https://www.youtube.com/embed/1FrUOqk2btw
- Hey guys and welcome back. I've got my long awaited
winter meal prep video for you and it is packed with ideas to keep you nourished over these cold winter months. If you're new to my channel, this is the fourth meal
prep video in a series. So make sure to go back
and watch the others to learn more about my
approach to meal prep, which is prepping individual ingredients for easy mix and match
meals throughout the week. In today's video I'll
show you how to meal prep 10 ingredients and give you a few ideas for warm winter meals that
you can quickly whip up. But with the creativity in this community, I'm sure that you guys will combine these ingredients in
even more delicious ways.
And when you do, make sure to tag me on Instagram so I can see it. Now just as I've done on my
previous meal prep videos, I've created a downloadable
PDF guide of this winter meal prep so that
you don't have to worry about taking any notes
throughout the video. I'll tell you how to download the PDF at the end of this video. But first, let me show you what
I've meal prepped this week. As usual, I'll start with the ingredient that takes the longest.
And today that's slow cooker pulled pork. I love using my slow cooker
in the winter for easy meals and this pulled pork is
so incredibly flavorful. You're gonna love it. I'm starting this recipe
early in the morning just because it's hard to film in my kitchen when it's dark at night. But I do recommend you make
this recipe the night before. Your slow cooker can work its
magic while you're sleeping and you can wake up to lovely pulled pork. I'll start by dicing up one whole onion and then add that to my slow cooker along with four garlic cloves
and the juice from one orange. The orange not only adds
sweetness to the pulled pork, but it's what helps to make
it so fall apart tender. When you grab pork from the market, make sure to grab a
boneless pork shoulder, which is sometimes also called
a pork butt or a Boston butt. In terms of size, you want
four and a half to five pounds. Though my two pieces add up to almost five and a half pounds.
So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it fits in my slow cooker. Your pork should be well-marbled for that extra boost of flavor, but you don't want too
much fat on the edges. So if I see a little too much
fat, I'll just trim that off. Next I'll make my pork rub, which is a combination of
two tablespoons of paprika, one teaspoon of oregano,
one teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of black pepper, and a half a teaspoon of cumin. Sprinkle this rub very
generously over all sides of your pork and rub it
in good with your hands. (relaxing music) Place the pork into your slow cooker. And thank goodness mine fits, just barely. Then add the lid. I'm going to move mine out of the way, then turn it on low for eight hours. And you really do want
to cook it low and slow as the meat will be so much
more tender and flavorful than if you cooked it
on high for four hours. For a delicious and healthy snack, I'm going to make some
roasted beet hummus this week.
I'll preheat my oven to
400 degrees Fahrenheit and give my beets a good wash using that vegetable scrubber I showed you last week. There's no need to peel
the beets with this recipe, and that's always a bonus. Whenever I work with beets, I always lay down
parchment paper underneath so I don't have to worry about
staining my cutting board.
Slice off the stems, leaving
about two inches attached, and leave the tails on as well. The green beet leaves are also great and packed with nutrients,
so don't throw those away. Just add them to your next
salad or green smoothie. I used to cook my beets
wrapped in aluminum foil, but as I've tried to get away
from using aluminum foil, I now roast them in a cast iron pot. Because my pot is a very
white Le Creuset pot that I don't want to ruin, I'm
lining it with parchment paper. But if you have a black cast iron pot or a glass baking dish,
you could skip this step. Add the beets to your pot, drizzle a little olive
oil or avocado oil on top, and make sure they're fully coated. Then add the lid and cook them
for about 50 to 60 minutes.
(relaxing music) While the beets are cooking,
I'll move onto my oranges. Oranges are in abundance during
winter and I'm gonna enjoy the entire fruit this week, peel and all. Now I purchase all organic produce because it's important to me. But if you sometimes
do and sometimes don't, I'll definitely recommend
prioritizing organic when you're eating the
outside peel or skin. Once the oranges are washed, I'll take a small knife and
cut off the top and bottom, trying not to cut into the flesh. Then I'll score the orange
from top to bottom four times, essentially dividing
the peel into quarters, and slide my fingers under
the peel to gently remove it. Slice each peel into
quarter inch wide strips and then add them to a pot. Because orange peel and especially that white pith can be bitter, we'll remove some of that bitterness by boiling the orange peel in water.
