This post is sponsored by Glad
October 16 is World Food Day, a day when we can spread awareness and advocate for the elimination of worldwide hunger. Even with enough food in the world, an estimated 753 million are undernourished, or about 1 in 9 people, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In the U.S., 1 in 7 Americans does not have enough to eat. And with all that hunger, the FAO reports that about ⅓ of the food produced around the world is lost or wasted every year. In the US, where an estimated 30-40% of the food supply is wasted, that’s more than 20 pounds of food per person per month.
I’m not tackling world hunger head on, but I am trying to be more aware of my consumption and waste. One way I’m able to reduce my chances of tossing fresh food in the garbage (while also saving time and money) is through meal prep. If I make even a small effort to clean, chop, cook, and pack up a few things on the day I shop, I’m so much less likely to end up with expired meat, stinky leftovers, wilted greens, and rotten fruit.
Now, I work from home, so I don’t necessarily need to have all of my meals ready to go by Sunday evening. And I’m only feeding two. But I do stumble on things we all do — like making consistently healthy, balanced dinners; buying chicken and then never wanting to cook said chicken; buying more fruits and vegetables than I could ever use in a week; telling myself I’d stick to a budget and then…what was that I said about budget?
So prep — from planning to chopping and storing — helps in a lot of ways.
Assess Your Fridge
What do you have on hand? What do you need to use up? These are going to get eaten this week.
Keep a Stocked Pantry
These are the staples that I always have on hand.
nuts/seeds
nut butter
beans: black, chickpea, kidney, cannellini
cans/pouches of tuna, salmon, and sardines
old fashioned rolled oats, quinoa, rice, pasta
spice rack: sea salt, black pepper, basil, oregano, thyme, ginger, cumin, chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, coriander, mint
oils: extra-virgin olive oil, coconut oil, toasted sesame oil
vinegars: balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar
Sambal Oelek chili garlic paste
soy sauce
tomato paste
crushed tomatoes
Make a Meal Plan
This dinner menu provides the structure for the whole week. I don’t plan breakfasts and lunches because they often involve leftovers and are so routine it’d bore the daylights out of you. Instead of a hard plan for those meals, I buy the sorts of things I know Daniel and I constantly eat — eggs, Greek yogurt, tuna, avocado, lettuce for salads, etc.
Then Make Your Shopping List
spaghetti squash, broccoli, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, celery, pomegranate, chicken, eggs…
Other weeks, I might swap out the broccoli for brussels sprouts, the sweet potatoes for white, spaghetti squash for acorn…
I bought fruits like grapefruit, oranges, and apples. I picked up ricotta and goat cheese (I always buy some type of cheese), fresh basil, Greek yogurt, dates, these amazing salted freeze-dried edamame packs, and, I hate myself for admitting this, but now I’m hooked on buying those big jugs of Starbucks Unsweetened Brewed Iced Coffee. Why don’t I make cold brew again? Great question. I even bought one of the big Starbucks cups with the lid and straw to drink it (mainline-it) every morning. I’m hopeless.
Wash, Chop, Cook, Pack
I wash and chop all of the vegetables (celery into sticks for snacking; cauliflower into florets and left raw for later in the week to make cauliflower crust pizza). Then I cook the ones I’ve decided to prepare in advance: spaghetti squash, broccoli, and sweet potatoes.
Since I’m cooking 3 at once, I use 400 degrees F as the oven temp for all (rather than what’s below), and combine the spaghetti squash and sweet potatoes on one baking sheet and the broccoli on another. I start roasting the squash/sweet potato pan and then add the broccoli pan in the final 20 minutes.
Roasted Spaghetti Squash
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment or aluminum foil and coat with cooking spray. Place the squash cut-side-down on the baking sheet and roast until you can easily insert a fork into the skin, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer it to a cutting board, and let cool, cut-side-up, until cool enough to handle. Use a fork to scrape the inner flesh into strands.
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment or aluminum foil. Lightly prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork and place them on the baking sheet. Bake until you can easily slip a fork through the center of one, about 45 minutes.
