Meal prep and making the most of your time

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Hands up who wants to spend two hours a night in the kitchen each night? 

I love cooking, but I don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen every night preparing a real meal. We all have more interesting and important things to do when we get home from work. 

The key to getting real food daily without spending hours cooking is managing time and planning. OK, I may have a slight advantage in this area. I plan things out for a living, but it’s easy to get into the swing of planning to make better use of the time you have. 

Here are the key things to managing your time and making real food easy: 

  • Plan your meals before you shop
  • Make sure the plan meets your needs
  • Make the freezer your friend
  • Make sure you clear a part of your day
  • Make sure you have the right tools for the job
  • Plan out your time in the kitchen
  • Prep lots of things at the same time

Plan your meals before you shop 

This is probably the most important factor in minimising the time you spend in the kitchen each week. If you intend to make seven different dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you will have a nightmare in the kitchen and, more than likely, a very expensive food bill. 

Simple meals will minimise the time you spend preparing and cooking. Look for meals that can be frozen or put in the slow cooker, plan to make extra (the cook once, eat twice principle), and don’t be afraid to use the same ingredients. 

Save the fancy meals and new recipes to try and experiment on the weekends, when you have a little more time. Write out your shopping list and stick to it. My personal tip is to avoid going food shopping when you are hungry! It is a surefire way to end up with a million things you don’t want or need.

Make sure the plan meets your needs 

One speed bump most of us encounter is that our plan doesn’t account for everything else going on. To make the plan fit for purpose, it pays to tailor it to what is happening in your life. I plan my meals around my weekly activities and commitments, and how much free time I will have. Here is an example: Two days a week, I work from the office, which means I have at least an hour-long commute home, followed by a workout with a friend that takes at least an hour. That means on these two days, I won’t set foot in the kitchen until 7 pm at the earliest. On these days, my meals include morning protein smoothies and a meal that has been sitting in the slow cooker or just needs 15 minutes to reheat. For these longer days, I’ll plan a curry, chilli, or chicken roasted in the slow cooker, with a salad. 

Make the freezer your friend 

This is the most critical aspect of making the most of your time. Being able to prepare all your meals for a week depends on you making friends with the freezer. Don’t get me wrong; you can food prep and store your food in the fridge, but that means you have three or four days of food. 

If you only have four days’ worth of food, that means a second trip to the supermarket and another couple of hours in the kitchen on a weeknight. The alternative is to use the freezer. Plan your meals so that the produce that is best eaten fresh is used within two days after you have shopped; store that in the fridge. Then plan for everything else so it can be cooked, then frozen, or frozen when raw. That way, you have meals that can be reheated when needed or put into the slow cooker. 

Make sure you clear a part of your day. 

Find a time in your week, or on the weekend, to block out for food preparation and make it part of your routine. Saturday morning is an excellent time for food prep. I spend two hours slicing, dicing, simmering, and portioning before heading out for breakfast with friends. I do as much as possible during those two hours, so on weekdays my meals are usually ready to eat in less than 30 minutes. I feel relaxed knowing I’ve ticked off a big chore before I go to drink coffee and talk sh*t for a few hours. 

Find a time that works for you and block it out so you can work uninterrupted and get busy in the kitchen. 

Make sure that you have the right tools for the job 

Once upon a time, I would spend an entire day in the kitchen on the weekend, preparing food for the coming week. God, I am glad that is not the case now. 

Having the right tools for the job can drastically reduce your time in the kitchen. At a minimum, a food processor with a grater and slicing attachment will save you heaps of time. The slicing-and-dicing gadgets you can pick up for a few bucks can help, but in my experience, you still have to do a lot of chopping before you can use them. A good food processor that can grate and slice requires minimal chopping before you can use it. Save the money you would spend on gadgets and put it towards a food processor.

A real-world example is making cauliflower rice. Grating a head of cauliflower by hand will take at least 30 minutes, and if you are lucky, the skin of only one knuckle. The same task with a grating attachment on a food processor will take 2 minutes. 

Investing in a few key pieces of kit for your kitchen can make your life easier and give you back some free time. 

If you don’t have the right tools for the job, look in the freezer aisle at the supermarket; you can buy cauliflower rice, diced onions, diced carrots and more. If it is in your budget, buy what you need in the form you need it. 

Plan out your time in the kitchen 

You don’t need to write down a plan every time you set foot in the kitchen (unless that makes you happy, and please stop judging me), but it does pay to have a rough plan of what you are going to do and in what order. Look at your food plan and use it as the basis for your plan. You should be able to get an idea of the different tasks (chopping, slicing, dicing, peeling, etc.) and how long they might take you. 

Plan your time out so you start with the challenging and time-consuming tasks first. That way, you get them out of the way, and everything else will go quickly.

Prep lots of things at the same time 

The way I figure it, if I’m in the kitchen, I want to get as much done as possible in the shortest time. Multitasking is the key. Dividing tasks and grouping similar ones is a good approach. If you can do two things at once, do so. 