While I'm waiting on the water to boil, I'll slice up my orange flesh and add it to a storage container. I've now got an easy no fuss
snack for the next few days or I can easily throw these
oranges into smoothies. So, back to our orange peel. Once the water is boiling,
drain it over a colander. Then fill the pot back up with water and repeat the same process one more time. I know it seems a bit tedious, but it really does help to
remove some of that bitterness.
After you've drained it a second time, we'll be more measured and add two cups of water and one cup of sugar. This is essentially a thin simple syrup and you can also use any sugar you'd like. I'm using organic cane sugar, but you could also use coconut sugar, maple syrup, monk fruit,
other low carb sugars, or whichever sugar is your preference. Stir the sugar and water
together, bring it to a simmer, and set your timer for 30 minutes.
At this point our roasted
beets should be done, so remove those from the oven. Use tongs to carefully transfer
them to a cutting board. And you'll notice I'm
using parchment paper again to keep my cutting board clean because I'm all about making
my life easier in the kitchen. Slice off the stem and tail on each beet. And for this recipe,
I'll only need two beets. So I'll save that third
one to pop in a smoothie or top on a salad throughout the week. And one last bonus point
for parchment paper. Look at how clean it kept
the inside of my pot. If you've watched my hummus video, you know how easy it is to make creamy and smooth homemade
hummus in your Vitamix. I'll add two cans of
chickpeas to my blender along with one third cup of aquafaba, which is the liquid
from the chickpea cans. To this I'll add a half a cup of tahini, a quarter cup of olive oil,
the juice from one lemon, one or two garlic cloves,
a half a teaspoon of salt, and two of my roasted beets. I'll add the lid to my blender, get my tamper ready, and turn it on.
And within seconds, my regular hummus turns the most beautiful and vibrant shade of pink thanks
to those lovely beets. (relaxing music) Once it's done blending, I'll use my under blade
scraper to get it all out, transfer it to a storage container, and place it in the fridge. My orange peel should be just about done. And you'll notice that most of the simple syrup has evaporated. Lay down a piece of parchment
paper on your countertop and place a cooling rack on top. Then use tongs to remove
the orange peel slices and lay them on the cooling rack. These need to dry at least eight hours, though I prefer to let them sit overnight. So we'll come back to
these a little bit later. (relaxing music) In the meantime, I'll make
my ultimate seed crackers, which is a boosted version
of flaxseed crackers and only takes a handful of ingredients. That includes one cup of ground flaxseed, one third cup of sesame seeds, a quarter cup of chia seeds, and a half a cup of pumpkin seeds, which are also know as pepitas.
Now because pepitas are big and whole, we'll need to grind them up. And the easiest way to do
that is in a food processor. If you have a mini food
processor like this one, it's perfect for the job. Just add the pepitas and pulse a few times or until the texture
resembles course sand. Add the ground pepitas back to the bowl with the other seeds along
with one teaspoon of salt and one and a quarter cups
of water and give it a stir. The mixture will be really
liquidy at the beginning. But as soon as the chia
seeds start absorbing water in that first minute, it will thicken up.
Preheat your oven to
200 degrees Fahrenheit, which is a low temperature. But that's because our
goal is to dehydrate the crackers and make them crunchy. Lay out a piece of parchment
paper on your countertop and scoop half of the
mixture into the middle. Add another piece of
parchment paper on top, squish it down a bit, then use a rolling pin to flatten it out.
