Meal Planning Prep:
Meal Planning for One Week
Part 4: Your Kitchen Counter and Prep Work
by Josh Day
In part 1 of this meal planning article series, we discussed the importance of having a plan for the whole week before making your shopping list and going to the grocery store.In part 2, we covered how to efficiently write a grocery list and shop for the week, as well as shared a recipe for red beans and rice.
Part 3 discussed the most important part of your dinner meal: a large, fresh, healthy salad.
We've made our plan for the week.
We know what meals can utilize leftovers to create a new, tasty dish.
We've learned how to make an efficient shopping list and bought our groceries for the week.
We've gone over fresh raw salads and talked about how important they are for long-term health.
Now it's onto the kitchen itself, where you'll be spending your time as you prepare your nightly meals.
First thing's first. You need more counter space than you realize for comfortable prep work. So be sure to clean off all clutter -- recipe cards, food containers, utensils, junk -- from your counter and prep space.
It's no fun to chop vegetables or work with meat when your elbows are constantly banging into cereal boxes or fruit bowls.
Also, give the counter a good scrubbing. Make that surface shine!
Here's a list of everything that's crucial for me with my prep work:
- Two cutting boards, one for vegetables and the other for meats
- 1 very sharp, stainless-steel all-purpose chef's knife
- 1 smaller, sharp paring knife
- 1 clean dishtowel
- Deep cast iron pot, well seasoned (very black)
- Cast iron frying pan
- Cast iron sauté pan
- Stainless steel sauté pan (with absolutely no nonstick chemicals)
- Stainless steel medium size pot (no nonstick chemicals)
- Clean, empty sink
I find it best to do all of your prep work before combining ingredients and cooking. This way you won't have to worry about burning anything sensitive, like garlic, while you chop a potato or some celery.
Here's my weekly dinner plan again:
- Monday: Red beans and rice
- Tuesday: Chili with leftover red beans
- Wednesday: Spaghetti (vegetarian or with leftover ground beef from chili)
- Thursday: Crockpot Italian roast
- Friday: Homemade pizza with leftover tomato sauce
- Saturday: Free night
- Sunday: Leftover roast with fresh roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes, and gravy
I shared the recipe for red beans and rice here.
Let's break down my chili recipe now.
We can also use any leftover red beans in this dish.
Chili
1 pound of organic, grass-fed ground beef
1 can kidney beans (or leftover red beans)
1 can black beans
1 yellow onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 fresh tomato, seeded and chopped
Pinch of cayenne
Chili seasoning ( I use Carroll Shelby chili kit)
If you like your chili spicy... 1/4 or 1 or 2 tsp of red pepper flakes (1/4 makes medium, 1 makes hot, 2 makes super fire hot)
1/2 tsp raw cocoa powder, optionalBrown beef, draining grease.
Prep hint -- I usually just pour it out into a full trashcan... all the paper and refuse absorbs the grease before it can burn the bag. If you don't have a full trash can, you pour the grease into a glass container like an empty pickle jar. Push all the meat toward the pouring end and hold down with a fork so you don't get any meat in the trash.
Chop onions pretty finely, but you don't have to go crazy with it. Also mince the garlic.
Add to meat and stir for about five minutes until they're translucent.
Add minced garlic to the meat and stir, letting the flavors absorb.
Prep hint -- watch the garlic carefully! You do not want it turning brown. Two minutes is usually more than enough to get the flavors merging.
Now the important part... add your cayenne and crushed red pepper.
The crushed red pepper is going to give you your heat, more so than the ground cayenne, so use sparingly if you don't like it too spicy. We're building our foundation right now so stir the hot spices in well.
Kick the temperature up on the burner. Pour in tomato sauce and diced tomatoes (you want the water the tomatoes came in!) Now add your chili seasoning, the Carroll Shelby chili kit or your own spices (chili powder, cumin, paprika, etc).
Also add chocolate powder, if desired.
Add leftover red beans and can of black beans...
Prep hint -- pour your beans into a strainer and THOROUGHLY rinse them. You don't want any of the juices the beans came in. Pour the beans into the chili and stir heartily.
Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover for 20 minutes or so. (I let mine simmer for about an hour to really let the flavors come together.)
If you like your chili really thick, you can add some masa flour that came with the chili pack. Follow the directions on the chili kit.
Chop up some green onions or chives, finely. Spoon into bowls and garnish with green onions on top.
Let's do one more recipe, shall we?
Sicilian Spaghetti with Fresh Basil Sauce
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley (flat leaf parsley, not curly)
1/4 cup fresh peppermint, minced
1/3 cup fresh Italian basil, torn by hand
2 Tbs minced garlic (6-8 cloves)
1 12 oz can Cento tomato puree
1 12 oz can Cento chef's cut with basil tomatoes
3 Tbs olive oil
1/4 cup minced onion
Celtic sea salt and pepper, to taste
Organic, grass-fed ground beef, optionalWash fresh herbs and finely chop parsley and mint. Remove stems and cut leaves only. Put fresh basil leaves aside.
Mince onion and garlic.
Optional: if making a meat sauce, brown and drain out grease. Skip the olive oil step below and move on to onions.
Drizzle olive oil into a cast iron pot and turn on low heat. Add onions and sauté until translucent.
Open two cans of tomato sauce. Cento is by far the best brand locally available to me. It's a tad more expensive but you'll taste the difference.
Add minced garlic to onions. Stir and watch closely; do not let the garlic brown.
After the flavors have merged, pour in both cans of sauce.
Season with salt and pepper (I usually use 1/4 tsp of each).
Tear basil leaves in your hand and drop in sauce. Now add parsley and mint, stirring well.
Sauce should be done in half an hour. Cook longer for a thicker sauce.
Cook your favorite pasta.
Prep hint -- when cooking pasta, always use the biggest pot you have with a lot of water, filling almost a third of the way up. Add two tablespoons of salt and dissolve in water by stirring and bring to a boil.
Cook pasta "al dente" (to the teeth), which means continually trying it as it cooks and removing it from heat when it's soft enough to chew. Then instantly drain and strain.
Always drizzle some oil onto the pasta and stir in to keep the starch from sticking. Also add a couple tablespoons of sauce to the pasta so it can absorb the flavor.
You'll have a large amount of sauce left over. It's perfect for the recipe below...
Pizza made with Fresh Basil Sauce
1 package dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp olive oil
2 tsp celtic seasalt
1/4 tsp dried Italian seasoning
Leftover fresh basil tomato sauce
Fresh mozzarella cheese
Toppings of your choiceIn large bowl dissolve yeast in 1 and 1/2 cup warm water. Wait until yeast is dissolved and activated... you'll see foam at the surface of the water.
Add one cup flour to a new bowl. Now add 1/2 cup yeasty water and stir well. Repeat until all 3 1/2 cups of water and yeasty water are mixed together.
Add 1 Tbs olive oil and salt and mix. Add more flour or warm water if mixture is too wet or dry.
Sprinkle dry flour on a cutting board and knead dough until it's smooth. Form dough into ball. Oil a new clean bowl with 1 tsp of olive oil and drop dough ball in bowl, making sure the oil covers the outside of the ball.
Cover in a towel and put in a warm place to rise, probably 1-2 hours.
Punch and knead dough with your fist and stretch over desired pizza pan until you have a pizza dough shape.
Preheat oven to 550 F. Place crust in oven for one minute. Remove pan and return to counter.
Spoon sauce over dough, not too thick.
Grate fresh mozzarella cheese and then sprinkle Italian seasoning over cheese.
Some toppings we love:
- Green pepper
- Onions
- Olives
- Jalepenos
Return pizza to oven. Cook on 550 F (not broil, but hottest your oven will go) for 10-12 minutes. Keep on an eye on the cheese. When it begins to turn golden uniformly and especially on the edges, it's usually done.
For a delicious fresh taste throw some fresh parsley in a food chopper and mince finely. Sprinkle on top of pizza and also drizzle some extra-virgin olive oil.
Don't forget to make a large salad before every meal!
Our next article is on... healthy snax and crockpot cooking!
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