Melissa Joulwan's food prep plan changed my life nearly as much as Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution did for diabetes.
Before I was ready to start Dr. Bernstein's plan, I tried everything else I could find.
One of those 'everythings' was the Whole30, which was such a valuable experience, I've done it a couple of times and wrote about why I think everyone should complete a Whole30 here.
While doing a Whole30 back in 2014, I read Melissa Joulwan's book Well Fed. The book is centered on Paleo eating, which has issues meshing with low carb in terms of the fruit content, but we'll ignore that right now.
Like Melissa says, I love cooking but I hate making dinner.
Dinnertime is inevitably the busiest time of day, with kids asking for help with homework, my husband telling me about his day, the doorbell ringing with deliveries, and it seems like a million other things going on.
Because of that, I keep dinnertime simple with meat and veggies. If those dinner ingredients are already prepped, you can save a ton of time and focus on more important things in your life (the people, of course!)
Melissa Joulwan teaches an amazing food prep Strategy that goes like this:
Buy groceries on Saturday (or whatever day works for you).
Plan Your prep day. The day of grocery shopping - or the day after - is usually best.
Spend an hour or so cooking up all the protein for the week. I often do this with only a couple of pans and just keep cycling one thing after another. Don't forget to boil eggs, too.
When cooled, store in containers in the fridge.
If needed, wash, chop and pre-cook your favorite fresh veggies for the week. Blanche, sautee, roast, etc. Okay, with lettuce and items eaten raw, just wash and chop. ;) Skip this with frozen or pre-prepped/bagged veggies.
Get your family involved so you can do together in half the time. Start some music, give everyone an age-appropriate task and you'll be done in no time - all the while with some great family bonding.
Then on your busy weeknights, grab a protein, grab a veggie - or a few - and….
Throw them together in a pan and add any type of spice mix you desire: Italian, Southwest, Asian.
Or add the meat and veggies into a pot with some coconut milk and curry spice to make a quick curry.
Or with broth to make a soup.
Or make a quick frittata by sauteing protein and veggies (asparagus, red pepper, etc) then add beaten eggs and bake until set.
Or make a hearty high-protein salad
The possibilities are endless and the thing is, you've just saved yourself an hour in the kitchen every evening.
Many people believe that home-cooked meals every night is an unattainable dream.
Or they think that they don't have time for a big meal prep once per week. But what if that 2 hours you spend on the weekend translates to 3 hours saved during the week when you need it most?
Melissa outlines this plan on her blog, plus includes links to a few of her favorite spice blends. (Keep in mind that the other recipes on this blog are Paleo/Whole30 and may or may not fit with Dr. B's low carb approach.)
*Two of our fav low carb spice blends are on the diaVerge blog: Magic Mushroom powder and Southwest Seasoning.
How will you use protein prep and the protein + vegetable + flavor concept to enhance your meal time? I’d love to hear what you think.
Do you have the Optimal Foods for Diabetes download?
It can help you get food planning/prep done faster and easier - and keep blood sugar levels on track.
It’s free and you can get it here.
