Warming winter meals can often be associated with more time and effort, because lets face it, quick options like salads, smoothies and cereal appeal less!
This means, meal prep can be a saving grace over winter to help you eat well without much effort. As an added bonus, meals we typically eat over winter also freeze well.
To help you find winter cooking less of a chore, here I am sharing some cooking hacks to simplify winter cooking:
Breakfast
- Stewed fruit or fruit compote – add your favourite fruit, water, spices and honey to a pot and simmer until fruit has broken down. Once cool, store in the fridge for up to 3 days or store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Tip: freeze in large ice cubes as single portions, tip into a small pot or put in the microwave to defrost, use to top porridge.
- Home made baked beans – a yummy and healthy warming breakfast. Make a batch and freeze in individual portions, serve on toast or with eggs.
- Batch made porridge – cook a large batch of porridge as per usual, on the stove or in the microwave. Once cooled to room temperature, spoon porridge into single portion containers/jars, seal and place in the fridge. When ready to consume, pop container in the microwave (if safe) or pour contents into the saucepan to warm up. Top with toppings of choice.
Lunch/Dinner
- Soup – when roasting veggies, cook extra, freeze and to make a simple soup, defrost veggies > sauté an onion + ginger + garlic in a saucepan > add veggies + stock + coconut milk (or tahini) + fresh herbs > warm through > blend to desired consistency.
- Curry paste – turn leftover chilli’s, herbs and spices into a paste and freeze in ice cubes for an instant meal flavour enhancer
- Pesto – make a batch of pesto, freeze in ice cubes and use to top pasta, roasted veggies or roasted meats.
- Spices – blend until leftover herbs, spices such as ginger and garlic with a little bit of olive oil or coconut oil and freeze in ice cubes, add these to coconut milk or passata to make a simple yet yummy sauce.
- Pasta sauce – roast extra veggies, add to a blender with canned tomatoes, herbs and spices to create an express homemade pasta sauce.
Snacks
- Muffins and cakes – freeze and warm up in the microwave, oven or in an air-fryer and serve with a dollop of yoghurt for a yummy treat.
- Soup – freeze soup in cup sized portions and reheat for a warming snack.
- Warming drinks – if you make your own golden milk or hot chocolates with spices, mix up a batch and portion into small containers so you can easily take to work.
