Delights 10: kitchen prep

Bet you didn’t see that coming, did you?

This year, I’ve been adjusting my approach to the kitchen. I’ve always loved to cook and I cook a lot, which is insanely good for our family since two of the boys have food restrictions. But, in an effort to streamline weekday dinners, I’ve been attempting more prep. 

Which means that during May I’ve been planning menus (I hang the menu inside the pantry door and I do about two weeks at a time) and making my grocery orders like normal. Then, when the groceries arrive, I prep all the meat for whatever I am cooking and I put it in the freezer in the kitchen and not the freezer downstairs. 

Marinated chicken thighs for chicken tacos ready to be thawed and dumped in the crockpot. 
Hamburgers seasoned and pattied out. 
Meatballs, frozen on a pan and then tossed in a bag. 
Chicken cut up for curry clearly labeled. 
Boneless chicken thighs cut in chunks for sesame chicken. 

It’s been amazing. Having it in the kitchen means it is easy to pull it out to thaw. I save cleanup and time when it’s ready to make dinner. We also have less waste. 

I’ve been doing something similar to produce. Blueberries in a jar. Kale off the stem and in a bag. Grapes in a bowl waiting to be grabbed. 

It does take some extra time when the groceries arrive. But I’m saving it everywhere else. 

Inspiration
this post about treating your kitchen more like a restaurant
This video about meal prep
Another lost-to-the-internet piece about meal prep 
Samin Nosrat (That’s her cookbook Good Things in the picture)