Food preparation – Create You Coaching

Food prep the Mom2Squared way

It has been a while since I managed to do a post as I have been tweaking my schedule at home to be more mindful and spend not only time on exercise but also fit in meditation and other positive influences in my day. I have shared a few recipes with you on here now and I am not sure if you have noticed a pattern, but I have definitely found a method that works for my and the family.

We don’t do large batch cooking, yes, we do freeze extra portions but we make fresh and then freeze a few portions for when we need a meal quickly. What I do is use the entire day to prepare the meal in stages and it comes together at night for the dinner. We generally feed Austin and Aria at 5pm and then pull ours together after bedtime, but we are not starting from scratch. I would at the very least have fried the onions and vegetables in advance depending on what meal we are having.

I would say that roasting vegetables has become a huge part of my cooking because the vegetables love it, they morph into something delicious. They sizzle and crisp, soften and sweeten. What is not to love right? I would normally start off roasting a batch of whatever it is that I may need first thing, when every I have the time to chop dress and pop in. Normally around 10:00 while The Mini Music Makers are on and I can nip to the kitchen. There are a few key spices that add the flavour to our food and we have found them very baby friendly. The magic happens by using the right amount of the following; Mixed Herbs, Garam Masala, Ground Cumin, Paprika, Garlic powder, Ground black Pepper, Fennel Seeds, Onion Seeds and Rosemary. Start small with the spices and see what works for your family. We just add salt and chilli once we have removed the childrens portion.

Roasting the butter nut for our pasta sauce first thing or when you have 10 minutes to prepare it.

When need a quick meal, I always start with frying off onions and grating a carrot in, for me I then know that is the makings of a balanced meal. Add some mixed herbs and a splash of balsamic vinegar fry off the vinegar and add a can of chopped tomatoes or passata, now you have a nice pasta sauce, not from a jar, no hidden sugar. You can always put a teaspoon of maple syrup or sugar alternative in. I use the same sauce when making our rice balls and just use a little bit and then have plenty left for another dish.

Start frying the vegetable base when you get a spare moment in the day, here is the start of our healthy pasta sauce and Red pepper Pasta.

If you are doing anything you make in a pan, early in the day when you have time chop up your onion and other vegetables you are planning to use and fry them down. Sometimes I even do this without staying there I just pop back and stir once in a while or you can unpack the dishwasher will it is cooking away. As you get more used to cooking you will figure out your own short cuts, just know it doesn’t have to be a big job and a big clean up.

The finished product of the Tomato based pasta sauce, only two pans to clean

I use the same chopping board throughout the day, unless I have done meat on it. It just stays there until I am done chopping the last vegetable or herb, load the dishwasher as you go and rinse your utensils. By the time you have eaten you should only have the pan and the plates and cutlery you used. Yes, there will be exceptions but for the most part you have it under control. Happy cooking people!

Healthy Pasta Sauce – Carrot, courgetti and tomato

This is one that we use all the time if you need to get a lunch or dinner together in no time. Usually we just grate a carrot into in as it gives a lovely flavor and texture, plus loads of vitamins. We only made one meal for the twins so there was sauce left to keep for another day.

Ingredients:

1 grated carrot grated	Coconut oil (any oil you prefer)
1 small or half a medium onion finely chopped	Dried mixed herbs or oregano (Fresh is fine too!)
1 small or half medium courgetti grated	Tomato paste
1 can of chopped tomatoes	We use a little Maple syrup to balance tomato
Garlic optional (We didn’t use it, but you totally can)	Balsamic vinegar
Any Pasta, I cut the shells in half once they were cooked	Butter
Mild cheddar cheese grated (15g/ child portion)	Chilli flakes

Basically, you just cook it all in one pan, starting with the veg that take the longest. First, we fry off the onion until it browns or goes translucent (it shouldn’t be completely cooked, add the carrot and a small nob of butter fry it for 1-2 minutes till lightens in colour. Then add your courgette and fry all till the water from the courgetti has evaporated, put in a pinch of your chosen herbs, I wanted it to brown but it was taking too long so I moved on. If anything gets stuck to the pan deglazed with some balsamic vinegar, just give it 30 seconds or a minute to evaporate.

Fry onion, carrot and courgette – you could add mushroom at this point if desired

Add the can of chopped tomatoes, you can use passata if that is all you have. If you only have plum just chop them up and throw in all the juice from the can. I rinsed the can with some of the pasta water, about half a can. Let the sauce simmer and reduce for 3-5 minutes add the tomato paste and Maple syrup, you can use a ½ teaspoon of any sugar you have. At this point you can remove some for the babies and add chilli flakes for the adult portion.

Set aside a portion for the next day. This can be frozen too.

Stir the sauce through the cooked pasta and add cheese once it is removed from the heat. I added another splash of pasta water, as you would normally when making pasta. I good amount of sauce was left that we will use either for another meal for the children or for a lunch for us.

Thai Pork Mince

This is a delicious recipe that is so easy you can prep it while babies eat a snack and the key is that it can stand this your guest arrive or your husband gets home. One pack of mince makes 2 portions for the babies and one dinner for my husband and I. you can do half and half and have a smaller dinner and freeze more for more children meals.

The final dish, garnished with cariander and sesame seeds

I can’t actually remember where this one came from but it is definitely inspired by soy and Thai basil pork mince dish we ate and loved in Thailand when we went there in 2017 and improvised a little to make it work for the entire family. The image shows the condiments we use but it just what we have in and can be substituted.

Ingredients:

Pork mince (you can substitute with turkey or chicken if you prefer)	Fish sauce
½ a Red and green pepper	Reduced salt soy sauce
4 Spring onions chopped (you can use any onion here)	Thai green curry paste, to taste
Washed spinach shredded/ finely chopped	Peanut butter optional
Optional ½ grated carrots	Sesame seeds
Chopped coriander	Coconut oil
½ can of Coconut milk	Lemon grass if you have any
	Thailbasil if you have this it will be delicious

Method:

Fry the spring onion in the small pan and the peppers in a larger pan using coconut oil, you can use any oil you have here. Once the onion and peppers have chard slightly and soften separate a little into the child’s pan and a larger amount into the larger adult’s pan. I blended the onion and peppers as the babies don’t much like eating pieces of pepper and it integrates nicely into dish then too.

Once you have fried the onion and pepper blend it with a handblender before adding your currypaste, this step is optional

Now add the curry paste to each I used my tiny teaspoons as seen on the chopping board. One un-heaped for the child’s portion and two heaped for the adults, you can add more but it is more for flavour than heat. Stir till they become fragrant and add the mince ¼ for the child’s portion or 50/50 if you want to freeze some portions. Brown off the mince and add the spinach at this point to wilt.

Use a seperate small pan for the children so you can add less curry paste

Once the mince is cooked add the coconut milk and flavour the adult portion with fish sauce and soy and the children’s just with a little soy sauce. Add coriander to taste but save some for the top of your dish, I only added a tiny amount for the children so they can get used to it, but it is a strong flavour for them. If you are only serving this later, I stopped cooking it now and just brought it back up to heat and reduce before serving. If you are eating it straight away added a teaspoon of peanut butter and reduce, taste and serve when you are happy. We serve ours with rice, Thai rice or basmati but what ever you enjoy or have in is fine. Garnish with coriander leaves and sesame seeds. Enjoy!!!