Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 57 Prep Cooking Tips

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 57 Prep Cooking Tips

by | May 18, 2018 | Trust Your Gut

It has been a while since I felt up to writing a regular Blog story. I am sorry if you were missing me and my writing, I needed a break. I was on a really good streak there, for over a year. Some people write their Blog stories ahead of time. I usually sit down and pound it out on the keyboard right before I publish. It could be an hour more or less, and I usually come up with a title, topic, and story. This week I am going to share something a little different in Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story. Part 57 Prep Cooking Tips is going to be a top 5 list of my own Prep Cooking Tips!

I have written about the importance of prep cooking in my own journey to become a healthier version of myself. I have found that I am less likely to eat unhealthy if I take the time to prepare healthy choices for my lunches, and sometimes even breakfasts and suppers. Everyone deserves a treat now and then, as long as it is within reason. I tend to give an inch and take a mile or ten. So, I know that prep cooking works, and I must get back into the habit of it.

I had plans last weekend but I got sideswiped by an unexpected injury. I was walking, which is supposed to be something that is good for me. I somehow managed to pull some muscles in my foot. I was in a lot of pain for 3 or 4 days. I am taking fewer painkillers now, and hoping that the weekend is nice. I am going to plan a short walk. I have to build up my tolerance a little more slowly, as it has been some time since I walked for longer than it takes to go get groceries. Now that I am on the mend, it is time to start walking a little more each day. It is a plan.

These tips may seem like common sense to more experienced home cooks. I think that if you plan ahead the prep cooking will go more smoothly than if you don’t.

1. Determine what type of meal you want to cook. Go through recipe books, Pinterest, and websites. Most of your family favourites can be made in bulk and frozen, to reheat or cook when you are ready to eat them. Write down the recipes in a planner for when you are going to eat them if you want to be really organized. People plan meals by the week and month. There are lots of guides for this online, depending on what suits your fancy. Since I am a fan of the Trim Healthy Mama Plan, when I get serious, I will be planning according to their guidelines. You can make this as simple or as complicated as you like. The more effort you put into this, the better results you will get. It is up to you.

2. Now that you have recipes selected, write down your ingredients list. Include everything for each recipe. Then check your cupboards and pantry for the ingredients that you have on hand, and cross them off the list. The remaining items will become the start of your grocery list. If you are feeling like you have extra time, go through the fridge and cupboards and toss the expired items. It will be better to replace them before starting the cooking step, and finding that you need to get more of something that is mouldy or gone bad.

3. Next, you will need to think about utensils, pots, pans and storage. Do you have what you need to prepare and store what you will be cooking? This limits me a bit. We are a household of 2 adults. We live in a mini home. There is not a lot of storage in my kitchen. I have had to become creative with storage methods. I have 2 shelving units and a bookcase in my kitchen. They work for now. I also prefer glass containers for anything that needs reheating later on. So the plastic storage is available, but not used for prep cooking storage, unless it is something that will not be going into a microwave. I also use more Mason jars than I have room to keep organized. They are another way to store soups, salad in a jar, and pantry items.

4. Go to the grocery store to get what you need. This can be pricey the first few times if you are starting from scratch. If you are on a budget, use coupons and flyers. Get as many deals as you can. If you have like-minded friends, TEAM UP! If you have 3 friends to join in, and you all buy enough for 4 batches of a different recipe, then you have 4 meals prepped, and you will have CHOICES! Working together with friends to make homemade healthy meals is a great way to have a productive social gathering! Take turns hosting once or twice a month. Make it a THING, and make it FUN! Have snacks. Get more done faster, including clean up! (This can also be teenagers if they are a part of your family. They won’t be able to help with the budget, but they would be happy to help if it means they get some cookies or a movie night aw a thank you!

5. Don’t Give Up! Start with one recipe, doubled up. Then make something different the next time. Keep building recipes until you have a good variety, and you don’t have to cook for the whole month in one day. Spread out the work over time, and you will have a freezer full of healthy food in a few weeks. When you feel like cooking, make something. When you don’t you have a plan. As long as you keep rotating what you make, it will pay off!

