WANT TO DITCH THE PROCESSED FOOD FOR GOOD? TRY THIS.. WEEKLY MEAL PLAN IDEAS #7.
Have you ever thought about what it is that makes you want to eat processed food again and again? Why is it so difficult to transition toward healthy choices? 🤔
Well, first of all, thousands of scientists made a really “good“ job by observing the dependence on certain chemicals, additives, salt and sugar and food companies didn't hesitate to add them in all the snacks, drinks and pre-cooked meals to make you buy more of it. 🤦🏼♀️
The taste of those meals is always exaggerated, which makes you dislike normal natural and homemade meals.
And hey, I´m not just talking about the junk food here… it's all the shelf food that most people consider “healthy“ too.
Every pasta sauce or salad dressing is usually filled with additives to reduce the price for the taste.
Here's the thing… Over thousands of years people were using aromatic herbs for their medicinal properties, taste enhancements and conservation.🌱
But if you´ve ever bought a bunch of fresh organic herbs on a local market, soon you've realized how quickly they go sad and bad…
In an ideal world, you would pick some fresh herbs from your garden and eat straight away. But many of us are not so lucky to have a garden and if you´ve ever tried to grow fresh herbs on your kitchen window like me, it's a long journey until you´ll make a basil pesto from your produce.
As you can probably imagine, for food companies it is much cheaper to invent a bunch of chemicals to substitute the taste of fresh thyme and basil with just a drop of some letter+number or even invent a whole new taste for GMO veg that doesn't taste anything..🤮
It is difficult to compete with those tastes and the only way is a mindset shift - don't try to replicate a taste of some artificial sauce, but create your own experimenting with the real ingredients instead.
And with a bunch of fresh herbs..
Herbs are incredibly nutrient-dense. Basil alone has numerous phytochemicals, giving it anti-inflammatory, chemo-preventive, radio-protective, antimicrobial, analgesic, antidiabetic and other great properties.
So, anytime you have the opportunity to add fresh herbs and spices to your dish, do it!
The first thing when you bring fresh herbs from a local market is the right storage, so that they can last up for a week or longer and you can keep enjoying them for multiple tasty ideas.
Watch this short video to see how I store my herbs. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Now, let's move on to this week's meal prep.
At this point, you probably know, what is the Highlight of the Week- FRESH HERBS!
All the recipes in this meal prep contain fresh herbs, so if you can make sure you have enough parsley, cilantro, dill, mint, chives, but you can really get creative here..😉
SATURDAY:
✅ Make sure you have all the ingredients ready for the next day - check my PANTRY LIST and get what´s missing… A full pantry always looks better 😉
✅ Try to get you fresh herbs on a local market or an organic shop and store them according to my video tutorial.⬆️
SUNDAY MEAL PREP:
There are 2 big batch recipes for this week… btw. if you've followed my meal plan so far, your freezer might have a really great selection of healthy and tasty meals for busy days at this point, right? 😉
Let's add even more goodness to it..
Make VEGAN BOLOGNESE
Make SQUASH DAHL
Make CILANTRO or PESTO HUMMUS
Make a treat for this week - BANANA BREAD
Well done! Easy, right? 🤷🏼♀️
Now, you are ready for a great and nutritious week with meals that will take less than 30min to prepare.
So, let's have a look at what meals you can create with this meal prep
MENU IDEAS TO GET THE MOST OF YOUR HERBS.
Here are some quick herby salads you can enjoy anytime with some fritters, FALAFELS or BEAN BURGERS..
Additional ideas on how to use fresh herbs and get the most of them.
CILANTRO SAUCE - use this one as salad topping, dip with raw veggies or in LENTIL WRAPS.
AROMA FUSION WATER - Throw a bunch of fresh herbs like mint, basil, rosemary in a big glass jar with icy water and some slices of lime. I bet this infused water will keep you hydrated without any effort.
GINGER - PARSLEY SOS SHOT! - did you know parsley has one of the highest content of Vit C? Therefore everytime I feel that my immune system is struggling with something, I pass this super combo through my juicer: 5cm ginger, 1 lemon, 1/2 apple and handful of fresh parsley.
TREAT OF THE WEEK.
BANANA BREAD. No fresh herbs in here, but pure goodness.
Enjoy and take care!
This is it! Get ready for a new week full of energy and let me know in the comments what you think about these recipes.
Have an awesome week! 💙