Healthy...Smart...Easy & Realistic
DAILY MEAL PREPARATIONS
The only thing between you and the body of your dreams maybe a simple meal or two that you can make any time, on any day, and for any meal. It all starts in the Kitchen...
Personally Preparations take me about 45 minutes each day, and I have two time slots that I create just for it. Once in the morning just after I wake up I will make breakfast and also my second meal. And my second prep slot it mid day around 3 to prep 3-4 meals for my afternoon at the gym or for other outside obligations.
Sticking to a structure with my meal preparations keeps me on track and also takes the guess work out of... Well what should I eat now? or HMMmmm....Im starving, but there's only convenience options (fast food, gas station foods or maybe Restaurant calorie loaded entrees) Also, If your looking to achieve a healthier weight starting a meal pattern for yourself is the first step. Once you know how many meals to create and approximately the calories for each meal, your preparation becomes easy with no guess work.
Each meal is a combination of whole foods including:
Below I have a few Preparation Tactics that may prove to be useful when your trying to prepare your home-made-meals with a "healthy but tasty" vision in mind
Personally Preparations take me about 45 minutes each day, and I have two time slots that I create just for it. Once in the morning just after I wake up I will make breakfast and also my second meal. And my second prep slot it mid day around 3 to prep 3-4 meals for my afternoon at the gym or for other outside obligations.
Sticking to a structure with my meal preparations keeps me on track and also takes the guess work out of... Well what should I eat now? or HMMmmm....Im starving, but there's only convenience options (fast food, gas station foods or maybe Restaurant calorie loaded entrees) Also, If your looking to achieve a healthier weight starting a meal pattern for yourself is the first step. Once you know how many meals to create and approximately the calories for each meal, your preparation becomes easy with no guess work.
Each meal is a combination of whole foods including:
- Many different lean proteins
- various types of vegetables or non-starchy carbohydrates
- various sources of healthy fats
- and a variety of complex starchy carbohydrates.
Below I have a few Preparation Tactics that may prove to be useful when your trying to prepare your home-made-meals with a "healthy but tasty" vision in mind
Protein Preparations
Cook up any ground meat simply on the stove top in shallow water on medium with a loose lid....
Add your spice while its cooking....stir..flip...mix, about every five minutes...
Cook until White Throughout with chicken.
Weigh out your servings and portion into your containers for future flavor
Cooking any fish (Salmon) can be just as easy... shallow pan with water on medium. about 10 minutes with a flip at half time. cover with a loose lid in between.
Cutting my fresh chicken into strips, slices, or cubes is a very fast and easy way to cook. I fill the 2.5 inch pan with 1/2 water. Turn on and place your chopped chicken in....a seasoning is great to throw right in. Place a loose lid on during cooking.
Total cooking time is around 10 minutes. Be sure to Flip your Meat 1/2 way thru for an even cook.
Venison can be cooked just the same....Steaks, Ground burger, or even tenderloins.. No oils, just water N'Spice
Grilli'N OUT ! for many Bulk Cooking options...
Grill your fish with a Pineapple ring for an exquisite flavor enhancement
Grilled Chicken with Portabella ~ coated in hemp oil and dusted with Garlic N' Herb Seasoning
"Filet" meaning "Thick Slice" & "Mingnon" meaning "Dainty" is the king of steaks..a good chef can cook a filet to be cut only with a fork.....for starters the though..grab a knife;) Cook until desired level.
~ Rare ~ Medium Rare ~ Medium ~ Medium Well ~ Well Done ~ ~Very Well Done ~
Cook Your Fresh
"Catch of the Day"
First, Thaw your catch in your fridge, if frozen...until ready to cook. when thaw, lay your fillet out onto your cutting board and simply cut your catch into serving size portions to then transfer to your shallow cooking pan.
Total cook time is approx 10-12 minutes on medium heat. I flip my fillets at 1/2 time to evenly cook the fillet throughout
The easiest time to remove the scales are just after cooking. The warm water will do all the work for you, as you can easily separate the scales from the meat by pulling it off slowly....then have your FEAST!
