As you know, we try to eat healthy, home-cooked meals every night for dinner. Eating together is not only healthier, but it also brings the family together, causes you to slow down, talk to each other, and stay connected. If you do not have family dinners together, why not consider making that a goal for 2022? You may say that you are too busy, or you hate to cook, or you do not know what to make. As we are learning, sometimes our minds are our own worst enemies and they can convince us to listen to the negative thoughts instead of forging ahead to try new things.
To help with making healthy meals, consider some of these ideas that we recently read from one of the healthy lifestyle e-newsletters we receive. We like to meal prep on the weekend prior to the busy upcoming week. This typically lasts us through Wednesday. However, making some healthy “freezer meals” is another way you can just grab and throw into your slow cooker. We are going to use this idea starting in January because our parents will be staying with us for 4 months and we want to make sure we have some ready-meals available!
Here are tips to help get you started:
- Make a list: decide what recipes you want to make then print them out or save the files on your computer or Pinterest. Typically, the meals that freeze the best include things like soups, stews, meatloaves, and casseroles. We try to ensure that every dish includes whole grains, vegetables, and some protein.
- Next, plan. Do you want to prep for an entire day, so you have a lot of meals ready? Or would you prefer to have two meals per week in the freezer for the upcoming week?
- Assess your supplies! Take inventory of what you have in your fridge and pantry and make a list of what you need to purchase.
- Consider dusting off your crock pot! Slow cookers are a wonderful way to reduce the cooking workload plus you get to smell the lovely aroma of a meal cooking when you get home!
- Double up! Why not make a double batch of something so that you do not have to make it twice? Choose your favorites and make a double batch!
Here is one of our favorite recipes:
Tuscan Bean Soup which is great in the crock pot and freezes well! Ingredients: 2 tsp olive oil; 1 medium onion, diced; 1 14 oz can full-fat coconut milk (or use cow’s milk); 3 cloves garlic minced; ¼ cup sundried tomatoes, drained; 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning (or use fresh herbs or both); 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning; 1 19 oz cans white beans, drained and rinsed; 3 cups vegetable broth; 2 cups chopped fresh spinach; 1 cup rotini pasta (GF); salt and pepper to taste. Sauté onion in oil for a few minutes. Meanwhile, blend coconut milk, garlic, sundried tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and salt in blender until smooth. Add onion and milk mixture to the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients except the pasta and fresh spinach and cook for 4-6 hours on low, then 2 hours on high. With one hour left, add dry pasta, and stir. Add spinach after 1 hour, season with salt and pepper, serve with fresh grated parmesan cheese and fresh basil. Cool and freeze in zip lock bags or Tupperware if you like. Enjoy! More recipes to come!