Sunday Meal Prep | Week of April 28
What I'm cooking + few other tidbits that you didn't ask for but might enjoy.
Happy Sunday, fam! After some reflection, I’ve decided to change up the format on these meal prep emails a little (I’m learning as we go!). So instead of the recipes being in the body of this Substack, I’ve got a convenient little PDF attached at the bottom. This way, you can check out the menu at a glance (below) and save that recipe doc if you like. I’d love your feedback, so I’m going to get a little conversation going in the chat if you want to hop on over there.
Speaking of the chat, last week there were some great questions and conversations about inflammation and how to eat an anti-inflammatory diet. Oftentimes we’re looking for things to add into our routines, like a superfood or supplement, but when it comes to inflammation I think it’s more important to consider what’s causing it and remove it. We need to focus on preventing forest fires, not just putting them out.
If you did one thing to reduce inflammation, I’d recommend removing processed foods and being very mindful of seed oils, which are generally in processed foods and used in restaurants. Okay, that’s kind of two things, but you get my point. On Friday, I sent you all an email outlining five things I’d never buy; the products listed are all highly processed and inflammatory foods. You can consume all the turmeric in the world and it wouldn’t make up for the junk that’s in these ultra processed foods.
That said, there are foods that do reduce inflammation. This includes spices, like turmeric and ginger, olive oil, omega 3 fatty acids from salmon, berries, nuts and seeds, cruciferous vegetables, and even cacao (good news, chocolate lovers!). Basically, real whole foods. Organic helps too; as I’m sure you can imagine, pesticides are not anti-inflammatory. So, if you’re following along here and cooking these meals, I’d say you’re doing a pretty good job. It’s more of a way of eating (and what you’re not eating) than a particular food.
Auto-immune disorders are a little different. In this case, the inflammation isn’t coming from a bag of chips, but your body’s own immune system. My general recommendation with auto-immune conditions is to not add any additional fuel to the fire. Removing gluten, cow’s dairy, added sugars, seed oils, processed foods, alcohol, and sometimes grains can help tamper the inflammation. There’s also some evidence that ginger supplementation can help. I know this is a lot, so I’d recommend working with a health care professional (or nutritionist!) to try and get this right—there is a huge element of individuality here.
I could write a really long post on this (and I will, soon), but thought I would take a few brief paragraphs to tell you that if you’re cooking with me, you’re doing something for inflammation. Drop any questions in the comment section. xx
WHAT I’M LOVING RIGHT NOW
Before we get to this week’s menu, here are a few “meal prep adjacent” things I love and thought you might enjoy:
Bamboo-a-palooza
I am super into bamboo right now. It’s a very sustainable and renewable resource that can be made into so many products, from cutting boards to sheets and even toilet paper (or as my husband calls it, loo roll, lol). My favorite colander that I post about all the time is made from bamboo too. I also recently purchased these bamboo kids plates and started a subscription to PlantPaper (did you know that your typical roll of TP is actually full of chemicals like bleach, formaldehyde, and even PFAs?).
What I’m listening to
The Doctor’s Pharmacy, The Dark Side of The Food Industry: How The Standard American Diet Is Making Us Sick & Fat
I loved this interview with Jason Karp (founder of Hu Kitchen), and am genuinely encouraged by this movement underway to fight against our broken food system. Did you know that the food dye Red 40 (found in everything from M&Ms, cereal, sports drinks, and gum) causes behavioral issues in children, including aggression and ADHD? Gahhhh. If we want to make change, we have to use our spending power to say we don’t want this.
Free samples for all
Lypo-Spheric Vitamins
If you love free samples, LivOn Labs is offering all of you a free sample pack with every purchase (including everyone’s favorite Vitamin C).
Okay, let’s cook!
*Menu, Week of April 28th*
No matter how many times I write the word chimichurri, I will never spell it right at first pass. I’ll always have to google it. Two Ms, one R? Who knows? Who cares? Anyways, this week’s menu is a tantalizing medley of flavors from a hard-to-spell but easy-to-make chimichurri to a carrot ginger dressing you’ll want to drink, and a little teriyaki that we didn’t make (thank you, Primal Kitchen!).
Here’s your weekly menu at a glance. Open up the attached PDF for the recipes (yours to keep, every week!).