in my humble opinion, i think that one of the hardest things about becoming a wife was learning how to cook for another human being. in college, all i really ate was pasta, rice + eggs, rice + eggs + bokchoy, or in-n-out. I honestly just ate anything that was quick, easy and cheap. let's be honest - in college, most of us just eat to survive.
however, when I got married - I really embraced this new calling I had to serve my husband by way of cooking for him. by God's divine plan and sovereignty, He granted me a husband who loves food (it makes cooking so fun!). It was seriously God's grace and mercy to me in granting me a husband who is really not picky at all (also, he loves Korean food, which is a huge plus for me!) cooking becomes a whole new art when you're doing it for someone else. I was so eager and excited to make many extravagant meals and to pack really cute, thoughtful snacks throughout the day for a guy who would otherwise eat costco nuts all day long.
to my dismay, I found that cooking three meals a day is really, really hard to do (especially around work and things). I've tried different techniqes and read an embarrassing amount of blogs/magazines trying to figure out how to do this "meal-planning" thing. I still have a lot to learn - but I'm definitely getting better at it every week. It's definitely a trial-and-error type of thing, and more often than not I don't really do a good job at it. but by God's grace and the patience of my gracious husband - i'm learning new things and finding the courage to try again and again.
I knew that I really needed to start getting better at meal planning. life gets dangerous when you don't have good, healthy food on hand. for example, last week I didnt bring lunch to work and I had a stressful day so I ate a huge chicken quesadilla. (i'm serious, it was huge - like probably 3 servings. but I was stressed!) anyway - I realize the enemy of healthy eating is not having healthy choices on hand. I've been following a few people on IG who eat really healthy, whole-food meals. I've been so inspired. I'm really motivated to eat/cook more healthy food at home. On a related note - I went to the optometrist today and he said I have cholestrol in my eyes. yes, IN. MY. EYES. (I know, so embarrasing.) honestly... who gets cholestrol in their eyes? sigh.
anyway - I set aside some time this afternoon to prep a few meals for the rest of this week. I tried to prepare enough meals to last eugene until saturday (since I'll be staying in Irvine for the rest of the week) and it looks like he'll be all set for the week. I actually only spent about 3 hours to make/prep/pack everything. I learned a lot of new things today that I think will be helpful for my fellow meal-prepping, meal-planning friends.
A few things I learned and will continue to practice in my kitchen:
1) cooking things in the oven is the best! roasting/baking, etc. I rarely used my oven because I used it as storage for all my pots/pans - but after today, i re-organized my kitchen so that I could leave the oven as empty as possible.
2) roasting veggies is my fave. it's so yummy and easy. I basically start my meal prep by washing and cutting all my veggies. I toss it in some EVOO with salt + pepper, line em up in a single layer (not touching) and put it in the oven (400 deg) for 10-12 minutes. I basically did this for one hour, cycling 4-5 times and finished all my veggies. (I used a timer to remind myself when to take it out)
3) google is my best friend. so many great recipes!
4) clean out your fridge as you're prepping for meals. I bought canned tomatoes and beans at the store today - so i decided to make soup. I basically just took out all the veggies out of my fridge and threw everything in my soup! (zucchini, eggplant, onions, mushrooms, celery, etc). it's kitchen multi-tasking and its the best! (check out this clean-out-yo-fridge vegetable soup recipe that I made before!)
5) quinoa is my new best friend. I've been trying to cut down on our carbs at home, so I bought a bag of quinoa today and it is so good. I basically just threw in a cup of quinoa with some water and let it steam for 10-15 minutes. it goes well with everything (salads, rice-substitute, etc.)
6) clean as you go! this is definitely my biggest flaw/weakness. i make such a mess when I cook... but today I really tried to clean during my idle time (waiting for things to boil, etc..) and clean-up at the end was way easier (and less burdensome.. hehe)
7) throw stuff into the oven while other things are baking/roasting. I had a little bit of extra room on my cookie sheet while I was roasting my veggies, so I threw my sweet potatoes on top (scrubbed/dried with skin on, no foil) and it came out perfect!
8) I personally like organizing all the meals in tupperware vs. storing each thing separately. eugene and I are a grab-and-go couple in this season of our life so that's easiest for us.
9) label everything (and make sure to date it) - isn't it the worst feeling when you spend all this time making/packing/storing food and weeks later you see a rogue tupperware sitting in the corner of your fridge, covered in the mold of death? ...no? just me? okay. well, anyway - that's why I have to label everything.
10) challenge yourself! make things you've never made before. be creative with your ingredients, too! just use what you have. for example - i had two packs of eggs in my fridge (really, who needs TWO packs of eggs?) so I decided to make egg salad. It's a pretty simple recipe (boiled eggs, mayo, mustard, green onions, paprika, salt/pepper). I didn't have mayo or greek yogurt (which I would have preferred) so I just used a dollop of sour cream instead.
I'm excited to try new things and to keep up with my meal planning. Euene really liked all of these things I cooked today (even the quinoa!) so I hope to make lots of delicious, colorful and healthy meals on a day-to-day basis.
shredded salsa chicken // sauteed onions + mushrooms // roasted butternut squash // baked sweet potatoes // roasted vegetable medley - carrots, eggplant, zucchini, asparagus // minestrone // mixed quinoa // egg salad // lemon garlic grilled chicken
all packaged up and ready to go!
labeled up with name + date of preparation // no more mold...hopefully.
cheers to many more meal-planning, meal-prepping adventures!
....and to eating better so that I don't have cholesterol in my eyes.
xoxo
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