One of the many things I hear is that people get bored of the food they make, feeling like they eat the same things over and over again, with little flavour variation. And as they old adage goes, variety is the spice of life!

When it comes to cooking and meal prep, if you’re bored you won’t continue to do it. In this episode of the food and other bites podcast, I share how to keep your food interesting, week in week out. 

Understand Your Meal Prep Style

Most people think meal prep looks one way, pick recipes, cook recipes, eat food - rinse repeat; but there is so much more to understand about meal prep. Understanding whether you are more rigid or more flex will change the game for you. 

RIGID types should make composed meals, that simply require reheating. These are great for people who don’t mind eating the same thing all week long. I watch movies several times, listen to songs on repeat and, in that vein, I can eat the same thing days on end; I’m rigid. 

FLEX types bore easily and eating the same thing over and over makes them want to order in lol. If this is you, your prep should look like this:

• Make a few sauces
• Roast sweet potato, beets, regular potato
• Cook or buy a (cooked) whole chicken 
• Make 1 pasta and 1 grain
• Prep (if needed) 2 raw vegetables (think arugula, spinach etc)
• Buy 2 types of herbs

This prep will give you MEGA options throughout a week, because you can mix and match your heart out!

GET YOUR SAUCE GAME TOGETHER- download the sauce making guide here with 5 delicious sauce recipes. 

On the topic of sauce...

Sauce is how you make very similar ingredients taste completely different, so if you require variation understanding saucery will save your meals EVERY TIME!

Speaking of variation...

Herbs are clutch when keeping your food interesting; but understanding where herbs belong is important, or you could disrupt the texture. 

HERBY herbs like parsley (curly and Italian), mint, cilantro, basil, chives and dill are best used as a garnish or at the end of cooking. So think of making vinaigrette’s and raw sauces with these herbs. 

WOODY herbs like thyme, rosemary and sage tend to be tougher in texture and can hold up to cooking, so use them in cooked sauces, or during the cooking process to take the edge off their bite. 

I’ll say this ad nauseam, having your kitchen set up for success is the ONLY way to cook with ease, because there is nothing more frustrating than cooking in a kitchen that doesn’t have what you need. Cooking CAN BE simple, but you have to have your sh*t together. 

I want to remind you that it is COMPLETELY possible to double the enjoyment of your food without doubling the effort and I hope this episode of the podcast showed you that!