You want the dough to be about a quarter inch thick or slightly thinner. Remove the top piece of parchment paper and use a knife to score the dough. You can make squares or diamonds or whatever shape you'd like. And this just makes it easier
to break the crackers up once they've cooked and cooled. Carefully transfer this to a baking sheet and repeat the same process
with the other half of dough. And then bake them for two
and a half to three hours. I've really come to love
lentils over the last few years. And while they're generally easy to cook, I do have a few tips.
Add one cup of lentils to a
strainer and give them a rinse. But while you're doing this, make sure to remove any bad
lentils or small stones, which can sometimes sneak in. Pour them into a pot and
add four cups of water. While lentils do expand like rice, you don't want them mushing together. So more water is necessary. Then add one bay leaf
and one piece of kombu. Kombu is edible seaweed. And not only does it add
a wonderful umami flavor to the lentils along
with some trace minerals, but the enzymes in kombu break down the phytic acid in the lentils, making them easier to digest. And when I buy kombu at the store, I just transfer it to one
of my storage containers. Bring the lentils to a simmer, then reduce the heat so there's only a few small bubbles and add the lid. I'm moving my pot to a smaller burner so that the simmer can stay really low and I'll set the timer for 20 minutes.
Sweet potatoes are great
in the winter months as they're hearty and nourishing and there's just so
many ways to cook them. But you know how much
I love my spiralizer. So today I'm spiralizing my sweet potato. You can remove the skin or leave it on. It's up to you. But I've found that when using the small spiral blade on my spiralizer, the skin can sometimes clog up the blades. So that's why I'm removing it. Then just spiralize away. I have a whole video
all about spiralizing. So if you'd like more info about the veggies you can spiralize,
make sure to check that out. Spiralized noodles are
always extremely long, so it's best to take some
kitchen scissors to your noodles and trim them up before
storing them in the fridge. Next I've got another easy
veggie, and that's cabbage.
I have a half of a cabbage left over from earlier in the
week wrapped in beeswax. So today I thought I'd
slice up the rest of it. You can take a large knife to
the cabbage and slice it up, then chop those slices
into smaller pieces. But since I've got my spiralizer out, I figured I might as well use that to slice up the remainder of my cabbage. To do that, I'll swap out
the small spiral blade for the flat blade and give it a twirl. About 10 seconds later
the rest of my cabbage is sliced up into perfectly thin pieces. And then all I have to do
is place this in the fridge to be used throughout the week. My lentils should be done cooking now, so I'll drain them in the sink. Remove the piece of kombu, which
as you can see, rehydrated.
Let them cool a few minutes, then transfer them to a storage container. And don't forget to remove
the bay leaf as well. I'm a big fan of Swiss
chard when it's in season. So when I see it in the market,
I always grab a few bunches. To prep the Swiss chard, I'll start by washing the
individual leaves under the faucet though you could do this in a
large bowl of water as well. When it comes to storing Swiss chard, I'll show you two methods. But first I'll slice off some of the stem that's a little bit dried out. To store the chard whole, I'll place several leaves on
a tea towel and wrap them up. The tea towel gets a
little wet from the leaves, but that's good as the
moisture helps keep them fresh. You can also place a rubber band around the towel to keep it together. Then place this in the
crisper drawer in your fridge.
For chard that I plan to eat within the first couple of days, I'll pat it dry with a
paper towel or tea towel, roll the leaves up together,
and slice them across. Then I'll line a storage container with a paper towel and
add the sliced chard. Because I'm adding the lid in this method and the leaves won't air dry, I want the paper towel to
absorb any excess moisture. And then I'll place the
chard in the fridge. Alright, onto dressings. I have got two new vinaigrette recipes, which will help jazz up
some of my meals this week.
The first is a creamy and
flavorful Dijon vinaigrette. And to make that, I'll add
one third cup of olive oil to a bowl along with
the juice of one lemon, one tablespoon white wine vinegar, two teaspoons of Dijon mustard, one clove of garlic, salt, and pepper. Then I'll whisk it up and pour
it into a storage container. The second vinaigrette is
a citrus lime vinaigrette that's got a spicy kick to it. I'll add a quarter cup
of olive oil to a bowl along with the juice from
one orange and three limes and about two teaspoons of
finely diced jalapeno pepper. I'll also add a quarter cup
of finely chopped cilantro, salt, and pepper, and whisk this together before storing it in another jar.
