Mediterranean Meal Prep Cookbook: Quick and Easy Recipes That You Can Cook for The Week

58 Pages·4.458 MB·English

by  Davis, Mila

Mediterranean Meal Prep Cookbook
Quick and Easy Recipes That You Can Cook for The Week.
Healthy Meal Prep Ideas to Free Up Your Time
MILA DAVIS
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1: MEDITERRANEAN DIET 101
What is Mediterranean Diet?
Meal Prep
Advantages Of Meal Prep
How To Do Meal Prep?
Utensils To Use for Meal Prepping
CHAPTER 2 – BREAKFAST
Breakfast Granola
Crustless Tuna Breakfast Quiche
Oatmeal Banana Muffin
Vegetable Frittata
Oatmeal Pancakes
Feta and Spinach Frittata
CHAPTER 3 – LUNCH
Baked Cod and Veggies
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Spinach and Chickpea Cakes
Turkey Meatballs
Avocado Chicken Salad
Tomato Basil Soup
Lemon Chicken Skewers
CHAPTER 4 – DINNER
Mediterranean Chicken Thighs
Spicy Cauliflower Rice with Ground Turkey
Bulgur, Red Lentil and Spinach Soup
Chickpea Soup
Greek Lemon Chicken Soup
Seared Salmon
Greek Chicken and Lemon Rice
CHAPTER 5 – DESSERT
Oatmeal Muffins
Oatmeal Cookies
Revani Cake
Apple Spiced Loaf
Orange Semolina Cake
CHAPTER 6 – SNACK
Sweet Potato Wedges
Green Smoothie
Tahini, Date and Banana Shake
Mango and Strawberry Smoothie
Hummus
Peanut Butter, Banana and Yogurt Parfait
Feta Stuffed Dates
CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
Are you new at cooking? Do you face difficulty in preparing a meal and managing time? Do you want to know every
beneficial way to prepare food for yourself and your family? Then start meal prepping. Anyone who likes preparing
full meals without having the trouble to manage time for their busy schedule should opt for meal prepping, which is
the most efficient way to start cooking or a diet without compromising on health.
People with more knowledge of health and nutrition would believe that it is necessary to spend more time in the
kitchen while preparing food when it's not the truth. A strict diet or basic simple meal can be achieved with less time,
with preparing the basic ingredients, chopped vegetables, prepared broth, grains, e.t.c. Recipes that take up so much
of your time and energy can be deduced, making you more active to create more meals. You just have to come to the
kitchen and combine and cook to prepare delicious meals.
Stress can also come while cooking when you do not have a meal prep, making the process of cooking not enjoyable.
Grocery shopping or packing lunch for oneself often leads people to spend a lot of money on food, but with meal
prep, you will get more aware of your taste buds, and habits, which will lead you to make a grocery list or your lunch
in the budget and with ease. In addition, starting your day with a prepped meal gives you the advantage of not
spending too much time in the kitchen and creating your favorite meals stress-free.
With this book, you will get increased knowledge of preparing your ingredients for cooking. You will also get tips on
storing and freezing ingredients and for long storage. There are also many ways in this book for meal prep that will
help you not get any food go to waste and use their full nutrition and health benefits. So, keep reading this book, and
start your journey to meal prep today.
CHAPTER 1: MEDITERRANEAN DIET 101
WHAT IS MEDITERRANEAN DIET?
The Mediterranean diet is based on the people's daily diet of people who live near the Mediterranean Sea, including
European countries like Greece, Italy, and Spain, some Asian countries, and some African countries, such as
Morocco, Egypt, and Lebanon. Many researchers have found out that the people who reside in these places live
longer and healthier than the others, and when asked about their lifestyle, it was found their traditional daily meals
were the reason for their longer and happy life.
We might think that all these different countries may contain many differences, such as recipes and cooking methods.
Still, their essence of the dish contains similar key elements of the Mediterranean diet.
The tradition of eating the key elements of the Mediterranean diet was started a long time ago, so the actual origins
cannot be assessed. However, in the Middle Ages, they were people who ate products and food resources that were
abundant in the regions they were living in, such as olives from the olive tree and seafood from the sea border.
Here, the ancient world consisted of the Islamic empire, the Roman empire, old Egyptians, and ancient Greece. In
the Islamic empire, rice, spices, eggplant, and spinach were commonly used. The Roman empire, which later became
Christian, consumed bread, oils, and wine. African countries brought with them polenta, couscous, and soup recipes
to be traded along the sea. Later on, after the 17th century, the discovery of the Americas brought corn, tomatoes, and
chili.
The diet has no strict restrictions, but only a few key principles you have to adhere to.
Principles include that every day, you need to eat a diverse source of fruits, vegetables, seeds, or grains. Also, you have
to reduce eating processed food and take in more unprocessed food. You also need to use olive oil as much as you
can, from cooking to flavoring.
It is important to get good fats from healthy sources and cut down on animal fat. You can get them from dairy
