Big Prep Day...and a Couple of Recipes

I spent the whole day in my kitchen yesterday! While I do food prep every week, I don’t normally dedicate an entire day to it!

Usually, on Farmers Market Day I wash, dry, and store all of my produce, and assemble salad greens for the week. I always make salad dressings for the week and cook things like chickpeas, lentils, quinoa, brown rice, etc. that are more time consuming while I wash and chop produce. That is easy, but yesterday was a Stock the Freezer Day. I love my vacuum sealer. I can use the bags for freezing soups, burgers and more, and also for storing flours and grains in my cupboard. I also have the handy vacuum canisters for things I open often, like beans, lentils, and oats. I keep my week’s worth of salad in a big vacuum-sealed canister in the refrigerator, where it stays fresh and crisp all week.

I had an abundance of zucchini and cauliflower in my frig, so I started there. I made an awesome Zucchini Dip which I will use as a raw veggie dip, and in my daughter’s lunchbox wraps. I used it as a condiment on her veggie burger yesterday, and it was a hit. The recipe is on my Facebook Fan Page here: http://on.fb.me/1AY3kBv

Next I made a curried cauliflower soup. I put half in a mason jar in the frig for the coming week, and the rest I froze for the future. I also made a double batch of lentil soup and did the same. 

I also made two kinds of veggie burgers. Crispy Chickenless Burgers are one of my kid’s favorites. They are made with tempeh and quinoa, so they pack a lot of protein (more than a hamburger!). I also made Black Bean Burgers, which are our standby burgers. Now we are all set for summer BBQ season! Here is a tutorial on how I make them: http://bit.ly/BlackBeanBurgersFFG

I made turkey and veggie meatloaf in muffin pans for the husband. They freeze well and he is able to feed himself by just heating up a couple of them with a potato. Yeah, he’s a basic unit. 

I used a fresh young coconut to make some coconut milk for my grain-free blueberry cereal, and I made some hemp milk for the week ahead. I whipped up some Ginger-Miso dressing for salads this week, too. 

I made a couple of salad dishes, Moroccan Carrot Salad from the Ultimate Reset and Blackberry Green Beans, and I cooked Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Grapes from the Team Beachbody Recipes section and Curry Spiced Spaghetti Squash for dinner. 

Tomorrow is Farmers Market Day and I’ll be washing fresh produce. Other than that, there will be little to do the rest of the week for lunches and dinners, which makes me happy since it’s a busy last week of school full of fun activities.  As a matter of fact, we are headed to the beach with the musical theater families now!