Eating healthy is not so hard when you take the time to prepare your food. Some people think healthy eating is too time-consuming. Initially, it takes more time until you develop a repertoire of recipes and find the healthy foods you enjoy. Preparing your food does not have to take all of your time if you have all the essential ingredients (herbs, spices, and basic ingredients) on hand. Once you have restocked your cabinets with these essentials, the cost is also significantly decreased. I find I spend no more eating healthy than I did when I at processed foods and had an unhealthy diet.

Taking one day a week to prepare your food can save you prep and cleanup time as well as give you a variety of food throughout the week. Many of the recipes use the same vegetables, and they can all be chopped at the same time. Instead of having to prepare a lunch or eat fast food, you have a variety from which you can choose.  After a hard day at work, you can come home and pop some food in the oven to reheat and have a delicious meal in minutes.

Today I spent three hours cooking, and now I not only have enough food to eat all week, but I had a great Sunday family dinner with my children. The food is delicious, and I have a variety that I can mix and match. I have stored the food in small Pyrex dishes so that I can grab them. Some of the recipes can have a few extra ingredients added to them for added variety. For those of you who are new to eating healthy or need some new ideas, I have included my menu for this week with the recipes.

Chuck Roast

100% Grass-fed roast

Garlic, cayenne pepper, onions, pepper, chopped onions, organic carrots and organic potatoes. Add water to the bottom of glass baking dish.

Bake at 350 until cooked to your preference.

Stir Fry

Chop a variety of vegetables and herbs. The vegetables I used eggplant, yellow squash, carrots, onions, green, red and orange peppers, green beans, broccoli, peas and Non-GMO corn. The herbs and spices were garlic, turmeric, black pepper, cayenne pepper, basil,

Melt 2 tablespoons coconut oil in a pan and add the vegetables and cook until vegetables begin to soften. Serve over brown rice and can add liquid amino or coconut aminos instead of soy sauce.

Brown rice

Cucumber salad

2 cucumbers thinly sliced, onions, 1 jalapeño pepper, Chopped Cilantro, juice of 1 lime, 3 tablespoons olive oil, ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper, garlic powder, black pepper, and Himalayan salt to taste. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.

Green beanssteamed until tender. Add freshly grated parmesan, 2 cloves minced garlic, Himalayan salt and pepper to taste.

Breaded eggplant

Eggplant, 3 eggs, almond meal or flour, black pepper, garlic powder, himylayan salt, cayenne pepper, oregano, basil

Slice the eggplant. Add the herbs and spices to the almond meal. Dip the eggplant in beaten eggs, then cover with almond meal. Heat coconut oil in frying pan and then cook the eggplant until golden brown.

Asparagus salad with cherry tomatoes and Dijon mustard dressing

1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut in pieces, ¼ cup red onion chopped, 1 ripe avocado cubed, ½ cup feta cheese, 1 cup basil leaves chopped, ¼ cup olive oil, juice from 1 lemon, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper to taste.

Mix all ingredients except asparagus. Add asparagus to boiling water for 2 minutes and then rinse in cold water.

Then add asparagus to the salad.

Sweet potato brownies

3 sweet potatoes poked with a fork and then baked until soft about 30 minutes. Then peel and mash, add 6 eggs, 6 tablespoons coconut flour, 5 tablespoons cacao powder, ½ cup coconut oil, ¾ cup maple syrup, 1 teaspoon vanilla, ½ teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon.  Mix all ingredient and place in 10x13pan coated with coconut oil and bake 350* for 35 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

Blueberries and sliced strawberriesGreat for breakfast or dessert. Can add bananas and grass-fed plain Greek yogurt. I also like to add cacao nibs, goji berries, sunflower, ground flax, and pumpkin seeds.

Watermelon and Cantaloupe cut up for snacking.