MEAL PREP for SUMMER | light & fresh recipes + PDF guide
- Hey guys and welcome back to my channel.
If you're new, I'm Lisaand today I'm whipping up
a summer meal prep, asthese videos continue
to be highly requested.
Now, because it's summerand it's really hot outside,
especially here in Southern California,
I did my best to limitthe amount of cooking
in this meal prep.
There's only two ingredientsthat require any cooking
and the rest of theitems are light and fresh
and really straight forward.
So, that means less timein your kitchen cooking
and more time outside enjoying summer.
So, in today's video, I'llshow you how to meal prep
10 ingredients and give you a few ideas
for meals and recipesthat you can make quickly
throughout the week.
I've also thrown in alittle bonus dessert recipe
for you today because whenit's hot and it's summertime,
I think we could all usea sweet frozen treat.
Now, just as I did onthe last meal prep video,
I created a downloadable PDF guide
of this summer meal prep,so you don't have to worry
about taking any notes atall 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'vemeal prepped this week.
As usual, we'll start with the item
that takes the longestamount of time first
and for this meal prep,that's zucchini bread.
So, we'll grease a loafpan with coconut oil
and set our oven temperatureto 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Zucchini bread is theperfect summertime bread,
as zucchini is in abundanceand it's a great way
to sneak more veggies intoan otherwise very beige
food item.
Zucchini bread is also really moist
and, as you'll see later,it can be used in both
sweet and savory ways.
Grate one and a half cups of zucchini,
which is usually about one large zucchini.
Then use a nut milk bag or a kitchen towel
to squeeze out any excesswater from the zucchini.
As a tip, I always use mynut milk bag inside out,
so that the seams are on the outside.
This helps prevent foodparticles from getting stuck
in those seams.
So, you'll just squeeze out all the water
and then set this zucchini aside.
To get started with our dry ingredients
for this gluten free, paleofriendly zucchini bread,
we'll add one and a halfcups of almond flour,
a half a cup of tapiocaflour and a quarter cup
of coconut flour to a bowl.
To that, we'll add oneteaspoon of baking soda,
a tablespoon of cinnamon anda quarter teaspoon of salt
and then stir all of ourdry ingredients together.
In a separate bowl, we'llmix our wet ingredients,
which includes three eggs,a half a cup of applesauce,
two tablespoons of maplesyrup and a half a tablespoon
of apple cider vinegar.
Then we'll add our gratedzucchini and give it a stir
until everything is combined.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry
and stir everything togetheruntil you've got a batter.
Then pour that into your greased loaf pan
and cook for 50 to 60 minutesor until the top is golden
and a toothpick comes out clean.
(cheerful music)
Hard boiled eggs make for the perfect
single ingredient snack,but for this meal prep,
I've got a few new recipes up my sleeve.
If you watched my video on how to make
the perfect hard boiledand soft boiled eggs,
I'm sure you're an expertat making these by now.
But, for those who haven'tyet watched that video,
we'll start by bringinga pot of water to a boil.
Once the water isboiling, turn the heat off
just for a second and use a skimmer
to gently place the eggs in the hot water.
Turn the heat back up to high
and set a timer for 12 minutes.
While the eggs are cooking, wecan move onto our next item,
which is to peel andslice several bananas.
Line a plate or tray with parchment paper
and grab yourself some popsicle sticks
because we're gonna freeze the bananas
and create a sweet treat in just a bit.
Once your bananas are peeled,
slice several of them in half
and it's probably not wiseto slice them in your hand
as I'm doing.
Once you have three or fourbananas sliced in half,
insert the popsicle stickshalfway into the bananas
and place those in the freezerfor at least two hours.
For our remaining bananas,slice these into quarters
and place them in a storagecontainer or Stasher bag,
as we'll use these for smoothies.
I really love Stasherbags for sliced bananas,
as the bananas lay in one flat layer
and they don't stick tothe bag, as it's silicone,
which makes getting them out far easier.
If you'd like moreinformation on Stasher bags,
make sure to watch my mealprep containers video.
Alright, your hard boiledeggs should be almost done
at this point, soprepare an ice water bath
and then set that to the side.
Once the 12 minutes is up,remove the eggs from the pot
and let them fully cool in the ice water.
Like zucchini, cucumberis a cooling, refreshing
and hydrating veggie during the summer.
In my first meal prep video, I showed you
how to precut carrots andcelery and store those in water.
Well, good news, you can dothe same thing with cucumber
and snack on it throughout the week.
So, slice up one or two cucumbers
and then add those slices to a glass jar.
Fill your jar with cold,filtered water, close the lid
and then place it in the fridge.
If you have any leftover cucumber
that doesn't fit in the jar,just cover the end tightly
with plastic wrap and storethis in the fridge, as well.
Another ingredient thatjust screams summertime
is fresh strawberries.
And since my local markethad organic strawberries
on sale two for one this week,I, of course, grabbed two.
