Being Prepared

Pre-cut vegetables, with tomato, chick pea patties and
salad dressing.

I struggle at times to eat properly.  I get to the end of the day, and I just don't have the energy to
prepare a meal.

I'm trying something new - a way to make preparing a meal much easier.

I'm pre-cutting my vegetables.

For the past couple of weeks, I've set aside a day (the day after grocery day) to do two things - to bake something as "treats" for the week, such as biscuits or cupcakes, and to put a week's worth of vegetables through the shredder attachment on the Kenwood Chef.

The idea is that I save energy by only cleaning up my Kenwood Chef once a week, and by reducing the amount of preparation for meals throughout the week.

What I've shredded is a mix of cabbage, carrot, onion, capsicum and celery.  Left dry and in a sealed container in the fridge, this will easily last all week.

It's a good mix, because it's versatile.

Used with a mayonaise style dressing, it's a coleslaw.

Cooked with some lean beef mince, canned tomatoes, a couple of herbs and some olives, it's a bolognese.

Cooked with some lean meat strips and soy sauce, it's a stirfry to go over rice.

Add some tomato and possibly a lettuce leaf or a slice or two of cucumber, along with a fat-free salad dressing, it's a basic salad to have with just about anything.  (In the picture I have chick pea patties:  a can of chickpeas, drained in a colander and then washed under running water, mashed.  Mixed with some garlic sesame seeds and whatever herbs I feel like.  Then formed into patties and cooked in a pan that's been sprayed with canola oil spray.)

Add canned beans, canned tomato, herbs and stock (or tomato paste), it can make a minestrone-style soup.

The effect of preparing my vegetables in advance has been that I've made myself healthy meals now for a week and a half.  I've been looking forward to meals again, rather than just eating whatever is easiest or not bothering to eat.

That little bit of saved effort in preparation and clean-up really has made a huge difference for me. Between meals I mostly have fresh fruit, but I also have small treats I have baked so I don't feel any need or even want of any other "junk food".