into smoothies after the gym, with a cup of oat milk (or normal, tastes are those) and protein powder, or a milkshake for the child. Yam.
You can do the same with all the fruits (only the apple and the orange don’t turn out well), and have e.g. melon or ripe peaches in winter , giving a new dimension to the seasonal diet. In case you want to empty the freezer drawer, use fruits like strawberries or peaches to make a quick jam/sauce for your yogurt.
3. Vegetables
Once a week, it is worth visiting the street near your home . Alternatively, there is always the supermarket or the greengrocer. Buy lettuce, lettuce, spinach, onions, spring onions that are now in season, dill, etc. and set up a washing station in the kitchen. Clean them and leave them in water with apple cider vinegar (preferably organic and unfiltered), to clean well.
After letting them drain, wrap them in kitchen towels to drain the water (which, in the fridge, accelerates the rotting process. A tip from my mom is to leave them in the fridge wrapped in kitchen paper and newspaper, for extra moisture absorption and thus longer life time). After they are thoroughly dry, put them in grocery bags.
Some you can cut (the leafy ones are better to cut by hand and not with knives, as less vitamins are lost this way (Monica also said this in an episode of Friends ). This way you will have fresh salads ready, spinach for a quick omelette , vegetables for a mini homemade bream in the oven.
Chop the onions, dill, etc. and put them in small bags in the freezer so they are ready to use, either raw or cooked. Cut onions into different sizes, thicker pieces for stews, finely chopped for salads or omelets, and store in food bags in the freezer.
4. Nuts
Prefer to buy raw and unsalted almonds, walnuts and cashews . Before using them to make bars (there are fantastic and super easy recipes out there), soak them overnight and rinse well.
By soaking , they are activated , wake up from their “dry”, dry state and become the fruit that was once on the tree, offering a much greater absorption of their nutrients . Keep some aside to make a super energizing pesto.
5. Sauces
A homemade pesto, super tasty and power food, can be easily made with nuts and rocket leaves, or from radish and spirulina powder . We beat them all together in the multi with oil, garlic, and salt and pepper, and we have a very concentrated pesto that goes as it is in spaghetti, or very diluted with oil and a little apple cider vinegar in salads.
If you want variety in your diet, you can alternate the sauces you use during the week on anything from rice and fish to boiled potatoes, legumes, meat, etc. So prepare an olive oil with:
- some mustard and paprika (goes great with chickpeas), or
- oil, garlic, tahini and lemon (perfect with everything), or
- oil, garlic, oregano and vinegar (salads and fish/meat).
Bonus tips
If you are boiling fish, chicken or beef, keep the broth and after it cools down, divide it into ice trays . Once iced, collect in grocery bags for use in stews, sauces or soups.
You can do the same if you suddenly find yourself with a lot of lemons . Once you’ve squeezed them, pop them in the freezer so you always have lemon juice without the fuss and pips.
