“Meal prep” by stealth

“Meal prep” does not have to mean hours in the kitchen on a Sunday afternoon, like you see athletes and serious health nuts doing.

What I mean by meal prep “by stealth” is doing meal prep when you are already in the kitchen preparing a meal!  Here are some ideas you can use during lockdown to make sure you have a fridge full of healthy food for you and the family: 

1. You have the oven on to cook the dinner.  Why not roast a cauliflower at the same time or when the dinner is ready and the oven is already hot.  Cut up some capsicum, tomatoes, onions, carrots, pumpkin – olive oil and roast a tray of veggies.  Very handy to add to salads during the week.  Olive oil has been shown to make the polyphenols in vegetables more available to us. 
2. You are  in the kitchen anyway – while making dinner  – boil up 12 eggs.  Great snack in the fridge. 
3. You are chopping up things for the dinner.  Chop up some carrots and some celery and keep them in a container in the fridge for the next time you need something crunchy. 
4. You are making a healthy dinner.  Double the quantities so you have another meal or meals for during the week (or one for the freezer). 
5. Use the hot oven to roast up some sweet potatoes in their jackets – the purple ones are delicious.
6.  Just made a stir fry?  Use the wok to fry up a whole lot of mushrooms or onion or haloumi.  These make a great addition to salads. 
7. Making rice or quinoa to go with dinner?  Always make more than you need – this will only last a day or so but again – really good for lunch the next day or to add to a salad. 
8. Cutting up fruit?  Cut up a bit extra and keep it handy for next time you make a smoothie.
9. Make some big quantities of pesto or some hummus while you are in the kitchen waiting for other things to cook.  These recipes usually just involve putting a whole lot of things in a food processor and zhoozing.  This is easy to do while you are standing by waiting for the pasta to cook.