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Dear Nutritionist, I’ve been trying to follow your advice to eat mostly homemade foods this summer and am struggling with meal prep. I don’t want to be inside cooking all Sunday in the summer. Can you give some suggestions for how to handle meal prep or fast meals for summer days to keep away from carbs and take-out? Thank you for the great articles! My health has improved and I’ve lost 27 pounds since January with following your advice and my knee pain has gotten much better. — Jenny
Dear Jenny,
Wonderful! I’m glad to hear you’ve been able to implement healthy dietary changes and reap the rewards of that. Keep going, with a view to a vibrantly healthy body for life.
You’re right, meal prep in the summer is tricky. Not only do we not want to waste these precious weekend summer days in the kitchen, but I also don’t want my oven heating up the house. But I’ve come up with some great solutions without compromising taste.
In the summer months I almost always skip breakfast except a bulletproof coffee or (my variation) a bulletproof soy latte with collagen. I know you’ve read that soy is evil, but that is misinformation. Different people do better with different milks.
I am dairy intolerant and can only handle a limited amount. I prefer that be from cheese instead of cream most of the time. I’ve tried all types of milk alternatives and none have the taste or whipping ability of soy for me. It’s also beneficial for women in menopause because it contains phytoestrogens. For more information on that, you can go here.
With soy products I believe it’s essential to get certified organic, non-GMO soy. You also want one that is not sweetened. Silk is one such brand and it froths up nicely for a delicious latte. I add my MCT powder (I dislike an oily coffee) and my collagen peptides for nutritional value and this can often hold me over until lunch.
Why add these to coffee? Well, collagen is full of amino acids that help with elasticity of bone and collagen and skin fibres that deteriorate as we age. This includes the skin lining the digestive system.
Collagen supplements can help bolster the elasticity of these fibres and is, in essence, anti-aging. MCT (medium chain triglyceride) powder or oil is a healthy fat that is extracted from coconuts. It’s unique in that it does not need to be broken down like other fats do to create energy. It is absorbed directly from the stomach to create energy immediately.
For this reason, it can create an energy spike shortly after taking it, including enhanced mental performance. Unlike sugar energy, there isn’t a crash. It’s also very satiating and together with collagen this coffee can curb appetite for hours. I find I’m not hungry until just before noon when I take it very early (5 a.m.) in the morning.
Sometimes mid-morning I will eat a protein smoothie made with a protein powder and water and a bit of frozen fruit or I will have some fresh avocado and berries with nuts and cream. I usually reserve this for weekends. This holds me until an early dinner on weekends when I’m busy puttering about. There is almost zero prep required for these at all. I simply wash, dry, cut up and store my fruit in the fridge. There’s really nothing else to do but blend it or pour the milk!
For lunch, I like boiled eggs or a cold meat or fish wrap with lettuce or I eat crudites with a nice dip — maybe a pate or baba ganoush or hummus. I pair this with a cold soup or a cup of miso. There is almost no prep involved.
For my fish or meat wraps, I prep the meat or fish the night before and use the leftovers with a lettuce wrap. Or I get good, authentic salami or cook a roast or chicken one evening and cut up the leftovers.
Sometimes I will get smoked salmon and make a herbed cheese mayo dressing with dill. These I serve with diced celery and green onion, salt, pepper, and mayonnaise or mustard in a lettuce wrap or on celery boats or cucumber rounds. The lettuce acts like a wrap, the celery acts like a bread, and cucumber acts like a cracker. In this way I skip the filler and get more nutrients with way less carbs.
If I don’t have left-over meat, I use canned salmon or sardines. For chicken, I mix it into a chicken salad. For fish, I add fresh lime and dill to my mayo. It takes 10 minutes the first time but then you get used to it over time.
I keep crudites cut up all week, with sliced pepper, cucumber, onion, celery, and tomato for my lunches. I make or purchase a dip at the start of the week. Hummus is easy to make. Find a great recipe for it here.
Baba ganoush I purchase in the can, as I don’t bake until autumn. Pate I freeze in winter, then thaw as needed, or I purchase it in the delis. These all go well on fresh veggies. A simple mayo dressing can be made from blending feta cheese with garlic and mayo. This is a great substitute to store bought creamy dressings. So none of this prep requires cooking at lunch and it’s all rather simple.
My favourite cold soup at present is a gazpacho that my friend Isa showed me. For this you can use fresh tomatoes in season, or canned ones. Just make sure they are unsweetened and unseasoned. I use the can because I don’t like to cook. Essentially, my recipe is like this:
- 1 large can of whole tomatoes
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 cucumber peeled and chopped roughly
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1-2 tsp vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)
- Sea salt (about 1-2 tsp)
- Black pepper to taste
You essentially wash and chop then blend it all. Adjust your salt and pepper. With fresh tomatoes you simply blanch and skin them then add a bit of water to the puree. Easy peasy!
Adjust your garlic to your own taste. I like mine a bit garlicky and I even add some red chili pepper flakes before I blend it. Now it doesn’t have protein but this dish is served cold with grated boiled eggs, shaved prosciutto, and diced green onion. You simply add these on top of the soup and enjoy! A perfect, easy, no cooking required summer meal.
Another great cold soup is cucumber and dill soup. It’s made with yogurt and it’s really refreshing! You can find it here. I like to accompany this with cold sliced meat.
I don’t snack in the summer months. I find I’m busy and I don’t advocate snacking anyway. I find it ruins my appetite for meals and there are many health advantages to fasting between meals, even if you have blood sugar problems. Especially if you have blood sugar problems!
So my dinner meal is rather early in summer. I tend to use the barbecue or my instant pot almost all the time in the summer. I cook roasts, curried meat, slow cooked meat, and grilled meat. I pair that with fresh green salads and some sauteed veggies. I don’t roast food in summer months.
For easy sauteed veggies just cut up your stir fry veggies at the beginning of the week and keep them in the fridge. Then throw them in a pan with some salt water and a lid to tenderize them. Drain the water off when they are softened to your liking then add some olive oil, spice and garlic. Sautee to bring out the flavours. If you use soy sauce try liquid aminos instead and hit it with a bit of natural sweetener like whole earth at the end. This is the secret to stir frys in Asian restaurants. The sweetener doesn’t make it sweet, it just balances the salt flavours.
For my salads I have cut up veggies made in advance. Then I add fresh diced avocado and some trail mix and maybe some feta or parmesan or goat’s cheese. The oil and balsamic. Some fresh herbs always make it better, but dried will do if you don’t have fresh. This is insanely easy and delicious. Any salad leaf is great, but organic is always best.
For barbecue, I use fresh spice rubs and homemade barbecue sauce with low glycemic sweeteners. I like the Keg spice blend and I make my own spice blends and keep them in jars in my cupboard for various dishes. If you’re interested in a class on making these, I’ll be doing one soon. Send me an email and I’ll put your name on the list to notify you when I run the class. It’s $35 per person and when I can I have an option to order the spices in advance to get you set up.
Just start saving your jars now or buy them when they’re on sale. I recycle Classico jars for this purpose. The labels come off easily if left to soak in hot water for half an hour.
I hope this helps with meal prep ideas, Jenny. Keep going with your healthy diet! Thank you for writing in to share your success.
As always, if readers have their own health questions, I welcome them. Just send me an email. And if you’re looking for more specific health information check out my website and sign up for my free newsletter here. Upcoming events are posted in the newsletter, as well as delicious recipes that are guaranteed to be guilt and gluten-free!
Namaste!
Nonie Nutritionista