Roasted Broccoli
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil (for easier clean-up). Combine the broccoli, optional garlic, and olive oil and toss well with your hands to coat the florets as evenly as you can. Sprinkle evenly with salt. Roast until the florets have begun to blacken, about 20 minutes.
While those are roasting, I hard-boil the eggs. Place 6 eggs in a small sauce pan, just cover with cold water, bring to a boil. Cover the saucepan, turn off the heat, and let sit for 12 minutes. Submerge in cold water and peel.
I cook the chicken on my indoor grill pan. Daniel and I will incorporate it into dinners, and if there’s any leftover, we’ll have it for lunch, too.
When I’m done with the prep, I pack up the food in the containers that seem best (or whatever still has a lid) — either glass jars, containers, bowls with Glad ClingWrap, or Glad storage bags. On the Glad website, they have a whole page dedicated to tips on storing every food you can think of — Protection Pointers. I find that so useful.
By as early as Monday, I’m so happy, so relieved, that I took two hours to prepare all this food. And by Saturday, the vegetable bins have no wilted greens.
Do you meal prep? Has it helped you reduce the amount you throw away?
This World Food Day, Glad isn’t just helping people like me protect and store their food to reduce waste; they’re supporting Free The Children, an international charity and education partner helping communities to rise above poverty, while creating awareness for hunger across the globe.
Join Glad on World Food Day to help spread awareness about world hunger by posting your food photos in black & white on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. For each black & white food photo posted with the hashtag #GladToShare between now and October 31st, Glad will donate $1 to Free The Children to provide a nutritious meal for a person in need in communities around the globe.
You’ll be seeing some black and white food photos on my Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram in support of #WFD2015 and #GladtoShare.
Visit Glad.com to learn more about how you can help take a stand against global hunger in honor of World Food Day and help support Free The Children. Follow Glad on Twitter @getGlad, on Instagram @gladproducts, and Facebook.com/Glad
This post was sponsored by Glad in conjunction with #GladtoShare and World Food Day.
This post is sponsored by Glad
October 16 is World Food Day, a day when we can spread awareness and advocate for the elimination of worldwide hunger. Even with enough food in the world, an estimated 753 million are undernourished, or about 1 in 9 people, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In the U.S., 1 in 7 Americans does not have enough to eat. And with all that hunger, the FAO reports that about ⅓ of the food produced around the world is lost or wasted every year. In the US, where an estimated 30-40% of the food supply is wasted, that’s more than 20 pounds of food per person per month.
I’m not tackling world hunger head on, but I am trying to be more aware of my consumption and waste. One way I’m able to reduce my chances of tossing fresh food in the garbage (while also saving time and money) is through meal prep. If I make even a small effort to clean, chop, cook, and pack up a few things on the day I shop, I’m so much less likely to end up with expired meat, stinky leftovers, wilted greens, and rotten fruit.
Now, I work from home, so I don’t necessarily need to have all of my meals ready to go by Sunday evening. And I’m only feeding two. But I do stumble on things we all do — like making consistently healthy, balanced dinners; buying chicken and then never wanting to cook said chicken; buying more fruits and vegetables than I could ever use in a week; telling myself I’d stick to a budget and then…what was that I said about budget?
So prep — from planning to chopping and storing — helps in a lot of ways.
Assess Your Fridge
What do you have on hand? What do you need to use up? These are going to get eaten this week.
Keep a Stocked Pantry
These are the staples that I always have on hand.
nuts/seeds
nut butter
beans: black, chickpea, kidney, cannellini
cans/pouches of tuna, salmon, and sardines
old fashioned rolled oats, quinoa, rice, pasta
spice rack: sea salt, black pepper, basil, oregano, thyme, ginger, cumin, chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, coriander, mint
oils: extra-virgin olive oil, coconut oil, toasted sesame oil
vinegars: balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar
Sambal Oelek chili garlic paste
soy sauce
tomato paste
crushed tomatoes
Make a Meal Plan
This dinner menu provides the structure for the whole week. I don’t plan breakfasts and lunches because they often involve leftovers and are so routine it’d bore the daylights out of you. Instead of a hard plan for those meals, I buy the sorts of things I know Daniel and I constantly eat — eggs, Greek yogurt, tuna, avocado, lettuce for salads, etc.
