Easy Prep for Simple Meals

guest post by Vanessa Tan

Preparation for the upcoming school year is an important task for every single family. Buying back-to-school supplies, getting organized, and probably most importantly, wondering about what kinds of meals to put on the table that will please the entire family.

Thinking about what to cook for the family can be an overwhelming task. Prepping for meals during the week can be time-consuming and tiring. However, cooking meals for the family can be turned into a simple and trouble-free task when you know easy prepping ideas. Involving the kids to help you prep for meals can also help them learn and understand the foods that they are eating. The main point is to plan ahead of time so that you can spend more time enjoying a meal rather than cutting up ingredients in a hot kitchen!

Some easy prepping tips for simple meals:

       Plan a list of meals in advance

In order to maintain good eating habits, it is important to plan meals in advance. Sit down with your family for a few minutes once a week and create a menu. It is easier to come up with a grocery list once you have a menu in place. You will be surprised at how much time and money you can save with a little planning in advance.

       Pick one day  to cook ahead

Picking one day out of the week to prepare and do as much cooking ahead will save you time during the week. Cut up fruits and vegetables, portion out meats, mix together seasonings, and store them in the fridge for easy access. You can also pan-fry or bake meats in advance so that all the ingredients are ready to be put together for a quick week night meal. Rice, potatoes, and beans can be cooked before hand and stored away to be reheated later on.

       Storage containers & bags are your best friends

Storage containers and bags are very useful to store small portions of foods to ensure easy access as well as to practice portion control. Storage containers can also be used to pack lunches for you and your family for the week.

       Get creative! Cook one food item and use in multiple ways!

Cooking one food item in advance that can be used in multiple ways can save time during the week. For example, Baked or grilled chicken can be used in quesadillas, pasta, salads, or even just simply paired with rice and vegetables. 

Full Circle

http://www.articlesbase.com/

The word "elitist" has been thrown around to describe the recent surge in foodie interests- farmers markets, artisanal cheeses, local microbrews, and seasonal ingredients just to name a few. But exactly how elitist is it to want to eat well and enjoy flavorful food?

On the surface, this movement does seem like it's exclusive to the upper class. $16 for a chunk of cheese the size of a door stop, $18 for a pound of locally produced honey, or $3 for a handful of heirloom grape tomatoes. Undeniably, these prices aren't affordable for everyone. But with some scrutiny, the picture of farm fresh produce, meats from small farms, and home-made treats is also undeniably proletarian.

Eco Foodie Gift Guide

Every year, I struggle with holiday gifts. I dislike the idea that the string of holidays are synonymous with scrambling at the malls and maxing out credit cards just for the sake of giving... whatever that means. And the spirit of holiday is often lost in the sea of gift wrap and gluttony for holiday treats. I much rather be generous at random times of the year simply because of my appreciation for the people I care about.

But if you're looking for sensible and sustainable gifts for the deserving people in your lives this holiday (or any other time of the year), here are some of my recs.
Disclaimer: I'm a proud owner/consumer of each these amazing items, and I'm only including the things are I'm a believer of. No company sponsorship or freebies swayed my list. 

Reusable Utensils

Image from To-Go Ware.com 

An estimated 40 billion plastic utensils are used every year in just our country alone. Landfills are running out of space, and toxins are leeched into air and water from the production and disposal of them. It's time to stop placing convenience first in our lifestyle choices.
To-Go Ware utensils offer a stylish and practical solution to the disposable utensil problem! Each set comes with a fork, knife, spoon, and a pair of chopsticks to cover all your culinary bases. They're made out of renewable bamboo and employ fair labor practices. I've had mine for a few months and love them to pieces! Hence I went to great lengths to get my lost pair of chopsticks replaced last month. Thanks, Kelly :)

Mesh Produce Bags

Image from bringitbags.com

I love seeing people buy fresh produce at farmers markets and heck, even chain grocery stores. But it breaks my heart when some folks pull off yards of plastic bags just to put 2 apples and 5 limes in each bag. And I find it most ironic when I see patrons of a farmers market walking about with countless white plastic bags hanging off of their arms.