Here are some of the things I do and plan for when I’m in the kitchen 

  • Have your bags or containers ready and labelled before you start. This makes it easy to throw things in as they are ready.
  • Prep and portion your meat; it’s one of the more time-consuming tasks, so get it out of the way.
  • Make sauces at the same time; you can often leave them to simmer while you do something else.
  • If you have vegetables to peel, you can peel them all at once; it will actually save you time.
  • Do specific tasks together. For example, if you have to dice onions, carrots, and courgettes, do it all together; same for mincing and slicing.
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Women and strength training

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Women and strength training – time for the truth

Women and strength training were two things that, until a few years ago, had not been put together in a sentence in most circles.

Many of us were introduced to exercise by our mothers, in the middle of the living room, following the instructions of a motivational trainer dressed head to toe in lycra (I could be showing my age here). For decades, women have been guided towards predominantly cardiovascular activities; step classes, running, Zumba, Pilates, and yoga were the closest things to strength training many women got.

As women, we have been conditioned to associate weight loss, healthy lifestyles, and the ‘perfect’ body with long, hard cardiovascular training. For a very long time, TV, magazines, and the internet reinforced this for us all, until recently.

The last few years have seen a significant shift in the fitness industry and attitudes in mass media; strength training is the new cardio, and strong is the new skinny.

With this dramatic shift in direction towards promoting strength in women, many women feel confused and hold onto what we were told when cardio was king.

It is time to examine some of the myths about strength training, uncover the truth, and discover some of the benefits of lifting heavy regularly.

Lifting weights will make me look manly

Let’s get to the root of this one. For years, the primary visual examples of women who lifted weights in the media were images of female bodybuilders from the ’80s and ’90s. Don’t get me wrong, I greatly respect these women, but this is not what lifting weights as a woman does to your body; these women are the exception, not the rule. To take a female body and make it look manly requires a combination of hormone manipulation and pharmaceutical supplementation; unless you have a massive imbalance in your testosterone levels, you are safe and won’t look manly just from lifting weights. Lifting weights will increase your muscle mass but will not turn you into a man.

Lifting weights will make me look bulky

This is a common response when the topic of strength training is raised with women. The truth is that lifting does not cause bulk. Bulk requires excess calories, testosterone and heavy lifting. Women do not have a large amount of testosterone, so it is hard to become ‘bulky’. You will gain weight if you eat more than you need and lift weights, but you can gain weight if you eat more than your body needs. Eating a balanced diet will help you build muscle and look more toned. Over time, the amount of fat between your muscles and skin will reduce, and you will look leaner and more muscular. If people think that is bulky, then they have probably never picked up a weight themselves.

Lifting weights will not help you lose weight

If your goal is to look like a stick-thin model, weightlifting probably isn’t for you. Weightlifting is the fastest way to change your body composition; it will help you burn fat and build muscle. However, numbers on a scale aren’t the most reliable measure of change. Reducing body fat and increasing muscle mass may not show on the scale, but it will show in how your clothes fit and the new wardrobe you need to buy.

Lifting weights is dangerous

Lifting weights can be dangerous, but so can running.  The danger comes from undertaking any activity with poor form.  When lifting weights, the risk usually stems from a combination of heavy loads and poor technique.  If you took up running, you would not start by doing a marathon; you would learn proper running technique and build up distances over time.  The same principle applies to lifting weights: start with a broomstick to master technique and form, then move on to a bar and start adding weights, reducing the risk of injury.

Lifting weights turns your fat into muscle

I would love to say that is a fact, but it is not. In a magical world of unicorns and calorie-free chocolate, this may be the case, but in our world, fat cannot turn into muscle; it is physically impossible. The same applies to the reverse; muscle will not become fat. Lifting weights will help you burn fat, but it will not turn into muscle.

Now that we have dispelled some common myths about women and strength training, it is time to examine some of its benefits.

Reduce your risk of osteoporosis

By undertaking weight-bearing exercises, you are stressing your bones. Don’t worry; this is a good thing. Stressing the bones will increase bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis. As a woman, this is especially important, as we are at greater risk of osteoporosis than men as we get older.

Reduce the risk of depression

Strength training has a side effect; it increases the level of endorphins in your body. These are the natural opiates the brain produces that make you feel great. Studies have shown that strength training is a natural antidepressant and improves sleep quality and general well-being.

You will lose body fat

Strength training is the best way to increase your lean muscle mass; the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, so your body will use its fat stores as fuel.

Reduces the risk of injury as you age

When you have strong muscles, tendons and ligaments, they are less likely to give way under stress, which means you are far less likely to get injured.

You will look great

This is not shallow; it is simply honesty. Most people start an exercise program to change how they look. Lifting weights will give you a lean, toned, and fit body, making you feel and look amazing.