products but consume them in moderation. Most importantly, you can have meat but focus more on white fish meat.
And lastly, it's not mandatory but recommended that you eat your meals with your family.
MEAL PREP
Meal prepping is essentially preparing meals or ingredients in a way that is ready to go or ready to be used in recipes
without any extra work.
Meal prepping is fully customizable. Prepping your meals before a week, or a day or hours before, is totally up to you
and the ingredient in use. You will prep your ingredients or meals in a way that is stored for a while and can be used
throughout the week or day; you just have to take the meal and start cooking your recipe to save you a lot of time and
stress.
Advantages Of Meal Prep
Meal prepping is great for our nutrition and health. By following the meal prep, the high-calorie foods will be switched
to fiber and vitamin-filled food. In addition, food that is being stored can be customizable in portions, which you think
will be much suitable for you, and you can also comfortably make portable food. Meal prepping will also have the
same advantages as grab-and-go options from restaurants and markets, but it will provide less fat and sugars.
Meal prep saves you from the day-to-day stress of what to cook or having to quickly prepare food for yourself or your
family. Bulk cooking is one of the ways that can save you stress. Preparing a meal and storing it in a freezer will save
your food for 1 or 2 days. The freezing method saves you a lot of time where there is no time in your busy schedule,
and it saves you time for different work. In addition, it provides you meals for many times of the day, and the food
being homemade also gives you the advantage of health and nutrition.
How To Do Meal Prep?
To take a shortcut from all the stress of cooking everything from scratch at home, at every lunch, dinner, or breakfast,
meal prep is the promising way to go. These are the basic steps of starting meal prep.
Make A Plan
First, make a plan of what meals you are going to prepare for the day or week. If this is your first time cooking, it is
better to opt for 2 or 3 meals per day or week. Variety may cause you a lot of stress. After planning the recipes,
prepare the grocery list, and get all the ingredients within your budget.
Pick The Right Combination of Recipes
Picking the right recipe set is crucial, as it may get tricky for you and may lead to stress. Pick recipes with having past
cooking experiences in mind. You can prepare any poultry item in the oven while you work on the stove; it will save
time, but strive for what works better for you.
Do Not Prepare Too Many Meals
At the start of meal prepping, try to be far from preparing too many meals. In the beginning, look for the recipe that
works best for you, preparing vegetables wise, cutting, and budgeting. Make the recipe that you are most comfortable
in, in large portions, to help you in future meals and food times. Freeze the prepared ingredients or meals in a storage
box, and freeze, and it lasts for days, which will help you unfreeze the meal and prepare your food at any given time.
Prep the same meal a few times over a month, and set a date on which days of the week you will prep the meal for.
Cooking a full week's worth of meals, in variety, may cause extra hard work in one day and a lot of stress from
preparing.
Utensils To Use for Meal Prepping
Having a well-stocked kitchen can save you from much stress and irritation while cooking or preparing a meal prep.
Design your kitchen for you to have access to your creation and make meals easily. These are some of the suggested
kitchen tools.
Chopper: Many recipes acquire vegetables, and a chopper will help you save time and the fuss to get the perfect cuts
of the vegetables. The chopper will help you get perfect and neat cuts on the vegetables. There are plenty of ways to
cut your vegetables, and the chopper will save time by changing its cut settings to the desired cutting. Having a variety
of cuts will let you make the perfect meal and have perfectly prepared ingredients. This kitchen tool is also often used
and is a great addition to a working kitchen.
Spiralizer: This is an innovative gadget that transforms the prepared dough, vegetables, or fruits, into noodles form.
The gadget doesn’t change any flavor, but it helps you make homemade noodles. This gadget is also used to
transform your desired food into noodles; as it doesn’t change the taste, it usually creates fun ways to make and eat
food.
Food Processor: A food processor is a must-have item in the kitchen for meal prep. As a blender has its function of
making a liquid of some ingredients put into it, a food processor helps you combine and mix ingredients in a less fine,
but chunkier way. A food processor is a great kitchen tool to create various sauces, dips, and any kind of mixture for
your meal prep.
Knife set: One of the most important kitchen tools in a home cook and a chef. A good set of knives helps you create
the best-chopped vegetables, fruits, and perfectly cut protein. The cutting process may seem tough and hard, but a
good sharp knife will save time and make the process very easy.
Now let’s move on to meal prepping scrumptious dishes for the Mediterranean diet.
CHAPTER 2 – BREAKFAST