Tonight I made Cheeseburger Pie for supper. It is in a 9 x 13 pan. It serves 6 to 8 people. There are 2 of us. When I have it for supper, I have 2 pieces. When I have it for lunch, I have 1 piece. I will have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I plan to freeze one or two portions, for whenever I am craving a burger. Sometimes you just want that burger so bad…that it is good to plan ahead and have a cheeseburger pie portion in the freezer ready to heat and eat. When I want a BigMac or a Mozza Burger, I make Big Mac Salad. With cheddar, it is a BigMac SALAD, and with Mozza, it is an amazing Mozza Burger SALAD. No buns makes it a salad! I even put the sesame seeds on top!

BigMac Salad for Lunch

Cheeseburger Pie

In case you aren’t on my Facebook, and you want to know what Cheeseburger Pie is, I am going to share a link to the recipe. It can be found with other recipes on the Trim Healthy Mama website, and if you check out the recipe, you can also take a look at the THM plan and other recipes. They even have products for sale there. I am not affiliated, so I leave things up to you. I love the recipes, and I also am happy that I know it is a plan that does work for me WHEN I WORK THE PLAN!

Here is the recipe for Trim Healthy Mama Cheeseburger Pie

I plan the next Trust Your Gut to be two weeks from today. I am slowing down, but not bailing. I have more stories to share. 🙂

There you have it. Do you Prep Cook? Have you had friends join you to conquer the kitchen? Let me know if you have tried and true favourite recipes that you use, and love.

#TrustYourGut

 

Weekend Warrior #59 It was a busy one!

Weekend Warrior #59 It was a busy one!

by | Apr 9, 2018 | Weekend Warrior

Another weekend is coming to a close. It was a busy one! Weekend Warrior started on Friday at about 4 pm. A friend needed to take me up on an offer to visit earlier in the week. She is recovering from surgery, and wanted to see some friends. So I rushed home, got the hubby to help me cut my large spaghetti squash, and I got my things together while it cooked. Picked up our other friend, a few things to complete supper, and off we went.

We made spaghetti squash mixed with tomato and veggie sauce, with multigrain garlic bread and played a game. We tried to watch a movie. It didn’t work out. The game was fun. It was a good way to wind down after the work week.

Saturday was slow to start. We went to see Ready Player One. It was great, but I don’t think the 3-D was necessary. We saw it in 3-D, and in my opinion, it wasn’t as good as I expected, but only in that way. The story was good, the pace was great, and all the Easter Eggs in the movie were on point, it is probably too hard to get them all the first time through. The other disappointment was that there was NO EASTER EGG at the end! With a movie that was full of them, start to finish, there should have been an extra scene at the end. It just felt wrong, and another young fan was feeling the same way. My husband was shaking his head as I was commenting about this, and then I found a kindred spirit that felt the same way. It was kind of hilarious.

I am reading a book to review. I am reading it before it is published. I spent most of the last week doing just that, and I am going to review it on my Blog on the Treasure Seeker Tuesday this week. I will share more about it then.

I also have a small issue with amazon.ca. I am trying to support my peers by downloading and reviewing their books after reading them. However, because I haven’t purchased anything from amazon.ca, I am not allowed to review the books I read there. I am not amused. I have found another way to help, but it isn’t the way that the authors would like.

Sunday I spent a bit of time working on my website. I cooked Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole. I have 4 meals ready to eat now. I like prep cooking. It helps me to get out the door faster in the mornings. I highly recommend it.

I totally won this weekend. What did you do? Comments are welcome below.

#WeekendWarrior

 

Weekend Warrior #59 It was a busy one!

Weekend Warrior #56 A Productive Weekend for a Change

by | Mar 19, 2018 | Weekend Warrior

In this week’s Weekend Warrior, an am happy to report that I had A Productive Weekend for a Change. I have done some cleaning, hosted a craft night, and went out to see a movie. I wanted to get a lot more accomplished than I actually did, but that is okay. Tomorrow is a new day!