Strawberries are,unfortunately, at the very top
of the dirty dozen list,which measures the amount
of pesticide residue inproduce, so washing is key.
And studies have shown thatconventional strawberries
often times have residue of more than
10 different pesticides.
Now, I should also clarifythat organic strawberries
are not pesticide free.
In fact, organic producestill contain pesticides,
just not the synthetic pesticides found
on conventional strawberries.
So, think of organic as simplycontaining less pesticides
and being non-GMO.
To wash the strawberriesand remove dirt, debris
and bacteria, add them to a bowl of water
and let them soak for five minutes.
Then drain them and store ona paper towel lined container
with no lid for up to five days.
And if you'd like to knowwhy I no longer add vinegar
to my water, I'll have moreinfo on the full blog post.
If you're gluten free or looking for
a lower carb alternativefor sandwich bread and buns,
it really doesn't get muchbetter than fresh lettuce leaves.
I'm using green leaf lettuce today,
but you could also use redleaf lettuce, romaine lettuce
or several other varieties.
We'll wash the lettucesimilar to the strawberries,
so fill a big bowl with waterand remove each lettuce leaf
from the stalk.
Submerge it in the water,slosh it around to clean it
and let it sit for several minutes.
If you have a salad spinner,use that to dry the leaves
or blot the leaves dry witha kitchen or paper towel.
I'm usually not a fanof single use products,
like a salad spinner, butif you eat a lot of salads,
as I do, then it's definitelya very useful tool.
Once the lettuce is dry, add the leaves
to a paper towel lined storage container
and place it in the fridge.
At this point, our eggs shouldbe fully cooled, as well.
You can keep them in their shell
for up to a week in the fridge
or you can peel them ahead of time
and they'll last for up tothree days in the fridge
in a storage container.
It's totally up to you basedon your personal preference
and what you plan tomake throughout the week.
Next on our list is bell pepper
and I frequently add dicedbell pepper to salads
and egg scrambles during the summer.
So, slice the bell pepper in half
and use your middle three fingers
to easily remove the seeds.
Then dice the bell pepper,add it to a storage container
and place it in the fridge.
I haven't found any benefitswith adding paper towel
or water to the containerwith bell pepper,
so I just add it straight to one of my
Glasslock storage containers.
(upbeat music)
Meal prepping onions is oneof my favorite things to do
because it means I onlyhave to cry one time,
rather than several timesthroughout the week.
And, boy, do I have sensitive eyes.
I like to slice the red onioninto thin half moon slices
because that then gives me the option
to keep them like thisor quickly dice them
into smaller pieces throughout the week.
And that quick little dice is so fast
that it never gets my waterworks flowing.
Once the red onion is sliced,
add it to a storage containerand place it in the fridge.
Now, hopefully you haven't forgotten about
our zucchini bread becauseafter we've sliced and diced
all those veggies, itshould be fully cooked.
So, remove it from theoven and let it cool.
(cheerful music)
Last on our meal prep list are two
very flavorful dressings, and the first
is a champagne vinegarette.
It comes together really easily
and starts with finelydicing one small shallot.
Add that to a a bowl,along with two teaspoons
of Dijon mustard, thejuice from one lemon,
a teaspoon of honey, aquarter teaspoon of salt
and a quarter teaspoon of black pepper.
To that, we'll add one thirdcup of champagne vinegar
and whisk it together.
Then add one half cup of olive oil
and whisk continuouslywhile slowly pouring.
You'd like to emulsify the dressing a bit,
but odds are, it willseparate when you store it
and that's fine.
All you have to do is give it a good shake
before using and I'd recommend placing it
in a leak proof container, like a Weck jar
or a Le Parfait jarwith a silicone gasket.
The name of this dressingis a big giveaway
to one of the recipes we'll be making.
We'll start by mincing two garlic cloves
and adding one teaspoon of Dijon mustard,
the juice from one lemon, ahalf a teaspoon of oregano,
which is really the key spicein Greek salad dressing,
a quarter teaspoon salt, aquarter teaspoon black pepper
and one third cup of red wine vinegar.
Then whisk that togetheras we did previously
and slowly pour in ahalf a cup of olive oil
while continuously whisking.
Pour that into a storagecontainer and place it
in the fridge.
Our bananas should be quite frozen now
after about two hours, so placethem in a storage container
that's lined with parchmentpaper and if you stack them,
just make sure place parchmentpaper between the layers.
(cheerful music)
Alright, so now that you havethese 10 ingredients prepped,
let me give you a fewideas of what you can make
in just a few minutes by combining them
with ingredients in your fridge or pantry.
For breakfast, you can whip up
a very easy and freshstrawberry banana smoothie.
There's only fouringredients in this smoothie
and it can be made withdairy or dairy free.
To start, remove the stemsfrom the strawberries,
cut them in half and measureout about two cups worth.
Add those to your blender,along with one frozen banana,
which is four of ourchunks, a half a cup of milk
and a half a cup of yogurt.
