What I most often get asked when people learn that I don’t eat any animal products is what do you eat? It used to be that every meal was not complete without an animal product for ‘protein’. I am finding that more and more restaurants are becoming open to the idea of meat and dairy free meals and people are interested to find out how they can include more vegetarian and vegan meals into their week. The key with becoming plant-based and consuming more whole and unprocessed foods really is to plan in advance and meal prep where you can so that you know when you are busy that you can still grab something healthy to eat! Plus you will always have food available to take out with you on the go if you are not always certain that there will be plant friendly options available! I was really inspired by Kate Hudson’s food prep page in her best-selling book ‘Pretty Happy’ so some of her food prep ideas show up below. I am really keen to get into doing more healthy food prep and I hope that you will be also! – B xx

Breakfast ideas:

MUESLI/RAWNOLA:
Make up your own muesli mix or the night before you can make up your own vegan bircher muesli which is supposed to be the healthiest muesli! You can also make no bake muesli slice and muesli bars.

Gluten Free Muesli from Nadia Lim
Bircher Muesli from Nadia Lim

PANCAKES:
Pre-make toaster size protein pancakes and then you can just simply freeze them and toast them for a quick snack! These are also great for kids.

Protein Pancake recipes from Protein Pow

Lunch/dinner ideas:

VEGETABLE SOUP:
You can make vegetable soup in large batches and then store them in serving size containers in the freezer for later use! Minestrone soup with small pasta pieces is a particular favourite with kids. You could also make pumpkin soup, butternut squash soup, split pea soup, or tomato soup the list is endless. Look at the pre-made soups in your local supermarket for ideas! I recently had a kale and kumara soup which would be a good option to try making at home!

Vegan Minestrone from Vegan Richa

BEANS/GRAINS:
Pre-soak legumes and grains overnight and then cook up large batches on the stove and in the crockpot or rice cooker. They can then be stored in batches in the fridge. For grains try brown or wild rice, quinoa, and millet. You can then add any cooked grains and beans you have on hand to salads and stir-fries.

ROASTED VEGETABLES:
Cook up a batch every few days to add to salads and grain dishes. Make veggie chips from parsnip, carrot, kumara, and potato! Make cauliflower ‘toast’ from horizontally sliced cauliflower. Try roasting broccoli, mushrooms, pumpkin, zucchini sliced lengthways, peppers, onions and tomato. You could also try pre-prepping steamed vegetables for extra health benefits.

Sweet potato fries from Jamie Oliver

SALAD:
When you make a salad in the evening always try to make extra for the next day! Store it in a glass container or mason jar in your fridge. Mix up your salad ingredients to keep it interesting! Try using different varieties of lettuce like cos, spinach, and kale. Don’t be afraid to add some lightly stir fried ingredients to keep it interesting. Some crunch is also good in a salad! Try making some homemade croutons from good quality organic bread. Add in some roasted veggies chopped small or some grains and beans for extra protein.

DRESSINGS:
Kate in her book suggests prepping your own salad dressing using red wine or rice wine vinegar and olive oil. I love this idea! Regularly make up a few vegan dressings to keep on hand in the fridge.

VEGGIE STIR FRIES:
Veggie stir fries can be a great way to get a lot of vegetables in all at once and they are super quick and easy! I regularly make stir fries with all different types of vegetables to serve on organic toast. Use onion, mushrooms, courgette, tofu, lentils or chickpeas. Season with Indian spices and lightly toss through some raw sprouts and chopped kale or spinach when you are finished cooking!

VEGGIE STOCK:
Save all of your organic vegetable peelings in a bag in the freezer to make your own homemade vegetable stock. You can easily make it in a crock pot.

Vegetable Broth from Oh My Veggies

Snack ideas:

CRACKERS ETC.
Pre-pack small servings of crackers, mini rice cakes, corn chips, your homemade muesli mix, and homemade stove popcorn. Look for organic snacks that are minimally processed and do not contain a long list of additives!

BAKING:
Try making your own vegan mini muffins! You can add a variety of different vegetables or fruit or even oats to make more of a breakfast muffin.

KALE CHIPS:
Kale chips are often a hit with kids (and husbands!) and are so easy to make! Simply wash the kale. After washed cut the tough middle stems of out the leaves then finely chop the kale. Spread it out and leave it to air dry on a tea towel otherwise, the leaves will go a bit soggy! Add some olive oil and sea salt and then oven bake or dehydrate until crispy – yum!

CUT UP VEGGIES + FRUIT:
Pre-cut veggies and fruit so that it is really easy to grab them on the go! Store them in the fridge in containers with a little bit of water and lemon juice added to keep them fresh! Try grapes, sliced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and baby carrots. You can even freeze pre-cut lemons in a bag to add to your water! Bulk buy ripe bananas and then freeze them in bags for your smoothies. You can even bulk prep your smoothie fruit ingredients if you want to be really organised!

HUMMUS/DIPS:
Hummus is so quick and easy to make each week. Have a go at making a selection of other dips like guacamole, salsa, and cashew cheese. You could also try making your own nut butters and then store them in serving size containers! Try making butter from almonds, cashews or sunflower seeds.

Basic Hummus from Jamie Oliver

TRAIL MIX:
It is so easy to make your own nut mixes! Each day it is really healthy for us to get our good fats in and nuts and seeds can be fantastic sources. Look to buy raw, non-heat treated, non-salted varieties. Fats are really important to keep our hormones functioning well and our brain, eyes and skin healthy. Each day aim to eat a palm size serving of nuts. You can eat them whole or grind them up to make a sprinkle that you can add to your soups and smoothies or sprinkle on top of your salad or desserts. Different nuts give us beneficial nutrients for different things so you can tailor your nut mixes to suit you! For example, brazil nuts contain selenium which is really good for your brain so if you are studying or having to recall large amounts of information these are the nuts for you! Pumpkin seeds contain cucurbitins which are really good at keeping your body free of nasty parasites. This makes pumpkin seeds really great to add to kids mixes also! It is much better for our digestion to always soak nuts and seeds before we eat them and then if we plan to store them in batches to dry them first in a dehydrator if possible. Try also adding some extras like dried fruit and cacao nibs for variety to your nut mixes – the options are endless! You can also mix nuts and dried fruit together in the food processor to make bliss balls which are perfect for on-the-go snacking!

I hope you like these ideas to get you started with food prepping. I think it is good to set aside a specific time each week for food prep and make it fun. Kate said in her book that she plays music and makes it a fun family event! Life can get busy and staying on track with eating healthily is really important! If you have any other food prep ideas please share in the comments below!

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(Photo: My Body Zen)