This Week’s Focus: Nutrition Basics

This week we’ll start with essentials: nutrition. The goal is simple; help your family feel full and grow healthy. Use the resources you have available now and know you can always revisit and build on this later.

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Tools You’ll Need

• Cutting board
• Stove and/or oven
• microwave
• fridge and freezer
• Dish soap
• a stainless steel or cast-iron pan (without a rubber handle. This way you can use this in the oven or stovetop)
• Coarse salt (great for scrubbing stuck-on food, but not for nonstick pans. I keep a large mason jar with a scoop next to the sink for cleaning almost everything)
• Paper plates and bowls (line your kitchen plates with paper plates for quick, easy cleanup)
• Commercial Steam Table Pans with lids and/or Pyrex Deep Glass Baking Dish with Lid (both options are fridge, oven, dishwasher and freezer safe, so versatile)
• glass mason jars or microwave safe coffee mugs

A little family story: My grandmother always used paper plates and bowls. My mother hated it but spent hours scrubbing dishes. I learned from both of them and now I line my regular plates with paper plates. It gives me sturdy dishes for eating, saves time at the sink, and still lets me use what I have. I like that I can fill the dishwasher quickly at the end of the night.

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Ingredients

Protein

Aim for 0.25–0.5 pounds of protein per person, per meal, divided among 2–3 different meat options.

For example, if you’re cooking lunch and dinner for 2 people for 7 days:

• 2 people × 0.5 lbs × 14 meals = 15 lbs protein
• 2 people × 0.25 lbs × 14 meals = 7 lbs protein

That means you’ll want between 7–15 lbs of protein per week (not all from one source, because thats boring).

Other protein boosters:

• Cook rice or pasta in broth.
• I use bone broth to pack protein into meals: extra protein, and it helps keep everyone full until the next meal.

Carbs & Fiber

Think of carbs as the “kids eat free” section. Kids’ brains run on sugar, so while we encourage them to eat fiber-rich foods, it’s okay to balance this with what their bodies crave: simple carbs. For ourselves, we model eating high-fiber carbs at every meal, or try our best to.

Fat

Fat slows digestion and is both required and preferred. Aim for 1–2 tablespoons per meal. Favorites include butter, coconut oil, and avocado oil, all of which can be bought in bulk to save money from your local grocery store in most places or online.

Vegetables

I keep it simple and buy just two vegetables per week, prewashed and ready to eat, in bulk. This keeps choices easy and prep minimal. I bulk buy 1 bulk size of lettuce and a bulk bag of broccoli most weeks to be completely honest.

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How to Meal Prep

• Cook carbs as soon as you get home. It’s easy to cook 1-2 bags of pasta and 3-4 cups of rice and just stick it in the fridge. I will save these in commercial steam table pans with lids and/or pyrex deep dish baking dish with lid
• Cook meat when you bring it home from the store.
• Store half the meat in the fridge and freeze the other half for later in the week.

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Cooking Tips to Live By

• Avoid nonstick pans. The chemical linings release toxins when heated. Cast iron and stainless steel can function like nonstick when heated properly: Heat until a splash of water beads on the surface. If the pan smokes, pull it off the heat and ventilate. If oil burns, toss it and start again. You don’t always need oil with the hot pan.
• Be prepared for safety. In case of an oil fire, use baking soda—not water. I always keep two boxes on hand: one in the fridge and one in the pantry (they also help absorb odors).