Meal Prep Monday Podcast™

Today's episode is inspired by Ramit Sethi's book, I Will Teach You to Be Rich. What would a "rich life" entail for you? Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf shares 3 small splurges that make her life feel rich. Identify these small items now, as they'd be lovely Mother's Day treats! ‌ 1. Fresh Flowers I used to seldom buy fresh flowers because it felt so extravagant but I've realized it's totally worth it for how much joy it brings me. Sometimes I even double up and buy two bouquets! ‌ 2. New Ink Pens in Different Colors I like handwriting certain things like planning and brainstorming and I love color coding. ‌ 3. Socks Every few years, I like getting all new socks, all matching. This makes laundry so easy! ‌ Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 ‌ Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans! Ramit Sethi's I Will Teach You to Be Rich: https://www.amazon.com/I-Will-Teach-You-to-Be-Rich-audiobook/dp/B07QR7GYF7/ref=sr_1_1?hvadid=580750738778&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9018993&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=15617017042697245632&hvtargid=kwd-679898583771&hydadcr=22594_13493210&keywords=i+will+teach+you+to+be+rich+ramit&qid=1682361526&sr=8-1 Batching is Freedom - How to Create More Time in Your Day: https://prepdish.com/podcast-show-notes/ep141/

Meal Prep expert Allison Schaaf discusses the nutritional and culinary considerations of salt. She highlights the high sodium content in canned items, store-bought broth, and processed meats. She emphasizes the importance of balancing sodium intake with potassium. Culinary tips include salting meat before cooking, sprinkling salt from a height, and tasting food as you go. Allison also mentions the role of salt in enhancing flavors, reducing salt intake with a final sprinkling trick, and making healthy food tasty and easy.

Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf shares a personal update on the many animals living at her country home. Chickens - We're up to 19. We find that 15-20+ works well for us. We replenished with 12 baby chicks in the fall and they're now almost fully grown. Goats - Our first goat was a surprise! She showed up at our house and we couldn't find out where she came from and we kept her. We now have three goats. We may try to milk in the future if one of the females has a baby. Bees - We did lose one hive in a freeze but still have 5 or 6 going strong. I'm looking forward to getting the boys involved as they get older! ‌ Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans! Backyard Chickens: https://prepdish.com/podcast-show-notes/ep28/ How We Got Our Pet Goat: https://prepdish.com/podcast-show-notes/ep104/ Our Surprise Baby Goat: https://prepdish.com/podcast-show-notes/ep110/ Our Beekeeping Adventures: https://prepdish.com/podcast-show-notes/ep98/

Meal Prep expert Allison Schaaf shares 5 simple food waste solutions: 1. Make a Soup with leftover veggies. 2. Freeze fruit for smoothies. 3. Make Broth with veggie scraps. 4. Feed scraps to animals. 5. Compost anything else. Also, learn about meal planning to avoid buying unnecessary food.

In episode #165, Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf shares 7 no-prep vegetables she's loving lately. The inspiration for this was a personal favorite, whole roasted carrots! (Watch a reel on how to do this on Instagram @ prepdish if you'd like to see!) ‌ 7 Super Easy Veggie Sides ‌ Whole Roasted Carrots Wash, drizzle w/ olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast for an hour to an hour and a half at 325F. You can do a higher temperature for less time if you have something else in the oven (e.g., 375F for an hour) but make sure they don't burn! These are also great as a base for carrot soup. 2. Baby Greens Baby spinach or baby kale are so nice to have on hand because you can just toss them into a sauce or with meat in a pan with no prep. They also cook quickly! 3. Whole Roasted Spaghetti Squash Similar to the carrots, this takes a long time but very little effort. I like to combine this with actual spaghetti and find that it mixes in quite nicely. I roast it completely whole on a baking sheet - it's tough to cut raw! Make sure to let it cool before cutting. Scoop the seeds out and serve! 4. Cherry Tomatoes & Sliced Mushrooms I like to combine these because they cook for a similar amount of time. These are nice roasted together. They're also tasty sauteed, such as with a pasta or an omelet. 5. Baked Sweet Potatoes I throw these in any time the oven is already on. Sweet potatoes are a popular side dish in my house and I also love making sweet potato pancakes on Saturdays. 6. Baked Potatoes Similar to sweet potatoes, this is such an easy no-prep side dish. 7. Roasted Garlic I slice off the very top of a head of garlic, drizzle it with olive oil and salt, wrap in foil and roast for about an hour at a lower temperature. Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans! 15 Easy, Healthy Side Dishes: https://prepdish.com/roundups/easy-healthy-side-dishes/

