[Batch cooking recipes] Basic preparations that cannot be missed to organize your healthy weekly menu

One of the biggest problems when you want to eat healthy is the lack of time.

How many times have you repeated the typical “I don’t have time”? A lot, right?

Work, household chores, children, social life… with all this, it’s impossible for you to spend a thousand hours in the kitchen every day to prepare something healthy (and that everyone will like).

So in the end you end up resorting to anything and leaving the idea of ​​eating well and taking care of yourself in a forgotten drawer.

The solution to prevent this from happening to you is to learn to organize yourself in the kitchen and optimize the time you spend cooking. 

And that’s what batch cooking is ideal for.

A cooking system that consists of preparing the entire week’s menu as close to perfect as possible in just a few hours (usually during the weekend).

So during the week, when you just don’t have time, you’ll only have to heat up, combine foods, or finish some quick preparation and you’ll have your lunch, dinner,r or breakfast ready in a few minutes.

Interesting, right?

Well, if you want to start putting it into practice, in this article I am going to tell you which recipes and preparations I consider to be basic and which cannot be missing in a batch cooking session.

You’ll see that they will save your life during the week.

Take note!

👉 (Batch cooking) Basic breakfast recipes: granola and bread.

If you have an oven, use it.

And if you can do several things at the same time with different trays, even better.

For example, I recommend that you prepare two meals that will solve your week’s breakfast problems and guarantee that you will start the day eating healthy.

My favorites are granola and bread because in the case of granola, you mix it with coconut yogurt and some fruit and you already have a delicious “sweet” breakfast, and with bread, you can make toast with avocado or crushed tomatoes in a minute.

You can even make a larger batch of bread and freeze it already sliced ​​so it lasts longer.

Let’s look at two examples of recipes that you could make.

Granola with seeds and apple compote.

This is a great way to replace typical cereals full of sugar, additives, and refined flour.

It is made in a moment and is delicious. 

I don’t add any sweetener, but if you want you can add a little date syrup.

 

✅ Ingredients:

▶️ For the apple compote:

• 10 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped (Reinet or Royal Gala).
• 230 milliliters of water.
• A dash of lemon juice
• Cinnamon stick.

▶️ For the granola:

• 250 grams of gluten-free fine-rolled oats.
• 200 grams of the applesauce you have prepared.
• 3 tablespoons of tahini.
• ½ cup sesame seeds.
• ½ cup sunflower seeds.
• ½ cup pumpkin seeds.
• 1 tablespoon of Ceylon cinnamon.
• Grated peel of an orange.
• 3 tablespoons of date syrup (optional, I don’t add any).

✅ Procedure:

▶️ For the apple compote:

• Put all the ingredients on the stove and cook for 20 to 40 minutes on very low heat until you get a puree. Stir everything well from time to time, and that’s it!

▶️ For the granola: 

• Stir well to combine all the ingredients into the mixture and try to form little rocks. I love this.
• Spread the mixture on baking paper on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes. It is important to monitor the browning, especially the first time so that it does not burn.
• After this time, turn the granola over (as much as possible) to ensure that it cooks well on both sides, and bake for another 5 or 10 minutes, keeping an eye on it again to prevent it from burning.
• Take it out of the oven, let it cool,l and put it in a jar, ready for the week.

(Batch cooking recipes) Gluten-free bread with anti-inflammatory effect

This bread is very filling because the main flour is almond flour, so one or two slices will be more than enough.

It is also gluten-free and suitable for people with candidiasis. 

And it’s ideal for preparing a sandwich that you can take anywhere, in case you have to have breakfast at work or for the children to take to school.

✅ Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil.
• 2 cups of almond flour.
• 3/4 cup ground sunflower seeds (or the same amount of almonds, flax, or sesame).
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt.
• 1 teaspoon turmeric.
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano.
• 2 large ECO eggs.
• 1 teaspoon unfiltered apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice).
• 1/4 cup water.

✅ Procedure:

• Preheat the oven to 180º.
• Using a powerful blender, make the almond and seed flour. Don’t over-grind it or it will turn into butter!
• In a bowl, first add the solid ingredients: almond flour and seeds, salt, pepper, turmeric, and baking soda, and mix well.
• Now add the liquid ingredients to the bowl: eggs, water, vinegar (or lemon juice,) and extra virgin olive oil.
• Pour the mixture into a small plum cake tin and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. It will be ready when a wooden stick inserted into the cake comes out clean. This will show that even though it looks cooked on the outside, the bread is not raw on the inside.
• And that’s it! I hope you like this bread as much as I do!

👉 Always include a stew or two among your preparations.

Another thing that cannot be missing in your batch cooking session is stews.

I think they are essential because they are super delicious even if you reheat them during the week.

They do not lose their flavor or their texture.

And you can even make a large batch to freeze, I love this.

In fact, I always buy large pots for this reason, a huge cooking pot saves your life many days!

And if you like spoon dishes like me, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

I recommend that you make one with meat or fish and another with legumes so that you have variety. 

Just don’t forget to put enough vegetables in them, or if you see that you are running out, you can accompany them with a salad that is prepared in no time.

Here I leave you a recipe for a stew that you will love.

(Batch cooking recipes) Carillas legumes, a very, very Extremaduran stew. 

This is one of my favorite dishes from my homeland since I was little, that’s why every time I prepare it I feel at home.