Healthy Vegetable Preparations
The NON-Starchy Carbohydrates
Vegetables are our most potent source on this earth that contain our essential vitamins, nutrients, anti-oxidents, and phytosterols, that we need for our body each day. Be sure that you consume 3-6 cups of vegetables each day. As to not run into any dietary vitamin or mineral deficiencies. The key to vegetables is to eat them! No seriously now, enjoy the veggies that are keen to you, not your friends, or there friends..but what sounds appealing to you is the key.. Purchase frozen or fresh, and canned as a last option. Also, unless you have grown to appreciate the pure natural flavors of food, Flavor up your veggie platters with healthy fats or low calorie dressings like mustard, salsa, Dijon, vinaigrette, fruit juices, and seasonings for many enjoyable and tasty combinations. Also, a great way to incoporate more vegetables into you diet are with green smoothies. Many of my clients opt for a home made thick v8 blend as a snack, meal replacement, or even dressing.
The easiest way....to eat the best
1 knife
1 cutting board
Fresh Vegetables of any kind
Learn to chop like bobby flay
Chop Chop Chop away
Then... Steam/microwave/grill/broil/saute
I like to Layer my meals with a variety of vegetable starting with frozen green beans
Then Add some broccoli and cauliflower with a seasoning of choice.....fill with an inch of water and place loose lid on top. Microwave for 2-3 minutes. Try not cooking your vegetable to mush. They hold there highest nutrient value..uncooked. Steaming is another recommended cooking option. Simply steam large pot fulls of your favorite vegetables like shown below...
I am steaming using a rubber steaming strainer...Im sure you have seen the metal steamers a.k.a. Vegetable UFO's
With a processor you can shred, slice, grade, or puree any vegetable you can imagine. Shredded Beets above.
Shredded Carrot
Spaghetti Squash e-z 4 step prep.
1. With an ice pick or sharp knife. Poke about 15-20 holes over entire surface of squash. (may explode... if you skip pokin around)
2. Place onto a plate and slide into microwave for 10 minutes. Flip half way thru.
3. Cut into 2 halfs and scoop out the seeds with a spoon (opt. cook your seeds for a healthy fat)
4. last scrape out the entire shell of the squash with a spoon . cut strands into bite size pieces and add into any meal for the ideal spaghetti fix!
Healthy FatS Preparations
Prep your healthy Fats...Organic Flax seeds.. Simply grind your seeds in a coffee grinder and place your meal into an air tight container to place in the fridge..
"Complex" Carbohydrate Preparations...made "Simple".
Black Beans....If you like this musical fruit ;) then soaking your beans for 24 hours is great preparation. FYI: All grains and legumes contain substances called
phytates. Phytic acid is a chemical found in the bran portion of
grains, and the skins of legumes. It bonds with calcium (and iron,
magnesium, phosphorous, and zinc) in the intestinal tract, thereby
preventing absorption of these minerals. When consumed excessively,
phytates can cause serious mineral deficiencies, allergies,
intestinal distress, and bone loss. So...What to do? Simply soak any grains (such as oat, millet,
rye, barley, quinoa) overnight before you cook them. You can also
liberally use miso, soy sauce, and tempeh, since these are fermented
products and fermentation destroys phytates.Sprouted grain breads, and sourdough with its long
fermentation process are also entirely free of phytates. All other
breads are full of phytates and should be avoided.
Flavor Preparations
!!!!MOST IMPORTANT!!!!
Flavor is the number One key ...
...to your home-made-meals.
Think about it. Why does restaurant food always please our palettes? because they use oils, butters, spices, marinades, smokes, dressings, herbs, seasonings, and juices to add in that zest that you crave....so apply the same technique at your Neighborhood restaurant (your kitchen!)
...to your home-made-meals.
Think about it. Why does restaurant food always please our palettes? because they use oils, butters, spices, marinades, smokes, dressings, herbs, seasonings, and juices to add in that zest that you crave....so apply the same technique at your Neighborhood restaurant (your kitchen!)