Chef and meal prep expert Allison Schaaf shares the disadvantages of air fryer cooking and why she does not personally use an air fryer, despite its popularity. Disadvantages of Air Fryer (Allison's Personal Experience) I couldn't picture where an air fryer would fit into my cooking routine. Most air fryers have nonstick coatings. PFAS (also known as "forever chemicals") are contained in many nonstick coatings. Many studies show that PFAS can lead to serious health issues. I did find a glass air fryer, but didn't love it. It only fits a small amount of food. For me, I'd rather make a larger quantity of food for efficiency's sake! I will say it is often quite hot in Texas, so I do get the appeal of not heating up the house. Toaster ovens could be a good alternative for this though. I feel better about sticking with cast iron, glass and stainless steel, rather than researching all of the new alternative non-stick materials to see if they're really safe. Have a different opinion or an air fryer you love? Pop into our Facebook group and share! I want to know what you think. Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans!

Today meal prep expert Allison Schaaf shares 4 tips she's been using for easy, quick meal prep. 1. Ask yourself, is there an easier way to do this? As you're chopping and prepping, think through whether there's a more efficient way to chop. I personally love seeing how other people chop things so I can try out which method works best for me. If you're like me, check out my YouTube playlist where I demonstrate how I chop different items: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZFbto5QrmmjJxk57t9G11lr1YahPZTea 2. Make one sauce and use it twice. For this meal plan, it was a tinga sauce that we used for two different dinners. If you're going to go through the effort of making a tasty, homemade sauce, why not use it twice? 3. Start with lengthier prep items. For example, if you need to bake some chicken breast, get that started right away so you're not waiting around at the end. For my meal prep, I stuck some chicken breast in the oven before even doing my mise en place. I would do the same thing for sweet potatoes, spaghetti squash, rice, etc. 4. Do meal prep right before a meal. I love doing my meal prep before dinner to gain even more efficiencies. I'm already in the kitchen, already doing dishes. It just flows easily into serving a meal. Just make sure it's not too rushed! Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans! How I Chop Various Items (videos): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZFbto5QrmmjJxk57t9G11lr1YahPZTea

In today's episode Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf shares 5 small kitchen upgrades that have been making her happier in the kitchen. Many of these upgrades involve switching from plastic to stainless steel, for both health reasons and simply for quality. Stainless steel is easier to wash, more durable and you don't have to worry about chemicals leeching into food. 5 Small Kitchen Upgrades: Multiple Stainless Steel Bowls - I love having the small and medium size on hand for food prep. They're also easy to store as they all stack. Ice Cream Scoops - I love getting several pints of ice cream for people to choose from when I have dinner guests and I wanted an ice cream scoop for each pint. I bought several stainless steel ice cream scoops and I've been loving them! Stainless Steel Baking Sheets - Stainless steel is a lot more food safe than many other materials and I love not having to worry about it. The ones I got fit in to the dishwasher which is wonderful. I have three or four of them so I don't run out when I'm doing my meal prep. Stainless Steel Cups, Bowls and Silverware for the Kids Tea Strainer - I buy almost all of my tea looseleaf in bulk. I have stainless steel tea strainers and love them. ‌ Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 ‌ Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans! Stainless Steel Baking Sheets: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078JG1KSP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Chef & Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf shares her tips for choosing quality kitchen knives, including her top 3 picks. This page contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support of Prep Dish! Purchasing quality kitchen knives is an investment, but a small investment in terms of what you get out of it in both speed and fun in the kitchen. Cooking is so much more enjoyable when you have quality tools. So many people use a small paring knife for all of their chopping. If that's you, you can halve your meal prep time by getting a good quality chef's knife! It's easier and actually safer to use a sharp, larger knife. I actually bring my own knives on road trips now to avoid this issue! My 3 favorite quality kitchen knives are: Wusthof Shun - You can send them your knives to sharpen almost for free! Nakano Look for a knife that feels good in your hand. Make sure it feels balanced in terms of the weight of the blade and the handle. You also want to make sure the blade goes all the way through the handle instead of two separate pieces that connect. Keeping your knives sharp is also very important. I sometimes sharpen my knives at home but do think taking them somewhere to professionally sharpen is worthwhile every 6 months or so. You can sometimes find a vendor who sharpens knives at a farmers market or a knife store. There are also companies where you can mail in your knives to be sharpened. ‌ Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 ‌ Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your free trial at prepdish.com/mpm for two weeks of free meal plans! Wusthof: https://www.wusthof.com/ Shun - You can send them your knives to sharpen almost for free! https://shun.kaiusa.com/ Nakano - https://nakano-knives.com/prepdish () Knife Aid Mail-in Knife Sharpening: https://knifeaid.com/pages/shark-tank This page contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support of Prep Dish!