A Sunday Meal Prep Ritual
Meal prep, teamwork, and creativity are the keys
Sunday night found us back in the kitchen, checking the refrigerator to see what we had on hand. I got out a pen and our kitchen notebook to catalog everything. If you haven’t already, try this at home. I like starting with a review of ingredients. I feel like I’m more in control of the process.
We had a colorful arrangement of orange (carrots), green (Swiss chard, asparagus, celery, and spinach), red (tomatoes), brown (mushrooms), and white (Japanese sweet potatoes). Colors in the kitchen brought my mother to mind. She used to remind me that few things matter more in the kitchen than “colors on the plate.” She always said I’d be in a good direction if I got that right.
With all of these vegetables at home, I didn’t have to pull out the Clax Trolly and trundle down the street to the food store. The Clax, a plastic rolling cart, is a lifesaver. It's easy to pull open and fold shut, and it has a crate on top, so we don’t need bags. No more carrying groceries that feel like heavy weights in my arms!
We had haddock filets, salmon, crab, chicken breast, chicken burgers, some turkey bacon, and eggs for proteins. There was also a turkey breast in the freezer that we’ll defrost soon since I ordered a whole organic turkey from Farm to People for the holidays.
In the carb department, we had raisin bread left over from last week and bagels stored in the freezer. I took the bagels out to defrost in the bread bin in the refrigerator.
As for healthy fats, we had plenty of nuts and seeds, plus six avocados ripening in a bag.
What to do with all these ingredients? This is where we get inventive. I don’t usually create meals from recipes unless it's something special—they can take time. My goal on Sunday night is to prepare a few key things that are ready to eat over the next few days or may become part of a recipe we create or find in a cookbook.
We started by adding tomatoes, carrots, celery, and some spices to the Instant Pot. Although we aimed for a sauce, the extra water turned it into tomato soup—a pleasant surprise for the chilly days ahead.
Since we love banana bread, we decided to make a loaf. We’re testing our banana bread recipe in another kitchen to ensure it’s foolproof before sharing it. One of the most important things about sharing recipes is to ensure they’re repeatable in anyone's kitchen, so we want you to have a great experience with any recipe you find in the Fischer Kitchen.
Once the banana bread was in the oven, Phil jumped in to sauté the mushrooms while I boiled a few eggs. I like having hard-boiled eggs on hand for breakfast salads. And yes, I do eat a salad for breakfast! I love the crunchy Little Leaf lettuce from Whole Foods—it’s my go-to.
While Phil watched the eggs, I cut the Japanese sweet potato into cubes and tossed them into our second Instant Pot. Using two Instant Pots was a game-changer; one handled the soup, while the other quickly steamed the sweet potatoes.
Meanwhile, Phil finished the mushrooms and cleaned the soup pot, transferring the cooled soup to a glass jar. Next up, we cooked the spinach, leaving some aside for salads.
Phew! It was quite a job, but we enjoyed tag-teaming. Working together on meal prep brings us closer and lightens the load. Prepping meals on Sunday connects us and sets us up for a week of home-cooked meals. I hope you have a great week of terrific meals!