MEAL PREPPING LEVEL 1: HELPFUL TIPS FOR STARTERS.

The idea of meal prepping did not come to my mind until when I noticed that I had added lots of weight after child birth and my life became so busy.  Then I began to look for how to do some thing to get back on track and make things easier for me and my family. It wasn't easy at first, because I was used to eating all kinds of unhealthy foods which in my mind, tasted better, easier to make and of course cheaper. I struggled a lot until I discovered some Blogs like organize yourself skinny, eats and exerciser, Canadian food guide and a host of others. I started by using the Canadian food guide and lost over 22kg in 5 months. I felt so good with myself. So I began planning my meals ahead of time to make it easier for me since am a full time Mum and I work full time as well. So some of the things I did to make it easier for me and my family to maintain this healthy life style/ eating are listed below.

Creamy Homemade Almond Milk

This an easy, more healthy and less expensive way of making almond milk at home. The pulp  from this recipe can be incorporated into other recipes like home made granola bars ,flour for bread or cookies.

Ingredients:
4cups water
1tsp vanilla extract
5-6 seedless dates
1/4tsp cinnamon
a pinch of salt

Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients together, refrigerate for 8-10hours or overnight . Blend for 2-3mins, filter with a strainer(cheese cloth or any good strainer). Pour into a clean jar and refrigerate. Shake before use. Serve with granola bar  or any cereal of choice.

Gluten-free granola bar

This recipe was born out of many trials and errors, while trying to make some home made snacks for one of my kids that developed multiple food allergies. Since I was making Healthy home made almond milk, I figured out how to incorporate the pulp in into a snack to avoid waste. It is very easy, quite healthy, and does not take lots of time to prepare(approximately 25mins).

Ingredients:
1cup almond pulp
1cup gluten-free rolled oats or regular rolled oats
3/4tsp cinnamon
1tsp vanilla extract
6tbsp maple syrup
6 dried apricot(diced)
1/3cup sliced almonds
a pinch of salt
1/3cup semi-sweet chocolate
1cup marshmallows


Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients in a clean bowl, pour into a greased baking pan. Pressed down with a spatula or a flat spoon and bake at 350degreesF for 15-20mins or until golden brown. Serve with regular milk or almond milk.

Fluffy whole wheat pancake recipe

Ingredients:
2tbsp vinegar
1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1 cup of milk
1tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2tbsp sugar
2tbsp olive oil
1tsp baking powder
1/2tsp baking soda
1 egg
cooking spray

Topping:
1 cup mixed berries
11/2tsp sugar

Method:
Mix the vinegar and milk and set aside for 5 minutes to form (sour milk)

Mix all the other ingredients, and whisk in the milk mixture and egg, till smooth. spray a non stick pan with oil, and pour in the barter, fry till the top becomes bubbly, turn and fry the other side till light brown.

For the topping:
Mix the 2 ingredients and cook for about 2 minutes or till it boils and pour over the pancakes. Enjoy!

How to make homemade sour cream

Ingredients:
1 cup of milk
1tbsp of white vinegar or fresh lemon juice
1cup of heavy cream

Method:
 Measure and pour the milk into a clean bowl, add the vinegar or juice, mix and allow to rise for 10 minutes. Add the cream into the mixture, stir together. Transfer into a clean jar with a lid, store in the refrigerator. Stir before use. Enjoy!

How to make homemade croutons

Bread cubes

Ingredients:
6 slices of whole wheat bread
1/2tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
2tsp parsley flakes
3tbsp of unsalted  margarine melted

Preparation: Homemade croutons
Trim and cube the bread and set aside in a bowl, sprinkle the rest of the ingredients over the bread and toss till properly coated.

Short bread cookie

Short bread

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour, sifted
1/2cup icing sugar, sifted
1/2cup cornstarch, sifted
3/4 cup of margarine(room temperature)
1tsp vanilla

Preparation:
 Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl, using a fork, mix in the butter, add the vanilla. Continue mixing until a smooth dough is formed,mold the dough and flatten on a chopping board to 1/2 inch thick, cut according to your desired shapes, or cut into rectangular shapes and poke with fork.

Bake at 350degrees F for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.