Friday night was spent at home, starting the cleaning for Saturday. I experimented with Kalimotxo (cal-ee-mo-cho). It is popular in Spain, and Uruguay, according to the video my friend sent me to check it out. I tried 2 different wines, with Coke and Pepsi. My final verdict was if the wine tastes “sour” the Coke evens it out. The Italian Bardolino Doc is better with Coke. The dry wine from Romania Castel Bolovanu was a stronger flavoured wine, so I would recommend a dry wine with Pepsi, as the flavours seem to mix better, to me, even if the flavours seem to be fighting. I did not like the dry wine with Coke at all.

For the record, I tried 4 different combinations, but I only actually finished one glass of wine. I wasn’t in the mood for having a lot of wine Friday night. Maybe a total of 2 glasses if you combine it all. It was an experiment, to see if it was something that I liked. It was okay, but

Saturday was busy. Cleaning all day, in the living room and the kitchen. It took a while. I am happy to say that I even had time to sweep the floors. Then it was time to get ready for the craft night.

We were going to go through magazines and create vision boards. One friend was making a bucket book. It was nice to sit around the kitchen table, have snacks, and sip on a glass of wine. We caught up and talked about things. We worked on gathering art and words for our projects.

I had made a trip to the Dollarama for supplies. I got some different tapes, decorations, and papers. I had to buy a sketchbook for my project. I never got far enough to start any pages, but I had a successful gathering of things to put into it.  I don’t have kids, but sometimes I like to do something nice for my friends. I had seen owl tote bags there, and they were $4 each. I bought 4 for us all to keep our supplies in. They were a hit! I kept the purple owl, and one of our friends didn’t make it, but I am holding hers here for her next visit. Now that I have done this, I am looking forward tot he next time.

Here are the bags I bought:

Sunday was busy with writing, and we went to see a movie. We went out to watch Annihilation with Natalie Portman. I have never personally experimented with drugs. That movie was a scientific trip if I was ever going to take one. I can’t say it was horrible, but it was kind of messed up. Now, for some unexplainable reason, I have the munchies…yup. I am having the side effects of being stoned after watching a movie sober. If that was what they were going for…mission accomplished. There were not enough Hazmat suits on the actors. I think the audience needed them also. It was an out of body scientific trip of a movie. I am settling for a glass of orange juice and some cheese. Then I am calling it a day.

What did you do this weekend? It was a total win for me!

#WeekendWarrior

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 57 Prep Cooking Tips

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part #55 Something Has Changed!

by | Mar 18, 2018 | Trust Your Gut

In Trust Your Gut this week, I’m writing because Something Has Changed!  The Shrinker is working! The Shrinker must be working! I am not talking about the scale and the pounds here. I am talking about my metabolism. I feel real hunger again. It can mean different things. My activity level has not increased dramatically. I have started drinking the Shrinker to boost my metabolism. I am choosing to believe that it is what is happening. The only other option is that I am not eating enough. I can’t say I am totally convinced one way or the other on this. I do eat 3 meals a day. I have snacks. I don’t think that is the answer. Which leaves the possibility of the combination of foods I am eating as wrong. I am open to that also.

*Note* My apologies for being so late with this blog post this week. I was having a hard time collecting my thoughts, but I figured it out!

I’ve been eating fewer carbs and more protein. I cannot eliminate carbs completely. I start losing control of my hunger and my sugars when I do that. That is something that makes THM different from protein-based diets like Atkins. I need the balance. I learned today that Keto may be similar to THM. I might look further into that.

I plan some prep cooking on Sunday. It is the best way for me to stay on the plan. It is hard work to live a healthier lifestyle, and that is why it is hard to keep myself motivated. All I can do is my best when I feel up to it, and the rest will fall into place.

Now I am asking myself, what step should be next in my journey? THM experts say to start with one thing, and when you master that one thing, build upon it. I am having such success with the Shrinker, it is time I got serious about my beverages. I am not giving up wine. I am having WAY too much fun learning about different wines, and searching for “the one.” I drink my coffee black, and I also have a lot of fun reviewing the coffees that I try. I am going to go back to the THM basics for this one. I am talking about Good Girl Moonshine, aka GGMS.

With the Shrinker, the oolong tea, cinnamon and cayenne pepper are working together to increase my metabolism. Since I seem to be hungrier more frequently, I can assume that the fuel I am putting into my body is being burned up more quickly. That is what I am hoping is happening. The GGMS has a different recipe, and therefore a different method to how it works.

