A Naturopathic Doctor Prepares 7+ Meals in Three Hours or Less

The key to having healthy, delicious meals on the go is organization. I explain how I overcome a busy schedule by doing a focused grocery-shop, heating up the oven and batch-cooking seven or more whole-food, healthy meals in under three hours.

You know the feeling: you’re finishing up a long day of work, your blood sugar levels are dropping, and you’re wondering what you’re going to eat once you get home. When you assess the situation, you realize that you’re coming home to a fridge that’s empty, and your Julia Childsesque inspiration levels are at an all-time low. You decide on frozen pizza (freezer burnt and sad), and a half-eaten jar of pickles.

My patients sometimes tell me that they don’t have time to cook and so they end up microwaving a Lean Cuisine or throwing limp fish sticks into the oven once they’ve dragged themselves through the front door. I find this interesting because I know that I can stick some chicken breast, squash and broccoli in the oven and have it ready quicker than you can say “leaky gut”. I believe, though, that the secret to success is preparation, mindset, a little bit of organization and nutritional know-how.

I frequently get caught in the “what-am-I-going-to-eat” spiral but, with a fridge stocked with foods that are already cooked and can last for days, I usually end up eating something that’s pretty good for me. Here’s what I do on a weekend, or weeknight when I have a little more wiggle-room in terms of time: batch-cook. With the right prep you can throw together an endless combination of meals with minimal waste that requires very little prep and assembly the day of. What’s more, all of these meals are grain-free and nutrient-rich to keep hormones stable, energy sustained and mood high.

Step 1: Grocery shopping. On the way home from my clinic, I whip out my portable grocery bag and make a quick stop at the grocery store, or meat store and fruit and vegetable markets. When grocery-shopping I’m in and out in record time, and this is because I forgo straining to read complicated labels, or getting lost in heavily-processed middle aisles, and just stick to the peripheries: fruits and vegetables, deli, meat, fish, freezer. 95% of grocery-shopping should be about stocking up on perishables like proteins, veggies and fruits. I buy:

• 2-3 bags of pre-cut coleslaw, chopped kale, baby spinach and boxes of baby arugula from the pre-washed salad section
• fennel, zucchini, broccoli, eggplant, tomatoes from the vegetable section
• a bag of apples and avocado from the fruit section
• goat cheese and natural sliced turkey breast from the deli section
• chicken breast or chicken thighs, ground beef, steak and/or fish from the meat and fish section
• eggs from the dairy fridge
• frozen blueberries from the freezer

At home, in my cupboards, I know I already have things like: coconut milk, curry spices, salt, pepper, tomato salsa, tomato paste, frozen shrimp (in the freezer), chicken broth, and things like gelatin, flaxseed, pumpkin seeds, vinegar, oils, etc. I also have onions, garlic and lemon in the fridge. If I didn’t have those, I would have picked them up too.

Step 2: Get cooking. When I get home I toss the heavy bag on the counter, wash my hands, grab the chopping board and knives out of the drawer and get to work. I throw on a favourite podcast (try Invisibilia, The Jordan Peterson Podcast, The Mental Illness Happy Hour, Shrink Rap Radio, Chris Kresser, or Found My Fitness—I welcome your suggestions for future batch-cooking sessions) and begin the batch-cooking.

1. I chop up the broccoli, eggplant and tomatoes. Setting the oven to 400 degrees, I drizzle coconut oil over the broccoli with some salt and pepper and get it browning in the oven. Next I line a baking sheet with tomatoes and eggplants and some sliced zucchini, add a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and spices and bake those (when they’re cooked, I’ll add some flaxseeds to give them a breaded-kind of taste with none of the refined carbs and all the hormone-regulating fibre and healthy fats).
2. I drizzle the chicken breast with lemon and spread tomato salsa on top. Done. When the vegetables are finished I’ll cook it at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Then I’ll slice the chicken up to throw on salads or to warm up and have with vegetables.
3. I start browning the beef with onions, garlic and grass-fed butter. Once beef is browned, I add the shredded cabbage from the bags of coleslaw I bought, and possibly some of the shredded kale. I add coconut milk and curry spices and a little bit of chicken broth, salt and pepper. Thai-style paleo stir-fry done!
4. I get out a big container and chop up fennel. I mix that up with arugula and store it in the fridge. I’ll add some chicken breast, chopped apple, pumpkin seeds and goat cheese to this tomorrow for a delicious, protein-rich salad lunch. I make dressing out of lemon, tahini, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and store that in a little jar in the fridge, so that I can throw it on the salad in the morning. I can also add cut-up sliced turkey breast to this if I run out of chicken.
5. I pre-spiralize some left-over zucchini with my vegetable spiralizer and store the noodles in the fridge. I make pasta sauce by adding Italian spices and olive oil to diced tomatoes or tomato paste. All I need to do for a low-carb pasta is add the sauce and some shrimp to the noodles and lightly cook until the noodles are soft. Voila: zucchini-noodle shrimp pasta. Also, a major delight of mine are Miracle Noodles, zero-calorie noodles made of glucomannan prebiotic fibre. All you have to do is rinse them. They’re super filling and taste just like rice noodles.
6. I cook kale, goat cheese and tomatoes together. I add the mixture to muffin tins and add eggs (I add all 12 eggs to make 12 frittatas). When the oven’s free, I cooked everything at 350 degrees until the eggs are cooked through (about 20 minutes). Sometimes I cut up the sliced turkey breast to add or I use it to “line” the muffin cups, for added protein. I let the frittatas cool and then store them in an air-tight container in the fridge.
7. When the time comes, right before I’m ready to eat, I’ll cook the steak or fish on the stove. Steak takes me about 3-4 minutes to cook it, tops. I just brown eat side for 2-3 minutes and add salt and pepper. Salmon takes no time at all; I might bake it for 15 minutes or sauté it after pre-marinating it with some lemon, butter and dill, or Sriracha hot sauce, garlic, tamari sauce and dash of maple syrup.
8. I mash up the avocados with cocoa powder, some coconut oil, gelatin, protein powder and a bit of liquid stevia to make avocado pudding. I also save some avocados to eat with meals, add to salads, and mix into smoothies, or sprinkle with salt for a healthy-fat snack.

That’s it! I pack everything up in containers and store in the fridge. All I need to do when I get hungry is spoon out portions, warm and eat. I can also opt for freezing some things if I don’t think I’ll get to them in the next few days.

The verdict: 7+ meals prepared in the time it took me to listen to 1-2 podcast episodes. Here’s what I eat for the next few days:

Breakfasts: 

• Mini frittatas with kale, goat cheese and tomatoes. I grab 2-3 on my way out the door.
• Smoothies: with baby spinach, frozen blueberries, coconut oil, protein powder (already had some), gelatin, water. I throw these in a blender and enjoy.
• Avocado pudding

Lunch/Dinner:

• Arugula salad with cut up chicken breast, pumpkin seeds, goat cheese, fennel, apple and lemon tahini dressing
• Chicken breast and roasted vegetables and/or roasted broccoli
• Salmon or steak with broccoli, roasted vegetables, or salad
• Cooked eggs with avocado and some arugula salad
• Cabbage and ground beef coconut curry (I can add zucchini noodles or Miracle Noodles to this)
• Zucchini noodle shrimp pasta with tomato. I can also forgo the shrimp and serve with steak, salmon or chicken breast.

Snacks:

I’ll eat a handful of pumpkin seeds, apples and peanut butter, mini frittatas, turkey breast slices or avocado pudding. I’m usually not much of a snacker, though.

Try it yourself! How do you like to batch-cook?