How to shop and cook for a week
As a mom, a nutritionist and a cooking instructor, eating well is something very important for my own wellbeing and my family’s. Some people are stressed out when their house is messy, in my case I am stressed out if my family does not healthy meals.
During my cooking classes and Nutrition/Wellness worskhop I always said to my students that food is our best medicine. I believe in real butter, milk, free-range eggs, vegetables, fruits, wild caught fish…..and yes I read food labels. I never buy food Made in China or with corn syrup.
Inside my own kitchen , I cook healthy meals, not using processed foods, or eating fast-food, pick-up restaurants’ food, frozen TV meals ( full of preservatives, dyes and colors).
My husband and my kids are not picky eaters and they eat whatever I serve so no substitutions in my kitchen, this is not a cafeteria.
Some evenings can be hectic between my late job, kids’ extra school activities so when I need to, I use shortcuts organic frozen chopped vegetables for stir-fry, organic chicken/vegetable broths for soups, free-range eggs for a quiche or omelet….
People often ask me:”how can you cook everyday “?
The answer is I can cook every day because I plan it. When I know that one night we will have one specific dish, I do not need to think about it for hours or take my car to buy the ingredients. I just look at my menu planning.
Nothing makes me happier to see my family gathering around our dinning table and eating an healthy meal with an appetizer, a main dish, fruits or cheese or cakes/tarts/ desserts. So this is my motivation.
So how do I do it?
Here are some of my routines, that work for me.
I shop usually once a week. I think this is crazy to shop two or three times per week. Buying enough for six or seven days at a time is my recommendation. It is a waste of time and money and it cost gaz. I try to squeeze all my food shopping Saturday mornings. First I visit my local Farmers Market and buy all fruits and vegetables that I will need for the week: fresh free-range eggs, sometime grass-fed meat for local ranch and fish.
Then I shop at small/medium food stores that I trust and love: Trader Joe’s is my favorite, but I can also visit Baron’s or Sprouts if I have need to. I am trying to buy the best quality, natural, whole and organic. Buying at stores that do not sell things from China or GMO free make my visit easier, no need to read for hours each labels. Trusting your food store and their products is an important part of the shopping process.
The night before my shopping I write on an index card or in my iphone the meals I want to make the following week. Then I check all ingredients needed and see if I have them already handy or not. If not I write them on my ingredients list.
I am planning my dinners and lunch menus since we never buy lunches, myslef, my husband and my kids eat only leftovers for our lunches. Saving money all the way…
Here are some tips for one-week cooking:
- Buy a large piece of meat or a free- range chicken than you can use for roasting, braising or stewing. Let’s say that on Sunday for lunch you roast a chicken with vegetables. During the week you can use the leftovers in a soup, stir fry, or salad.
- Make one faster meal with a steamed or grilled meat, fish or chicken : steamed wild caught salmon and broccoli takes ony 20 minutes.
- Buy a variety of vegetables : Carrots, broccoli, zucchini, spinach, kale, mushrooms, spinach or whatever is in season. Serve with pastas, rice or quinoa or make a nice casserole.
- Buy potatoes and sweet potatoes or yams in buk add in soups, stew, salad or omelet….
- Stock up your pantry with dry lentils, chickpeas, beans. Great for soup, stew, salad.
- Buy quinoa, pasta, rice, bulgur great in salad or soup or stew.
- Buy canned tuna ( watch out for the mercury), I prefer using sardines… good sources of calcium and protein great in sandwich, as a spread on a sprouted bread.
- Have always in your fridge good quality Ketchup, Dijon mustard, miso, olives, chutney. I use it in sandwiches but also in soups.
- For your daily cooking buy the best Olive oil,vinegar, honey, maple syrup. Perfect in salads. Honey and maple syrup are wonderful in fruits salad or on whole plain yogurt
- For baking buy the best sugar, flour, chocolate, vanilla available.
- Buy salad leaves/ greens : fresh from the Farmers market or in bag.
- Cheeses (soft and hard) to use in salads, pastas, quiche, tart…
- Buy Free- range eggs to use in quiche, tart, and sandwiches
- Buy Plain whole yogurt: as a salad dressing or as a topping for soup. You can add jam, honey, maple sirup and nuts or seeds in yogurt for healthy dessert, breakfast or snack
- Buy sausages or bacon but nitrates free and uncured
- Buy a lot of seasonal fruits. Some natural and organic compote or canned in natural juice
- Buy organic milk 2 %
- Buy real butter organic if possible
- Buy always garlic and onions or fresh herbs it gives a nice kick to any simple dish.
What to do everyday
- Sit down together for family supper around the table.
- Do not watch TV when eating
- Set a pretty table with nice china, do not use plastic or paper plates
- Serve fruits, vegetables with every meal, plus fruits during snacks or breaks
- Make your own vinaigrette or dressing
What to do once a week
- Visit your Farmer’s Market
- Bake a cake or cookies or make a dessert
- Make one or two super- easy fast diner using all your leftovers
- Try out new but simple dishes
Week menu sample
- Saturday Lunch: Homemade French fries / grass fed beef / cheese / Fruits ( Farmer’s Market)
- Saturday Dinner: steamed artichoke (TJ’s) and free range boiled eggs (Farmer’s Market)/ yogurts (TJ’s)
- Sunday Lunch: Roasted organic chicken (Tj’S) with vegetables potatoes, carrots onions homemade/ tart tatin (TJ’s pie crust)
- Sunday dinner: Zucchini fritters with homemade tomato sauce/ yogurt/ fruits
- Monday Lunch: Quinoa (TJ’s) salad and sardines (TJ’s) – red pepper spread (TJ’s) on toasted baguette / green salad/ grappes
- Monday Dinner : Leftovers chicken with spaghettis tomato-zucchini sauce / apple sauce
- Tuesday Lunch: Tomato avocado hummus (TJ’s) sandwich English muffins /Greek yogurt with fresh fruits nuts and honey all TJ’s
- Tuesday dinner: ham, spinach and shitake mushrooms omelet / homemade Yogurt cake with fresh fruits. All TJ’s
- Wednesday lunch : Miso soup with tofu, miso, Shitake mushroom/ roasted fresh pineaple
- Wednesday dinner : red lentils quinoa carrots soup with goat cheese and croutons toppings/ fruit salad.
- Thursday Lunch: Leftover red lentil soup with Brie and baguette/ Roasted apple
- Thursday dinner: Chicken curry with rice (curry sauce masala sauce from Trader Joe’s and brown basmati rice that cook in 15 minutes and frozen haricots verts steamed all Trader Joe’s)
- Friday lunch : Pan bagnat sandwich / Apple sauce.
- Friday Dinner: Homemade pizza night. I use homemade pizza or store-bought pizza dough and everyone makes its own pizza
Some of the above meals are a part of my cookbook “Pack a lunch” and my own family recipes notebook
In the near future I will post some of the above recipes.
Tell me what are your weekly eating/ cooking routines?
Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!