It is a very easy recipe to prepare and although it will take quite a while to cook, it doesn’t matter, because in the meantime you can prepare other dishes for the week (this is what batch cooking is all about).

Take note!

✅ Ingredients:

• 250 grams of black-eye beans (kids in vests).
• 1 red pepper.
• 1 onion.
• 2 garlic cloves.
• Extra virgin olive oil.
• 1 bay leaf.
• Salt.
• Pepper.
• 1 teaspoon of paprika from La Vera.
• Handful of dried mushrooms (optional).
• Dried choricero or ñora pepper.
• 4 tablespoons of unsweetened crushed tomatoes.
• 4 dried tomatoes (optional).
• Piece of kombu leaf (optional, but highly recommended).

✅ Procedure:

• Soak the veneers overnight. I recommend that, if you have time, you leave them soaking for up to a day. However, change the water every 12 hours, as we don’t want a strange ecosystem to form 😉.cooking
• The next day, drain the water and rinse well.
• Once the sofrito is ready, add the paprika without letting it burn, stir, and add the tortillas. Then cover them with water (four fingers above the legumes)
• When they begin to boil, lower the heat and add the bay leaf, the handful of mushrooms, the dried tomatoes, the dried choricero pepper, and the piece of kombu seaweed.
• Leave them on low heat for about 2 hours until the beans are soft.
• Finally, remove the chorister pepper and the dried tomato, put them with some broth in the blender, and once blended, add them back to the pot.
• Five minutes before removing the pot from the heat, add salt (to taste) so that it is easier to digest.
• And enjoy your delicious Extremadura stew!

👉 Vegetables, vegetables and more vegetables.

Vegetables CANNOT be missing from your weekly batch cooking for two reasons:

• If you want to eat healthy, there have to be vegetables in EVERY dish (at least 50% of your plate should be vegetables).
• They are what we are most lazy to prepare and what takes the most time.

When you get home tired, the last thing you want to do is cut and cook vegetables.

It doesn’t take long to cook a grilled steak or an egg, but vegetables… oh my!

That’s why I recommend that you prepare them in all possible ways: baked, steamed, in stir-fries, in creams… 

Which ones? As many as you want!

Zucchini, peppers, carrots, broccoli, green beans, eggplant, pumpkin…

This is really going to save your life and ensure that you are eating healthy every day even if you don’t have time.

Imagine that you make baked carrots for some preparation, you can put in more and prepare this cream that I am going to teach you now with them.

Saving time to the maximum!

(Batch cooking recipes) The carrot and rosemary area is ideal for getting back into the routine.

✅ Ingredients:

• ½ kilo of carrots.
• 2 sprigs of rosemary.
• 2 onions.
• Salt.
• Vegetable broth (or water).

✅ Procedure:

• Cut the onions into julienne strips and sauté them with a little extra virgin olive oil.
• Add the chopped and peeled carrots and two sprigs of fresh rosemary, or dried rosemary if you can’t find it. Add water or vegetable broth until the carrots are covered, and salt. Cook for 40 minutes or until the carrots are soft (if you’re using roasted carrots, it will take much less time).
• Beat well until creamy, adding more liquid if necessary. Taste and adjust salt.
• And enjoy!

👉 Cook some cereal to include in your weekly menu.

On the other hand, it is also great to leave some whole grains cooked during batch cooking: rice, quinoa, buckwheat pasta…

If you have them ready, you can prepare a stir-fry with vegetables (also already prepared) in no time. 

A trick to keep rice better is to fry it with a little extra virgin olive oil and garlic.

And if you make pasta, add a little oil after draining the cooking water so that it doesn’t stick.

👉 Batch cooking recipes for healthy sauces and dressings.

And finally, prepare some sauces or dressings, which are the key to turning a bland, healthy dish into an ultra-delicious, gourmet one. 

I can tell you that eating a plate of steamed broccoli with a little salt and that’s it is not the same as accompanying it with some dried tomatoes and a green pesto sauce that you have prepared beforehand and that will give it a very rich flavor.

I’ll leave you the pesto recipe here.

It is very easy to make and will last a long time in the fridge if you store it in a glass jar with a little extra virgin olive oil on top. 

You can use it to accompany whatever you want: pasta, vegetables…

(Batch cooking recipes) Green pesto: healthy sauce idea.

✅ Ingredients:

• 25 grams of fresh basil.
• ½ clove of garlic.
• 10 grams of pine nuts or walnuts.
• 35 grams of nutritional yeast.
• 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
• 2 tablespoons of water.
• 1 pinch of salt.

✅ Procedure:

You just have to wash the fresh basil leaves and put them in a blender glass along with the rest of the ingredients. Then blend everything well until you obtain a homogeneous mixture.

> NOTE: If you can’t find fresh basil, you can also make this pesto with fresh spinach, broccoli, kale, or mint (but use less in the latter case because the flavor is stronger).

👉 Are you going to try batch cooking to save time during the week by including these basic preparations?

I am sure that if you include these preparations in your batch cooking you will get through the week much lighter and in very little time you will have your breakfast, lunch, and dinner ready.

Keep in mind that if you do it this way, you will have already prepared almost all of the preparations in advance and it will take you hardly any time during the week. cooking

I know you might be more stressed than relaxed after reading this article, but trust me, once you get the hang of it, it’s so easy and saves you a lot of time. cooking

Of course, there are a number of things to keep in mind before getting down to work with batch cooking, including the order of preparations to make the most of the time you spend in the kitchen.