— Melissa Muhammad

All right, so the place we start, okay, with meal planning, uh, is a good sharp knife, okay? And, uh, and I say that with a hundred percent seriousness, right? As if, for any of us, right, as we start out, uh, in the kitchen, that is our number one tool, okay? We're gonna have all these other things. It might be a cookware and a blender and, and a, a colander, and this and that. But, uh, we should practice, um, in, in a way that, uh, seize the knife. I'm, I'm envisioning a knife. You seize the knife, uh, as our number one tool, our number one go-to for most all of our, our projects from morning, noon to night. Okay? So get a knife. It doesn't have to be a, a full set, but I'll leave that up to you. But, um, you know, all you need is one, maybe you would like to have a couple of knives of different sizes, um, that are of reasonably good quality, okay? And there are many, many to choose from. And then maintain, uh, uh, its sharpness so that you can do your work effectively, practice, practice, practice to develop your skills and your confidence so you can do this prep reasonably quickly and efficiently. Okay? That is going to start to affect, um, preparing meals for a family of six. Okay? And I love this scenario because, uh, I grew up in a family of six, and so, while I was the youngest one, I'm the 2-year-old on your list here. Um, so I certainly didn't know what my mother was going through in the early years, but I, I did see it later on, and I saw, you know, how efficient she was in the kitchen and how she made that work. And, um, so, uh, we want to also employ the principles of batch cooking. At least that's what our recommendation is, okay? And batch cooking means that you're going to, uh, think about some staple foods that you all enjoy and, um, are not gonna, you know, of course, affect, uh, family members that have any allergies. And so it, it could be, uh, legumes or, you know, any sort of varieties of, of peas and beans, uh, as well as grains. And, uh, think about, uh, whole grains and, and think about a variety of grains as well. So it's not just brown rice, right? Think about, uh, quinoa in its different colors. Think about, um, you know, maybe they're, uh, the different, uh, grains that are related to wheat, um, you know, farrow and, and, um, uh, maybe there's different types of, of rice. There's different red rices and black rices and different brown rices. They all have different characteristics, which means they have different flavors, different textures, and, um, you know, uh, different ways to be prepared and enjoyed. Uh, and then also think about other, uh, vegetables, uh, and fruits. Uh, but, uh, think about vegetables first, uh, that, um, are gonna be popular among the family members. And we cook those in relatively larger quantities. And from that batch of red rice, let's say, or brown rice, whatever might be appetizing for the example here, we think about multiple dishes that we can make. Okay? Um, so, you know, you might have a, a casserole of some sort in a, in a, in a Euro American style. Uh, you might have a fried rice that reflects, um, uh, Japanese food culture. You could have another one that reflects the flavors of Indonesian food culture. Very, very different. Um, and you might have a wrap. Um, you might, um, present something in the, in as a, as a bowl, you know, with other herbs and spices and, and, um, uh, vegetables and, and a dressing to tie all that together. Um, and so, you know, you have, uh, uh, again, this batch of a given item, uh, that you can use for multiple preparations. Okay? Uh, and then we can look at another batch of, uh, let's say, um, pinto beans. So now we have rice and pinto beans. What is it that you can make, uh, with one, but ideally, both of those things combined, okay? And in this way, we don't, uh, you know, have to, to cook all the ingredients at every mealtime, or even every day. You might elect to, to create a batch of food once a week or, or twice a week, twice a week, you know, uh, kind of depending on how that food is stored, could be the safer way to go, okay? Uh, to just to ensure maximum shelf, uh, life and freshness. Okay? And then, uh, you know, this holds true for vegetables as well. Uh, if you've got, um, you know, the, the celery peppers and, and carrots example, um, that, uh, came up, uh, a few minutes ago in today's program, you can cut those things ahead of time, store them, keeping them moist, and then draw from that batch as you need to, you know, as you create these different dishes for, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Okay? And, uh, you know, I always encourage savory foods for breakfast as well, okay? Just in terms of overall health and, and good habits that carry on through the lifetime. Um, I know at least in, in American culture, you know, here in the us, uh, the custom is to eat something sweet for breakfast. Um, whereas the rest of the world, uh, tends to eat savory foods. And, uh, it, again, it sh it shifts the mind a little bit in terms of the expectation, which can make, uh, dietary, uh, habits easier for people as, as they grow up. Okay? Um, so, you know, with that in mind, you might think about a savory oatmeal, or it could be a, a wrap of some sort, make all these things flavorful. Okay? So there's, there's no, uh, um, really no room for complaint. I mean, there's, there's no reason why, you know, anything should be bland. All right? And, you know, when, uh, I, I talk about, uh, flavorful, I'm talking about herbs and spices, okay? In the cooking, uh, itself, and then also sauces and sauces include dressings, right? Anything that we're, uh, and other, uh, condiments too. So anything that we might add at the time of, uh, consumption or at the time of service. And in these sort of situations, I encourage you to consider making your own, um, you know, salad dressing or dipping sauce, um, having those in a jar that might get you through, um, a week or two, um, before you have to replenish that batch of dressing. Okay? And, uh, so in this way, you know, we set up, uh, a framework, um, for our menus. And one way to start this, um, uh, so what I just gave you is, or, or, or sort of the principles, okay? Of this batch cooking, um, um, approach. Now, the next thing to do is to make, make a list a, a as, as long as it needs to be of dishes or food items, um, that the family enjoys and, um, that, uh, you would happily make, um, on a cyclical basis. Okay? Um, you know, maybe it's, uh, 14 or 15 items that get you through a couple of weeks before they repeat again, okay? Or it could be more or less, uh, whatever is gonna suit you and your family. And then in those recipes, um, you know, learn to make those things without referring to the recipes. So that's where practice and experience comes in, okay? And then also think about how you can incorporate the whole grain, right? Uh, a legume if, if ideally. Uh, and then also, uh, vegetables, um, fruits are certainly good as well start to, uh, amp up the, uh, the aroma flavor, uh, that palate interest with the addition of spices and fresh herbs. I usually recommend fresh herbs, dry herbs had their place, for sure. Um, but think about fresh herbs as well. That's super easy to grow, uh, even on a, uh, in a windows sill garden, you know, so to speak. Um, so I hope you'll give these things a try, okay? And then, uh, you're gonna see how all these things start to weave together. And with your experience and your knowledge, right? You'll be able to, uh, just glance at a recipe, like in a magazine that looks good, and then take it in a direction that that better suits your family, okay? And then also think about global flavors. There's, uh, and that's, that's where I, I go, uh, for inspiration and, um, and flavor each week, right? Is to, uh, look at what other folks are doing with beans, uh, whether it's, uh, you know, Ethiopian cuisine or Mexican cuisine or, um, you know, Japanese dishes or something else. Uh, and, you know, have fun with it. It, it takes, it could take some time, some study and some organization, some planning, taking notes, um, you know, putting up maybe a piece of paper on the fridge or on a cabinet door where it's easy to see, um, as a quick reference, a quick guide for you. So make it easy, make it painless, uh, and then the, the progress goes a little bit faster.