Plans always change…
I strained my back, so I am taking it a little more easy than usual. I am doing meal prep in little chunks of time and resting in between. To optimize my healing I am trying to eat a nutrient dense diet with lots of protein, fruits and veggies. Because I can’t stand for long periods of time and chopping vegetables is time consuming, I used a couple of strategies to make this easier. First, I purchased bagged broccoli slaw and organic pre-washed salad mix to make less work. I also chose recipes with overlapping ingredients lists to minimize the number of ingredients I am working with at a time. This week has a bit of an Asian theme with garlic, ginger and scallions throughout. I use the fine side of my grater to quickly shred whole ginger. I don’t fuss too much with the skin, I just pull it back a bit as I go along. The peel is edible. My garlic press is a bit of a hassle to clean, so I like to do all the garlic at once to make clean up easier.
Meal Planning Tip 1: Buying pre-chopped and washed vegetables is a great way to save time and energy.
The recipes I chose were as follows:
Thai Crunch Salad with Peanut Dressing
I prepped all of the sauces ahead of time, as well as the meatball mix. It calls for many of the same ingredients, including chopped scallions. Afterwards, I wasn’t up for forming the meatballs right away, so I stashed the mix in the fridge until I was feeling up to it. The meat mix could also be frozen as-is. I usually choose to pro-cook meatballs and then freeze them until they are needed. In cooler weather, I will make a double or triple batch of Italian-style meatballs and freeze them for quick weeknight dinners. Because I did not want to turn on the oven this time and because it was an untested recipe, I made a single batch and eventually cooked them in the air fryer before storing them the freezer for later in the week.
I am not afraid to play with ingredients in a recipe, even if it is one I have never made before. Hoisin sauce is not an ingredient I have on hand most of the time. I usually just substitute regular barbecue sauce, which is what I did this time. I added a bit of fish sauce to it instead of the oyster sauce (another ingredient I don’t use). I taste as I go and adjust as needed. Be sure to make notes of any changes. I can’t tell you how many times I made something for my family and it was a big hit and I can’t re-create it because I can’t remember what I did!
Meal Planning Tip 2: Substituting ingredients is a great way to save money and time by eliminating trips to the store and helps use up ingredients you already have.
I am sorry I did not take pictures of any of these recipes, they all turned out beautifully, despite several substitutions. Please refer to the original content creators’ websites for beautifully photographed food. Because I prepped 3 recipes at once, I only had to wash 1 knife, 1 cutting board and my garlic press.