Suitcase Foodist

Meal Prep Sundays – or the day Greg makes himself scarce and I dirty every dish we have

Meal Prep Sundays – or the day Greg makes himself scarce and I dirty every dish we have

Meal Prep Sundays – or the day Greg makes himself scarce and I dirty every dish we have

I dream of a future where I have time to thoughtfully compose my daily menu over a cup of jasmine tea. As I contemplate the best of the season
with a little prayer to the kitchen gods, I imagine embarking on my daily pilgrimage to the various small markets to pick up my ingredients for a perfect repast. Possibly in Venice. Or Peru.

Now, please note that I used the word ‘dream’ because this is NEVER going to happen. My days generally go more like this:
I rush out the door around 6:30 in the morning (on a good morning), coffee in hand if Greg made it for me. If not, I have no ability to actually make coffee on my own. Come to think of it, I don’t know where we keep the coffee. As an event planner, the season tends to escape me since I am
probably already planning for the next holiday or two down the road. My schedule is all over the place with early mornings, late nights and weekends.  So any pilgrimaging I do is limited to the virtual variety or a trip to the farmers market on weekends. Also, I don’t live in Venice. Or Peru. Yet…
Our kitchen in Tuscany - aka. My peaceful dream kitchen - complete with a berry tart.

Our kitchen in Tuscany – aka. My peaceful dream kitchen – complete with a berry tart.

Sound familiar? I’m sure most of us have mastered this non-routine type of routine. To combat the crazy, I try to buy a hefty amount of fresh vegetables on the weekend. Then I do a full on meal prep session when I have a free couple of hours. I turn on the oven, boil a pot of water, get out the rice steamer and cook everything up assembly line style.
I start with a list of what I have and how I want to cook it – it keeps me organized and helps me remember what I have in the fridge later in the
week. Because I WILL forget.  By the end, it is crumpled and water stained – a sure sign that I accomplished something.

I pop them in glass containers so I can see what’s what and I use them throughout the entire week. It makes the road to dinner much less rocky
when I have ready-to-go ingredients already populating my fridge.

Soup comes together in a flash. Sautéed veggies take minutes. Quiche is right around the corner. Salad calls my name. Hash devours any leftovers.

Once a month or so I’ll post a bit here with my weekly meal prep & some ideas of what in the world to do with it. Here is this week’s meal prep session.

All the food 100% prepped in about 2 hours. Clockwise-ish, starting bottom left: Green Beans, Corn, Potatoes, Beets, Zucchini, Sautéed Greens, Forbidden Rice, Carrots, Hard Boiled Eggs, Cantaloupe, Tomatoes, Snow Peas, Acorn Squash

This week my meal prep took just over 2 hours, and below is the list + some thoughts of what to do with it.
  • Roasted Cherry Tomatoes – great in soup, yummy in salads. Near instant bruschetta
  • Sautéed Kale & Beet Greens w/ Garlic – delish on sandwiches, good add-in for a fast quiche
  • Roasted Potatoes – delicious as hash, instant potato salad
  • Steamed Beets – toss in with the potatoes for borscht. Blend into smoothies for a hot color and a touch of sweet. Or you could eat them cold out of the jar… We wont judge.  They are just that good
  • Cantaloupe – for smoothies, tossed with mint or with rice in rice pudding
  • Sautéed Snow Peas w/ Sesame Seed Oil & Chile – delicious with rice and a bit of protein for a fast stir fry
  • Roasted Whole Carrots – nice for cooking into meatloaf. Nice dimensional flavor in soup
  • Forbidden Rice – rice + toppings = instant meal. Plus, rice pudding is just around the corner
  • Roasted Zucchini – perfect topping for pizza (the roasted tomatoes would make a lovely showing here too)
  • Hard Boiled Eggs – egg salad. Eggs in salads. Eggs make everything better
  • Acorn Squash – roasted whole – instant side. Ready for a puree
  • Roasted Green Beans – surprisingly delicious chopped up in a hash
  • Charred Corn – soup, anyone?
For meal prep inspiration check out:
How do you make your meal prep just that much more painless?
-Lydia, Daydream Believer but Not Homecoming Queen

2 thoughts on “Meal Prep Sundays – or the day Greg makes himself scarce and I dirty every dish we have

  1. not a homecoming queen either

    Looking for the Persimmon and Pear salad recipe I came upon this meal prep blog which I missed-it’s great! Now down to the kitchen to make that salad and warm the oven for roasting some vegies for future meals. Love your blog-I’m spending an inordinate amount of time reading and salivating…

    1. Lydia Post author

      So glad that you like it. We are oldies in the food world (we’ve been eating our entire lives ;), but new to the blogging world.

      So, please keep drooling away and keep checking back. Some upcoming posts include Kaffir Lime Curd, Caramelized Plantain Upside Down Cake and a Turkey Cottage Pie.