How to Cook Once and Eat All Week (without getting bored)

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #9b9b9b;”] A[/dropcap] few weeks ago I was reading the Guardian newspaper online. The food section, of course, not that depressing current affairs stuff.

Anyway there was a link to an article about ‘cooking once and eating all week’, which instantly grabbed my attention.

Great concept. Isn’t it?

Basically the article consisted of a recipe for how to cook a big pot of beans and then 4 different recipes for how to use said beans during the week.

I’m already a huge fan of this way of cooking.

I use it pretty much every week.

Whether it’s prepping a big bowl of grated rainbow veg like I wrote about recently, or cooking up a pot of versatile lentils, or roasting a batch of butternut squash, or just boiling up some quinoa. There’s usually something prepped in the fridge.

It really makes my life so much easier.

Basically there are 2 key benefits:

1. Save time
Having ingredients prepped so they’re almost ready to eat is a huge time saver. It means I can literally pull together a healthy AND delicious meal in a few minutes.

2. Waste less
There are two parts to this. First, if I have my veg prepped and ready to eat I’m far more likely to use them before they go bad.

There’s also the bonus that prepping can actually increase the shelf life of an ingredient. For example a lovely bunch of kale will usually start getting yellowy leaves after a week in the fridge, but if the kale has been cooked down with a little garlic, it will happily sit there for weeks.

And the best bit?

I don’t necessarily spend hours of my precious weekend getting all this done.

More often it’s on a Sunday or Monday night while I’m cooking something else for dinner (ie. already in the kitchen).

And you know what else?

It stops you being bored because you can use the building blocks in different ways so you’re not sitting down to the same old meal night after night.

Love it!

Like some help getting organized?

I have good news!

I’ve just created a FREE 5-part email series to show you how to get the benefits from being more organized in the kitchen.

It starts on Monday.

If you’re interested, all you need to do is enter your email below:

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Can’t see the signup form? Click HERE

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It’s that simple :)

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Quick Chickpea Curry

For years I used to think that a curry had to have more than just curry powder added to make it taste delicious. But then I realised the whole point of curry powder is that someone else has done the blending for you. All the complexity you need is in that little jar or tin. Such a great discovery!

Enough for: 2-3
Takes: 20 minutes
2 red onions, sliced in half moons
3-4 teaspoons curry powder
1 can tomatoes (400g / 14oz)
400g (14oz) cooked chickpeas (or 2 cans)
1 bag baby spinach

1. Heat a little olive oil in a medium saucepan on a medium heat. Add onions, cover and cook until the onion is soft but not browned. Stir every now and then. Will take about 10 minutes.

2. Add curry powder and cook for about 30 seconds then add the tomatoes and chickpeas. Simmer covered for 5-10 minutes or until everything is piping hot.

3. Taste and season with salt, pepper and extra curry powder if needed. Serve on a bed of baby spinach.

Variations

short on time – skip the onion and serve with chopped chives instead.

carb lovers – serve with steamed rice.

more veg – add chopped veg with the tomatoes such as zucchini, red bell peppers (capsicum), eggplant or mushrooms. Simmer until all veg are cooked. Or serve with cauliflower ‘rice’ (grated raw cauliflower).

extra flavour – add come chopped ginger and garlic with the onion.

Have fun in the kitchen!

With love,
Jules x

ps. The FREE email series includes a FREE downloadable / printable ‘cheat sheet’ which will give you a big head start.