You probably hear about food prepping everywhere, but it’s all so overwhelming because you don’t really know what it is or how to do it?
Here is a quick guide for you to help understand why organizing your pantry, fridge and meal schedule truly is a magic tool to make your life easier.
Even after a super crazy day, eating a cozy homemade dinner will help you relax, get grounded and will provide you and your baby with essential nutrients.
I promise it will make you feel like you got this whole life/pregnancy thing together!
What to buy?
Find my winter/spring grocery/farmers market guide here.
Food prep 101
The easiest way to keep your kitchen in order and make quick, versatile dishes is to prep your food as soon as you get home from the market or grocery store. In the next 7 days I’ll teach you how to prepare all kinds of food groups to have it handy throughout the week. For storage, I use jars and glass containers to avoid exposure to toxic material such as BPA. For greens, I use ziploc bags because I found that if I can seal it airtight they last longer. I wash and reuse these bags in between.
Day 1- Produce
Greens
Wash the lettuce, kale, chard, spinach in a big bowl, changing the water 2 to 3 times.
De-stem the kale by holding the thick end of the stem with one hand and using the other hand to pull the leaves off towards the other direction along the stem.
Save the stems for mineral broth by storing them in a ziploc bag in the fridge (up to 3-4 days) or in the freezer (for longer).
Use a salad spinner to remove excess water from the leaves.
Store these green leaves in gallon ziploc bags lined with paper towels or clean kitchen towels for up to a week or sometimes even longer (e.g. the sturdier greens like kale, last up to 10-12 days).
Crunchy & Root vegetables
I like to store all of these in separate bags because some vegetables (onions) release gasses that make others turn bitter or go bad faster .
Remove the leaves from beets, radishes, carrots, parsnip, etc.
Line your plastic bag with a piece of paper towel and store your crunchy veggies UNWASHED inside them. Check them once in a while to see how they are doing. Some veggies last longer than others. But this method will help keep them fresh longer.
I always prep sweet potatoes and beets before storing. Steam both skin on until fork tender, peel the beets but not the sweet potatoes. Store them for up to a week in an airtight container in the fridge. The beets can be used chopped up in salads or shredded for a quick pickle. The sweet potatoes can be used in smoothies, soups, sliced as a toast, mashed for a side dish or in oatmeal as a sweetener.
Herbs
Parsley and cilantro are friendly enough to live together in the same bag. I take off the wire or rubber band that holds the bunch together and put both bunches unwashed into a paper towel lined ziploc bag. I press out as much air as I can without squishing them too hard and seal the bag. This way they last in the fridge for up to 10 days.
I learned that if I use these herbs in salads as a green leafy vegetable I can use them before they go bad or old.
Making a salsa verde, chimichurri, pesto or zhoug out of these herbs is also an easy, delicious way to use them.
Mint and dill and basil are meanies. They are the hardest to store. But if you pick them through to make sure all the leaves are healthy and wrap them in a piece of paper towel before storing them in small bags they can last up to 4-5 days.
Refrigerating them in a jar filled with water and covered with a plastic bag also works for these finicky ones.
Fruit
I keep fruits outside on the counter in bowls.
Bananas love to live separately from other fruits.
If bananas get brown put them in the freezer (no packaging needed). To use, take them out, run them under warm water for a minute, peel and use them in smoothies, banana bread, oatmeal (as a sweetener), etc.
To freeze fruit for smoothies, baking or jam I cut them into bite size pieces and freeze them on a plate or tray. When frozen they can be moved into a plastic bag and stored in the freezer for up to a year.
Berries last longer in the fridge if they are washed and stored in airtight containers. Small berries such as blue and blackberries can be washed, drained & frozen inside the store container.
Citrus fruits last for weeks in the fridge.
Love & melons,
🍉 Kriszta