What is all the hype about preparing your food ahead of time? I’ll start by saying, batch cooking is a freaking game changer and an absolute must-do each week in my home! For starters, it is an easy way to meet your health and fitness goals. When it’s 2:30 and you feel like you’re starving, it keeps you from grabbing those foods you know you shouldn’t. It also prevents you from feeling like crap after eating those foods! Simply put, batch cooking will leave you feeling like you are all-around winning.
So, you’re probably asking yourself what’s the difference between batch cooking and meal prep, right?
Well, meal prepping is preparing entire meals- usually with multiple steps and ingredients. The area I struggle with when it comes to meal prepping is that you are restricted to exactly what is in that Tupperware, and if you are not feeling that particular meal, it feels like you’re on a diet, don’t have options and are eating the same thing over and over again.
On the other hand, batching cooking is making simple foods, in large quantities. This offers you flexibility in your meals but the cooking that takes the largest amount of time is done!
Here are four simple steps for you to get started –
- Pick some protein, I recommend 2-3 different protein sources.
-Free Range Chicken, Wild Caught Fish, Grass-Fed and Finished Beef, etc.
- Pick some carbs, I also recommend 2-3 different carbs.
-Sweet Potato, Rice, Quinoa
- Pick some veggies (3-4 is good!)
-Mushroom & Asparagus, Broccoli/cauliflower Mix, Bell Peppers Onions, etc.
- Pick simple seasonings
– My go-to seasoning mix is pink sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne.
When you’re ready to eat you can eat the food just as you made it OR use the food as a base to make other fun meals such as a salad, tacos, stir fry, bowls, scrambles or anything you can think of. This offers you flexibility in your meals but the cooking that takes the largest amount of time is done!!
Pro Tips:
- Cooking with Chosen Foods avocado oil spray to limit fat in cooking allows you to add fats in your creative meals throughout the week (think avocado, almond butter, seeds, etc.)⠀
- Utilize your oven, stovetop, BBQ, AirFryer, Crockpot, or Instapot at the same time to get your batch cooking done in 1 hour each week.
I encourage you to give batch cooking a try! Tag me @carmenohling on Instagram while you are getting down and dirty in the kitchen putting your batch skills cooking to the test. I would love to not only be part of the fun going on in the kitchen but also part of your health and wellness goals.
