Meal Prep: Step Two - Dovetailing
I First heard the term "dovetail" in 7th grade shop class. We had to make a jewelry box with different colors of wood and learn about joins. Our shop teacher went on to explain that to "dovetail" is to fit or cause to fit together easily and conveniently. My organized over thinking mind grasped onto that concept and has made it a part of my life ever since.
Day of errands? Make a list and map it out to be most efficient.
House chores? Make a list and fit the tasks to use the least effort for the best result.
Need to cook 30 meals in one go? Make a - WAIT - That's impossible!
This one took me a while to figure out. Over trial and error after Not-Always-Pretty error, I figured out that the best way to "dovetail" my cooking experience was to look for like items and do them all at once. This epiphany came to me, as most do, while doing my least favorite cooking chore of all time - dicing onions. I hate it. No, really. I will offer my children money to do it. On this particular prep day. I was making 4 dishes that use diced onion. Sounds pretty obvious doesn't it? Just dice all the onions first and it will be done! Thus, out of the most "DUH!" moments of my adult life, a new dovetailed system was born.
Welcome to STEP 2: Pre-Prep!
At this point in this little journey, you have a fantastic, personalized, color coded, beautiful little bundle of joy otherwise known as the Meal Planner (or an online equivalent!) that includes 30 delicious recipes hand picked by you. (If you don't, no sweat! Hop back to Step One and you can get all caught up. If you already have a huge collection of recipes - great! It is still worth a read as it will get you ready for planning too! **If you are following the MasterClass recipe list, your recipes will be posted directly following this post - Link to follow!) The next thing we want to do is break those recipes down into our initial Prep Steps.
As mentioned above, we want to look for recipes that use like items and make a list of what we need to chop, dice, slice, fry or bake prior to getting started. Don't limit yourself to just the veggies either! There are a few staple items in our house that I like to get completed the first day as I will be using them in many of the other dishes. I usually make a batch of paleo mayo, cook a huge mountain of heaven on earth - otherwise known as bacon, cook some paleo sausages and tortillas, and hard boil some eggs. Think about having cut fruit for snacks, guacamole to devour, portioned out baggies of trail mix or other snacks - and anything else that will make it easier to make the right choice when you are staring into the abyss of the refrigerator light at 3 in the afternoon on Wednesday and being convinced that a slice of American Cheese and the last of the apple pie would be an acceptable lunch. (not that that ever happens to me)*
*it happens a lot
Now, please note that if you are doing your pre-prep the day before the big cooking day, you will have to make sure you can fit all of the prepped food in the fridge overnight. Ziplock baggies abound in our refrigerator while I am in prep mode. If you are going for an all day marathon (May the odds be in your favor) just make sure to have them organized, maybe even labeled, and out of the way.
If you are working with your own 30 recipes, you can use this awesome template for figuring out your pre-prep needs. Just enter the names of your recipes along the top and your ingredients along the left side. You can then mark how many of each you need and will remember what it is for as you go. If you are working on the recipes I will be providing, continue to the next paragraph!
Here are a few pre-prep recipes to get us started!
Primal Palate Sausages was the FIRST paleo recipe I ever tried during my first foray into Whole 30. My family loves them and they are Whole 3O compliant! I couldn't make them fast enough!
It's easy. It's quick. And when it emulsifies into creamy goodness, you feel like the master of the universe. Great as a base for so many great sauces, it will be used also for our Paleo Deviled Eggs. Thank you to Whole 30 for making it so easy!
If you are doing full paleo or Whole 30, you will need these Paleo Cupboard tortillas for the quesadillas. If you are going for clean eating, 80/20, or don't mind the flour - feel free to skip this one and use regular tortillas!
Now time to get that chopping board out and get this part OVER WITH. Seriously, Who enjoys this part?. For the recipes I will be providing, we will need to dice, chop and grate the following:
CARROTS:
Cubed - 6
Shredded - 2
ZUCCHINI:
Shredded - 2
ONIONS:
Diced - 12
Thinly Sliced - 3
CELERY:
Diced - 2 stalks plus one cup
BELL PEPPER:
Diced - 10
Strips - 3
MUSHROOM:
Sliced - 2 cups
GARLIC:
Minced - 28 cloves
SWEET POTATO:
Grated - 2 large
Cubed - 1 large
APPLES:
Peeled and cubed - 6
BACON:
Cook 2 or 3 packages based on your family size
A quick note: If you have a trader Joe's near you, you can buy pre diced onion, pre "riced" cauliflower, and many other chopped or diced vegetables including Mire Poix (carrot, Onion, and Celery) which is great in the Shepherd's pie! The cost is higher, but in a lot of ways - can be worth it's weight in gold!
CHEAT SHEET: If you are completely new to all this cooking nonsense - here is a GREAT little walkthrough for cutting onions evenly without losing a finger. Enjoy!
ONTO STEP THREE - Coming soon!