Image from flip&tumble.com

With the rise of reusable totes, I was wondering when will someone come up with reusable produce bags. bringit offers 3 colors in 2 different sizes of mesh bags; flip & tumble offers a pack of 5. My honeydew colored bringit bag was purchased from Whole Foods Market, but I haven't seen any there lately. The set from flip & tumble is available at selected Crate & Barrel stores as well as Amazon.com.


Cast Iron Skillet

Image from Lodge Cast.com

My cast iron skillet made a strong comeback in the last year. Originally purchased to attempt Mexican cuisine at home when my family just immigrated from Hong Kong, now I can't remember the last time we made anything south of the border at home. But the skillet has become my favorite thing to cook with because of its durability and even heat conduction. Not to mention it gives the best color and sear, whether I'm making sauteed veggies, grilled steak, or even a cornbread cake! Yes, it's heavy and a bit clunky, but I'm all for getting a bicep workout while I'm cooking!
My cast iron skillet is an oldie from Lodge Cast. There's an extensive line of different cookware to chose from and are available at fine culinary stores like Sur la Table or their own website.

Image from Prepara.com

A Practical Kitchen Gadget
Did you know that store-bought nonstick cooking spray is an inhalant drug of abuse that can double-duty as ant poison? Not mention they're highly wasteful (a tiny amount of oil and a whole lot of nitrous oxide or carbon dioxide as propellant). Oh, and the coating on some pans and pots can be damaged by these cooking sprays.
For all those reasons, I was glad I stumbled upon the Prepara Table Top Mister on a random stroll through Crate & Barrel. I've had mine for over a year, and it's still working like a champ. For a more extensive product review, check out my post on it.
I couldn't find it anymore at Crate & Barrel on my last stroll there. But it was available at Sur La Table and in colors more exciting than just white.

Image from Theo Chocolate.com

Organic & Fair Trade Chocolate
At a recent conference, I had the pleasure of meeting Kim of Theo Chocolate. She's a rep for the company, and I knew I liked her when she let me stand there sampling almost every flavor on display. Then I had the Coconut Curry milk chocolate, and I knew I liked not only Kim but Theo, too! The flavor was mind-blowing (not for the timid palate), and I've been on the hunt for them ever since.
Theo Chocolate is certified organic and uses fair trade practices. You can enjoy the delicious cocoa delights and know that no worker was harmed during the production of your chocolate bar (chocolate giants like Hershey's and Nestle often exploit farmworkers on cocoa plantations). As Kim pointed out, most of their dark chocolates are also vegan! With their extensive and amazing flavors, there's truly something for everyone from Theo!
P.S. For $6, you can visit their factory in Seattle! Reservations required.

Local Artisan Ice Cream 

Image from MotherMoo.com

I like ice cream, a lot. And I used to be a fan of factory-made ones that are sold at large supermarkets. What the heck was I thinking? There are added chemicals that act as stabilizers and the use of whey/skim milk to keep their costs down. There are occasional fun flavors but they're usually the trite vanilla, chocolate, and perhaps the semi-adventurous Rocky Road.
Then a couple of artisanal creameries opened up in my area, and my taste for ice cream transformed. They have inventive flavors that change with the seasons. There were basil-lemon sorbet in the summer, pumpkin ice cream in the fall, and my recent fav, cinnamon!
Support your local creamery like I have for Mother Moo Creamery who uses organic dairy and sources some raw ingredients from local farmers. Although ice creams aren't really travel-able gifts, bring a pint or quart to your next dinner party or buy gift certificates- they're so much more thoughtful than box-store gift cards.

Co-op Membership
Food co-ops are more than just stores to buy groceries, they also build community that empower their members. Although food co-ops aren't everywhere and accessible to everyone, you might be living close to one and not know it!
Check this list from Co-op Directory and purchase a membership as a gift! If you're in the LA area, lend your support to Santa Monica's Co-opportunity or the Arroyo Food Co-op that needs your help in opening their store!

Regifting
If you have an unused kitchen gadget that's just collecting dust in the corner, why not regift it?? In times when we really should consider conservation and the 3R's (reduce, reuse, recycle), regifting shouldn't count as a faux pas. Check out this great guide from Brain Pickings and spruce up your regift packaging with their fun graphics.