To finish off the meal prep this week, I have just got to put away a few of the other ingredients
which are now cooked and done. And that includes the seed crackers, which are really easy to just break up and place in a storage container, as well as my pulled pork. Remove the pulled pork
from the slow cooker and use two forks to shred it up. The meat should really
just fall apart on its own. And trust me, it'll be hard not to put half of it in your mouth
while you're shredding it up because it's so juicy and tender.
(relaxing music) Alright. So now that you've got these
10 ingredients prepped, let me give you a few
ideas of what you could easily make throughout
the week by combining them with ingredients from
your fridge or pantry. For breakfast, you probably won't be surprised by this recipe but it's honestly something I make all the time. And that's my spiralized
sweet potato egg nest. Just add a little oil,
butter, or ghee to a pan and toss in a handful
of sweet potato noodles.
Once the noodles have cooked
for a couple of minutes, use the tongues to form
them into a little nest and crack one egg in the middle. Add a lid and cook the egg until
the white is cooked through and the yolk has reached
your desired level of done. Transfer the egg nest to a plate and garnish with parsley
or other fresh herbs, spring onion, salt, and pepper. (relaxing music) For another breakfast
idea and one that's simple but packed with deliciously spicy flavor, I'll slice up another spring
onion and some jalapeno pepper. I'll melt oil or bacon grease into a pan, swirl that around, and get two eggs ready. My approach when it comes to fried eggs is to cook them low and slow for that perfectly crispy bottom
and fully cooked white. And since it will take the eggs
about three minutes to cook, I'll toss on some pulled pork to warm up and a few slices of jalapeno.
Once the eggs are done, I'll
slide them onto a plate, garnish with spring
onion, salt, and pepper, and a few shakes of hot sauce for a breakfast that will
warm anyone up in the winter. (relaxing music) My pre-pealed and sliced oranges are just asking to be eaten in the fridge, so those always make
for the perfect snack. As I mentioned before, they are also great for
throwing into smoothies, and I've got a delicious almond orange smoothie recipe on my website.
For another healthy snack, my roasted beet hummus
is absolutely delicious. To be honest, I usually just scoop it up straight from the container. But if I want to get fancy,
I can place it in a bowl, give it a little swoosh, and
chop up some fresh parsley. But before garnishing it with the parsley, I've got frozen cubes of
my homemade basil pesto from a few months ago,
which you might remember. So I'll just thaw one of those cubes and add it to the beet hummus,
drizzle a little olive oil, and then sprinkle on the fresh parsley.
You can scoop the hummus up
with my ultimate seed crackers. Or if you wanted to make
this meal prep even easier, you could skip the seed crackers and just slice up some celery, as I showed you on my
first meal prep video. (relaxing music) Our next recipe takes a little longer than five minutes to whip up, but it's a great snack you'll love. And that's curly sweet potato fries. So preheat your oven to
425 degrees Fahrenheit, then add some sweet potato
noodles to a baking sheet.
Now, I usually prefer my curly fries made with the thicker
spiral slicing blade, but as I've made a bunch
of small noodles this week, that works as well. Drizzle a little olive oil or
avocado oil on the noodles, then generously season with paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mix the noodles all together with your hands until they're well coated and bake them for
approximately 20 minutes. While the noodles are cooking, I can whip up a quick garlic aioli, which is just a couple of tablespoons of my homemade mayo recipe,
one clove of garlic, some lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
When the fries come out of the oven, you'll see that they have shrunk down. And baked sweet potatoes noodles don't come out crispy like fried ones do. But I think they're tasty nonetheless. I'll add some curly fries
to a plate and dollop on my garlic aioli for a spicy
and warm snack to enjoy. (relaxing music) For lunch or dinner
you can whip up an easy pulled pork, cabbage, and arugula salad. Depending on your winter climate, you could make this a cold
salad or a warm salad. And I'm making it a cold salad today as the weather is quite
nice in Southern California. The full salad recipe is on my website, but I'm just going to
eyeball a single portion. So I'll add some pulled pork to a bowl along with sliced cabbage
and some grated carrot. For greens, I'll add a handful or so of arugula along with fresh cilantro and I'll sprinkle some sliced
almonds for a little crunch. For dressing, I'm going to add
my citrus lime vinaigrette. The flavors of the vinaigrette
really enhance this salad with the orange, lime, and cilantro.