Then Make Your Shopping List
spaghetti squash, broccoli, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, celery, pomegranate, chicken, eggs…
Other weeks, I might swap out the broccoli for brussels sprouts, the sweet potatoes for white, spaghetti squash for acorn…
I bought fruits like grapefruit, oranges, and apples. I picked up ricotta and goat cheese (I always buy some type of cheese), fresh basil, Greek yogurt, dates, these amazing salted freeze-dried edamame packs, and, I hate myself for admitting this, but now I’m hooked on buying those big jugs of Starbucks Unsweetened Brewed Iced Coffee. Why don’t I make cold brew again? Great question. I even bought one of the big Starbucks cups with the lid and straw to drink it (mainline-it) every morning. I’m hopeless.
Wash, Chop, Cook, Pack
I wash and chop all of the vegetables (celery into sticks for snacking; cauliflower into florets and left raw for later in the week to make cauliflower crust pizza). Then I cook the ones I’ve decided to prepare in advance: spaghetti squash, broccoli, and sweet potatoes.
Since I’m cooking 3 at once, I use 400 degrees F as the oven temp for all (rather than what’s below), and combine the spaghetti squash and sweet potatoes on one baking sheet and the broccoli on another. I start roasting the squash/sweet potato pan and then add the broccoli pan in the final 20 minutes.
Roasted Spaghetti Squash
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment or aluminum foil and coat with cooking spray. Place the squash cut-side-down on the baking sheet and roast until you can easily insert a fork into the skin, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer it to a cutting board, and let cool, cut-side-up, until cool enough to handle. Use a fork to scrape the inner flesh into strands.
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment or aluminum foil. Lightly prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork and place them on the baking sheet. Bake until you can easily slip a fork through the center of one, about 45 minutes.
Roasted Broccoli
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil (for easier clean-up). Combine the broccoli, optional garlic, and olive oil and toss well with your hands to coat the florets as evenly as you can. Sprinkle evenly with salt. Roast until the florets have begun to blacken, about 20 minutes.
While those are roasting, I hard-boil the eggs. Place 6 eggs in a small sauce pan, just cover with cold water, bring to a boil. Cover the saucepan, turn off the heat, and let sit for 12 minutes. Submerge in cold water and peel.
I cook the chicken on my indoor grill pan. Daniel and I will incorporate it into dinners, and if there’s any leftover, we’ll have it for lunch, too.
When I’m done with the prep, I pack up the food in the containers that seem best (or whatever still has a lid) — either glass jars, containers, bowls with Glad ClingWrap, or Glad storage bags. On the Glad website, they have a whole page dedicated to tips on storing every food you can think of — Protection Pointers. I find that so useful.
By as early as Monday, I’m so happy, so relieved, that I took two hours to prepare all this food. And by Saturday, the vegetable bins have no wilted greens.
Do you meal prep? Has it helped you reduce the amount you throw away?
This World Food Day, Glad isn’t just helping people like me protect and store their food to reduce waste; they’re supporting Free The Children, an international charity and education partner helping communities to rise above poverty, while creating awareness for hunger across the globe.
Join Glad on World Food Day to help spread awareness about world hunger by posting your food photos in black & white on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. For each black & white food photo posted with the hashtag #GladToShare between now and October 31st, Glad will donate $1 to Free The Children to provide a nutritious meal for a person in need in communities around the globe.
You’ll be seeing some black and white food photos on my Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram in support of #WFD2015 and #GladtoShare.
Visit Glad.com to learn more about how you can help take a stand against global hunger in honor of World Food Day and help support Free The Children. Follow Glad on Twitter @getGlad, on Instagram @gladproducts, and Facebook.com/Glad
This post was sponsored by Glad in conjunction with #GladtoShare and World Food Day.
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