GGMS in its basic recipe, is water ginger, apple cider vinegar, and optional sweetener of choice. I use Swerve. It is Erythritol, and it does not leave an aftertaste in your mouth. It does leave a cooling sensation, which is different, but not unpleasant. I notice it more when I bake with it, rather than when I put it into my beverages.

People use a variety of different additions to the basic GGMS recipe, to make it their own. My own personal favourite is the Black Cherry Berry Celestial Seasonings tea. I add 4 tea bags to every batch, which is about 1 tea bag for every 500ML of GGMS. That was all I needed to make this beverage tasty.

Apple cider vinegar can have an effect on your teeth. It can weaken your enamel. I have talked to my dentist about it, and as long as I am using a straw, which THM recommends as well as a glass drinking container. It is also important to have water after, to make sure your mouth is rinsed out. You can brush your teeth after rinsing with water if you are really concerned about the enamel on your teeth. I don’t always brush, but I do rinse with water (which most of us do not drink enough of anyway) and because it is supposed to be helpful to losing weight, I don’t spit it out, I drink the water. I am just adding to the benefits this way.

You can find the Shrinker and the GGMS recipes on the Trim Healthy Mama Website, under the Recipes page. Check it out! I can honestly say that I know I feel better, and I start the scale going in the right direction when I am following the plan. If you are more curious, I recommend their books as well. They have several out now, and that includes recipe books. One thing I have yet to try in my healthier lifestyle is to make a recipe that includes okra. That is something I plan to figure out when I get a chance. Trying new foods is an adventure, and I love spaghetti squash, so I’m up for trying new foods on occasion. Sometimes I am surprised, and I like them. Do you eat okra? Do you have any tips for me? Leave a comment below, and it may help me get over the nerves of trying a new food.

#TrustYourGut

Weekend Warrior #59 It was a busy one!

Weekend Warrior #55 Chasing away the Winter Blues!

by | Mar 12, 2018 | Weekend Warrior

This week in Weekend Warrior #55 Chasing away the Winter Blues is what I am working on. Time went ahead an hour last night, and that means Spring is coming!  I love seeing more hours of daylight, and I need spring to be sprung already! The winter blues got a really good hold on me this year. I am hoping that next winter will be different.  Until then, I have to do my best to get out from under what is holding me back. My internal clock hasn’t had time to adjust yet, though. I suspect tomorrow is going to be the start of a long week.

Friday night I got my new glasses. I decided to reveal them in a Facebook Live video. You can watch it here: Tish’s March 9th Facebook Live Video. If you watch it, you will see that I built up a little suspense, and had fun. I also reviewed a different bottle of wine. It wasn’t a favourite. I review wine and coffee on my Facebook Live videos. I just started doing it for fun.

Saturday I slept in and started getting some prep work done for my Makeup Monday blog, which I will finish tomorrow after work. I have been planning it for a few weeks, and need to finish it up tomorrow after work. I had an invitation to a birthday party, and I decided I wanted to go.  I got ready and made a treat to bring. I also brought cheese & crackers. I have some pics to share. It was a friend’s Birthday Party, with a Carribean theme. Let’s start with the food pics.

We had a nice time, just chatting, and having fun. It was nice to go hang out with friends.

Saturday was fun! Sunday was a quiet day at home. I cooked a ham in the oven with cherries, pineapple and cloves. Then I made Scalloped Potatoes. I do not understand why the locals here call them Potatoes Scallop. Regardless, there is no shellfish in the potatoes. I prepared them to cook while the ham was cooling. It took 2 hours to cook them, and I sliced them as thin as I could. Apparently, the potatoes never got the memo about the time change, either. When they were finally cooked, my husband assured me that it was worth the wait, he was impressed. We have leftovers to enjoy for lunch, and if there is enough ham for supper, I might make a potato salad to eat with it. White potatoes are not on the plan, but sometimes a compromise is called for. I had a salad for lunch. I am going for balance.

That, my friends, means I won all weekend long!

#WeekendWarrior