Back to doing what I love

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All quiet on the western front

For many reasons, it has been a while since I posted anything new on my blog. I won’t go intoall the gory details, just the highlights; 

  • the unexpected and messy end to a 13-year relationship, 
  • two job changes,
  • two naughty kittens and
  • a lot of work to stay in my home.

Needless to say, with so much happening in my professional life and a total implosion of my personal life, I needed some time out to reset my life, rediscover what makes me happy, focus on what is important and heal. It has taken longer than expected, but I am finally in a space where I am ready to embrace the things that make me happy and share them with the world.

Some changes to what you will see from me

For a long time, my life and cooking revolved around keeping others happy and adjusting things to make kids happy; now, I only have to make myself happy (and my fur babies). I am not one to erase the past; life is about experience and learning; erasing the past removes the lessons learned and dooms us to repeat the same mistakes. I won’t erase my past on my blog; I prefer to win or learn. 

Much of my old content includes recipes for my stepkids to eat vegetables and try new things. I want to share these valuable resources with others looking for ideas, but they won’t be my focus anymore. 

I want to share my ideas and learning with those looking for healthy and tasty meals, challenging workouts, and tips to make life easier for all who need them.

Who am I am

It seems fitting to reintroduce myself.

Hi, I’m Cath

Originally from the UK, I’ve called Auckland, New Zealand, my home since 2010. In 2024, I finally became a New Zealand citizen. I’m fortunate enough to live in a part of the city close to everything I need and has beautiful views of a Mountain and the water daily.

I share my home with two fur babies, Bella and Luna, who make every day interesting. Bella is my loving but very anxious baby. She lives for snuggles while holding paws and hunting for anything that moves in the house. Luna is special in so many ways; she loves with her claws (and teeth), she loves to cuddle (and bite), and she is so uncoordinated she has never caught anything worth hunting in her life. My girls keep me company, complain when I don’t pay them enough attention and make me laugh each day.

Bella
Luna

I spend my working week trying to make a real difference in the lives of the less fortunate in New Zealand. I work for a government agency and try hard to fight for changes that will benefit the most vulnerable in our society. I love my job and that it is always a challenge; no two days are the same, and I always have opportunities to make a difference, even in the smallest of ways.

I’m addicted to coffee, Post-it notes, and my bullet journal; please don’t judge me. Order and organisation are my jam. Exercise is how I consistently manage my well-being and maintain balance in life. My home gym is my sanctuary; knowing it is just downstairs whenever I need it is a saving grace on hard days. Falling out of bed in the morning to practice yoga or run on the treadmill sets me on the right path each day.

Sweating my face off

When I’m not working hard or sweating my face off, I spend time doing the things I love. At the end of my relationship, I was fortunate to find new friends who filled my life with laughter and enjoyment. I spend part of my weekends drinking coffee, talking shit and laughing until I cry. When we aren’t talking shit, we have two-wheel adventures across Auckland, which always leave me exhausted. Whenever possible, I blow up my paddle board and take to the water to enjoy some moving meditation. 

My life is simple, but it is enough for me. I’ve relearned to find pleasure in the small things and put myself first again. Being creative in the kitchen, trying new things and learning new things brings me joy and satisfaction.

Simple steps for eating clean 

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Clean eating

Strong seems to be the new skinny; actually, I think that lean is the new skinny, but strong is in the mix so woo hoo!

Getting lean doesn’t happen because you get strong, being lean has very little to do with what you are doing in the gym, it is about what you do in the kitchen.  Getting lean means eating clean, step away from the pizza and beer and head towards the broccoli and chicken.  Here are some simple steps to get you on the right track for being lean.

Cut out the crap

Processed foods contain a lot of crap; added sugars, oil, flavours, preservatives and fillers. Most of the things you find in processed foods are there to pad out the ‘food’ or make it last in the packet; these are things that are not items you want to include in your diet.  A simple rule to live by when buying anything a packet or can is if it has more than 3 ingredients on the label leave it alone.

Watch out for that meal in a cup

We often get caught out with what we drink now what we eat, that cup of coffee has calories in it than you might think. That medium flat white is the equivalent of eating a salad, and that mocha is the same as eating a portion of French fries.  Before you order up that milk laden coffee remember it is a meal and adjust what you eat around it.

Eat real meat, fruit and vegetables

Eating whole food is the best approach to eating clean and getting lean. Picking foods that have not been processed means you minimise the chemicals you expose your body to and you are fuelling it with foods that it knows how to handle.

Eat little and often

Eating 3 big meals in a day may work for some people, but for most of us, it is not ideal. Eating 4 to 6 smaller meals across the day is much better.  Having more meals will help keep your metabolism humming, and the small portions will help you not to overeat because you should never be starving hungry/hangry.

So remember when you are looking to get lean and eat clean

  • Remove processed foods
  • Avoid added sugar, fats and chemicals
  • Remove alcohol
  • Drink black tea and coffee
  • Eat whole foods – meats, fruits, and vegetables
  • Eat smaller portions more often
  • Eat breakfast every day