And there is a spicy little
kick with the jalapeno. Give the salad a stir
and then serve it up. (relaxing music) For a warm salad that's
also a great meatless option but still hearty and filling, I'll make my warm sweet potato noodles, cabbage, and lentil salad. To make this, I'll heat a
little olive oil in a pan and toss in a few slices of onion. Again, I'm just eyeballing
a single portion, but the full salad
recipe is on my website. To the onion I'll add a good amount of Swiss chard as it will wilt down, and then saute those
together for a minute or so.
Then I'll add a handful
of sweet potato noodles, saute those for another minute or two until they have softened,
and add a handful of cabbage. Lastly I'll add some lentils. And because these are already cooked, I don't need to cook them, but
I do want them nice and warm. At this point I'll usually
turn off the stove and let my salad stay warm while I toast
a small amount of pine nuts.
Then I'll add the salad to
a mixing bowl along with the toasted pine nuts and some
freshly chopped herbs. I'm using a combination
of parsley and cilantro, but feel free to get
creative with the herbs. For dressing on this salad,
I'll add my Dijon vinaigrette and give everything a
stir before plating it up. (relaxing music) One of the great things about meal prep is that you can start to
combine your ingredients in ways that you hadn't
originally even thought of. And this meal is a
perfect example of that. I don't even have a recipe for this, as it came together on a
whim with my leftovers.
But I absolutely loved it, so
wanted to share it with you. Add a little olive oil to a pan along with one minced garlic clove. Toss in a generous handful of Swiss chard and saute that together until
the Swiss chard wilts down. Now this on its own is an
easy and simple side dish, but since I have lentils prepped, I'll add a couple spoonfuls
of those and warm them up. But let's not forget
about our beet hummus. Add a large spoonful of
that to a plate and give it a pretty swoosh like all
the fancy restaurants do. Then add the garlic sauteed Swiss chard and lentils and some pulled pork. I've heated up my pulled
pork in the microwave, but you could use the stove top as well. And for a little more flair and crunch, I'll finish it off with a few sprinkles of white and black sesame seeds. This meal couldn't be easier
and it's absolutely delicious. (relaxing music) Now you didn't forget about our
orange peel slices, did you? I've let these sit out over night. And I do recommend making
both the pulled pork and the orange slices the night before, as there's downtime with both of them.
Because the candied orange peel will still be tacky even after it's dried, I'll roll them around in a little sugar, then add them to a jar. On my website I also show how you can dip these in chocolate. But this week I'm keeping them plain. And the great thing about this candied orange peel is that one peel is usually enough to satisfy my sweet cravings. (relaxing music) I hope you enjoyed all of
those delicious recipes. And as I mentioned at the beginning, I created a downloadable PDF guide of this winter meal prep video for you. The PDF includes the storage guidelines of all of the ingredients as well as links to the full recipes on downshiftology.com. And hopefully that should make your life a little bit easier in the kitchen.
You can find the link the download the PDF in the description box below. But if you're already on my
email list from my website, then you will receive this PDF automatically in your email inbox today. If you enjoyed today's video and would like to see more
in this meal prep series, make sure to give it a thumbs
up, hit that Subscribe button, and let me know in the comments below. Alright, that's it for me today. I hope that you guys stay warm and I will see you
again in the next video..