Cooperatives, Bringing Power Back to Consumers

With the amount of political dissatisfaction that's churning and bubbling these days, co-ops are a breath of fresh air. They offer the very elements that are missing in our governments and parts of society- accountability, transparency, and balance.

With some of AFC's board members.
Photo courtesy of Gigi K. of Nutritiously Curious

Gigi K, blogger of Nutritiously Curious, and I sat down with Patrick Reagan, president of the Arroyo Food Co-op, to learn more about a community-owned grocery store and what it means for us to become "stakeholders."

Patrick's involvement in the co-op started when a Wild Oats Market in his neighborhood closed down due to a supposed acquisition by Whole Foods Market. But the merger was challenged by the FTC on the grounds of the anti-trust laws and Whole Foods ended up reselling Wild Oats in the same year (side note: here are the companies that were gobbled up by Whole Foods, listed on Whole Foods' own website). But the real losers of the market battle were the local customers of this Wild Oats Market. The community was left without a natural food store that was "human sized and addressed the neighborhood's needs" as Patrick recounted. Fast forward a bit and now a group of unhappy shoppers banded together in hopes of bringing some changes to the area's grocery scene. Patrick's ties with the efforts early on earned him the position of president of what would become the Arroyo Food Co-op. In March 2008, the group had its first meeting, and now they're 370+ members strong! 

With Gratitude

You knew this post was coming. Thanksgiving is almost like a holiday made for food bloggers- an entire day dedicated to cooking, eating, photographing, and more eating. Some bloggers chose to write about the feast before the holiday. Others, like myself, were perhaps too entrenched in perusing all the Food & Wine magazines and cookbooks to carve out time to write a post (ha, pun intended). But I simply can't let the holiday go by without any mention here. That'd be unorthodox.

So with Thanksgiving behind us, many of us are stuck with leftovers, dreading to have dried turkey for the week to come. But that doesn't have to be the case! To borrow Mark Bittman's aptly titled article, use some "radical rethinking of Thanksgiving leftovers" and transform them into many more delicious meals!

Avy Cake

Good food doesn't always have to be made completely from scratch. For me, it's especially so when it comes to baking. Pastry/cake/cookies/pies are as challenging as astrophysics. I've turned 3" chocolate chip cookies into a Pangea cookie when I followed (I think) the recipe exactly. Not to mention the thought of making pie crust can make the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight.

Since giving up on baking from scratch, I've come to appreciate using box mixes and throw in a dash of creativity to make them my own. There have been Khalua No-Pudge brownies, apple sauce pumpkin bread, and the latest, boxed cornbread mix dolled up with some rosemary and strawberry jam.

Product Props: TOKIG Salad Spinner from Ikea

Photo from Ikea

My fellow salad eaters, you'd know how much of a pain it is to rinse and let the salad mix dry before serving. And who likes a watery salad dressing? Not me! For as long as I remember, I had wanted a salad spinner to freshen up my greens efficiently.

Most salad spinners retail $18 or more at home goods stores. I cannot convince myself to pay that much for cheap plastics made in China. Hoping that prices would drop over time, I didn't have such luck. In fact, they just got more expensive! But on a lazy afternoon trip to Ikea, I stumbled upon the most affordable salad spinner!

Farm to Table: Spaghetti alla Cinese

Worthy of a magazine cover...
photo by eating partner, Delwin L. 

Legend has it that 13th Century traveler Marco Polo brought back what is now known as pasta from his travel to China. Whether that's a true story or a mere sensationalized tale, pasta is popular outside of just Italy. Spaghetti alla Cinese, or Chinese Spaghetti, is a homage to the legendary Chinese influence on these noodles. It marries whole wheat spaghetti with modernized Chinese flavors using sweet soy sauce, spring onion, and Japanese mustard. The result is a light yet satisfying meal appeals to the eyes and palate alike.

Freshly picked produce from the farmers market lend bright flavors to this dish. But feel free to substitute any of the veggies with whatever's available at the market. Julienned bok choy will work well when squash isn't available, and bean sprouts will be just fine in place of pea sprouts.This version is vegan-friendly but grilled chicken or shrimp may be added to nudge meat-lovers to try this dish.