Batch Cooking
So you’re making all of these HUGE changes for your health and you’re feeling GREAT. But.... where does the time go? Are you having trouble finding time to keep up with your new food habits? Finding ways to simplify your cooking and be super efficient will help you maintain these healthy eating habits in the long run. That’s where batch cooking comes in! Batch cooking is a great way to free up some time throughout the week. There are a few ways of doing it so find the one that suits your life best!
1.
Batch Prep- Batch prep is preparing large quantities of foods and storing them raw. This is great for people who don’t want to spend a ton of time preparing dinner but don’t like eating leftovers or the same thing every day. This could look like chopping vegetables right when you get home from the store and storing them in air tight containers so that when it is time to cook, you just have to throw them in the pan/oven/air fryer. By having all your vegetables ready to cook, you are able to consume more variety in each meal and there is less planning involved. The Total Health Reset way is to buy five varieties of vegetables, chop them in different shapes and sizes, and store each vegetable in its own container in the fridge. This gives you options for each meal and makes it much easier to get more nutrients in. Five colorful varieties that go well together are broccoli, red onion, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, and yellow squash. Pick your favorites!
2.
Batch Prep & Cook- This way of batch cooking includes batch prep and adds in a cooked factor as well. This is good for people who want to have a little less cook time in the evenings but are still wanting to avoid the leftovers and monotony of having the same meal daily. Batch prep & cook could be the same process of batch prepping the vegetables, but cooking a large quantity of protein or starches. Maybe you know you are going to have ground chicken for every dinner one week. Cooking enough for each meal in one sitting and storing it appropriately in the fridge (or freezer!) makes it so easy to throw together a nutritious meal with your vegetables in 10 minutes or less! This also makes clean up a breeze because you only need one pan! This can also be done with things like quinoa and other ancient grains and gives you a lot of options for flavor variety throughout the week. Just choose your veggies, your protein, and different tasty toppings to have a fresh, easy meal each night!
3. Batch Cooking- Batch cooking is great for individuals who don’t like to cook every night and prefer to have something easy to grab and reheat. There are a ton of options for this! You can make a huge amount of your favorite recipe and store in individual containers in the fridge or freezer. You could make a big pot of soup and store it in one container, serving yourself a bowl each day. Some people take one day a month to prepare an ENTIRE MONTH of meals!! Talk about freeing up your evenings! This isn’t for everyone, but is it for you??
Something we hear often is “I don’t have enough time to make breakfast every day.” Batch prepping breakfast is a great way to make sure you start your day right. Chia pudding is one of our favorites because it is quick, easy, and full of nutrients that keep you feeling full!
Chia Pudding
Prep Time ~5-10 minutes for a whole week of breakfast
Base:
3 tablespoons chia pudding
3/4 cup of nut milk
Add On Choices:
Berries
Cinnamon
Turmeric
Stevia/Monkfruit
Protein Powder
Nuts
Flax Seed
Hemp Hearts
Pumpkin
Cacao
Shredded Coconut
Nut Butters
Combine the base ingredients in mason jars (or old sauce jars!). If you are making five days of breakfast, use one jar per person. Add in whatever toppings you’d like and get creative! Toppings can be mixed in or added to the top before eating. You can make all five with the same ingredients, or switch it up and have a different breakfast each day. Once everything is mixed well, put the lid on and store in the fridge for at least 8 hours. Make sure there are no chunks of seeds! Grab one in the morning and you can eat it straight from the jar. This is good on the go and starts your day on the right foot!