Then blend it alltogether until it's creamy
and if you want to get fancy,
you can add a littlefresh strawberry garnish
to the top.
(upbeat music)
For another breakfast or snack,
we're gonna use ourzucchini bread as the base.
Of course, you couldpop your zucchini bread
in the toaster and add a pat of butter,
but I thought we'd geta little creative today
with both a sweet andsavory breakfast option.
(cheerful music)
For a sweet option, spread a little yogurt
on your zucchini bread and top that
with some sliced strawberries.
As usual, I have my homemadealmond butter in the fridge,
so I'm drizzling that ontop, but honey would be
a great option, as well.
For a little crunch,I'm adding cacao nibs,
but chopped nuts or chiaseeds would also be tasty.
For a savory option, addseveral avocado slices
and one of our hard boiled eggs.
Top that with chives or other herbs
and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
As you can see, thetoppings are really endless
and whether you opt for sweet or savory,
the good news is that you'realready getting a boost
of veggies in the bread.
For a snack throughout the day,
you can munch on your cucumber slices
or use them to scoop up homemade hummus.
But, I also have anotherdelicious idea for you
and that's smoked salmon,avocado and cucumber bites.
Remove a couple of cucumberslices from your jar,
lay them on a plate and make sure
you've got some WildAlaskan Smoked Salmon.
Smoked salmon is a greatway to add a protein boost
without any cooking and it has
that wonderful smokeysummertime flavor to it.
But first, we need to mashup half of an avocado.
You could scoop this outinto a bowl and mash it up
with a squirt of limejuice, but I have a habit
of mashing straight in the avocado skin
if I'm just doing it for myself.
Add a dollop of avocado to each cucumber
and place a piece of smoked salmon on top.
Chop up more fresh chivesand sprinkle those,
along with a little bitof cracked black pepper.
These bites are beyond tastyand will definitely tide over
any hunger pangs throughout the day.
(cheerful music)
For lunch or dinner, it'sreally easy to whip up
the veggie heavy Greek salad.
If you still have cucumberslices left throughout the week,
you can use those, but ifyou'd like to save those
for snacking, it's really easy
to slice up another cucumber, as well.
The full recipe for this Greek salad
with proper measurements is on my website,
but I'm just eyeballing a single portion
for myself today.
So, I'll dice up half a cucumber
and add that to a bowland slice up a handful
of grape tomatoes.
I'll also slice up a small handful
of pitted Kalamata olives and add those,
along with a portion ofour pre-chopped bell pepper
and red onion.
Our last ingredient is feta cheese,
which I love, and if you watchedmy zucchini fries recipe,
you know that I always buyfresh blocks of cheese,
rather than pre-gradedor pre-crumbled cheese,
as I'm not a fan of thoseanti-caking additives.
Then, all that's left todo is drizzle this salad
with our homemade Greek salad dressing,
give it a stir and enjoy.
(cheerful music)
for another lunch or dinner idea,
we're gonna spruce up atraditional egg salad recipe
and turn it into an avocado egg salad.
To do that, we'll take threeof our hard boiled eggs,
dice them up and add them to a bowl.
Then we'll peel and removethe pit from one avocado,
finely dice it and addthat to the bowl, as well.
The avocado will become plenty mashed
when we stir everything together,
so there's no need tomash it before adding it
to the bowl.
Next, we'll take some of our red onion
and you could leave these in half moons
if you like large piecesor you can quickly dice it
into smaller pieces, as well.
You can use a varietyof herbs in this recipe,
so feel free to use whateveryou may have in your garden,
but I'm adding choppedchives and fresh parsley
from my patio.
To that, we'll add twotablespoons of mayonnaise,
and I'm using my homemade mayo,one teaspoon of lemon juice
and salt and pepper.
Give it a quick stir andtry not to over stir it.
To serve the avocado egg salad,
pile it on top of ourpre-washed lettuce leaves
and garnish it with microgreens.
(cheerful music)
As you can see, I'm allabout the salad recipes
in the summertime, so forone more delicious salad,
we're gonna make a smoked salmon,avocado and arugula salad.
Again, the full recipefor this is on my website,
but to eyeball a single portion,
I'll add a handful of arugula to a bowl,
along with a small handful of microgreens.
Then I'll tear up my smokedsalmon into smaller pieces
and add that, alongwith half of an avocado.
To balance out the saltiness of the salmon
and the creaminess of the avocado,
we'll add a little naturalsweetness with a sliced pear.
Lastly, add a small handful of red onion
and then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
We'll top this salad withour champagne vinegarette,
and if it has separated,just give it a good shake
before adding a few teaspoonfuls.
I think you're really gonnalove the flavors in this salad
and it's certainly beenone of my favorites
for that last several weeks.
(cheerful music)
Alright, I promised I'dhave something sweet for you
on this summer meal prep, soto finish things off today,
we're gonna makechocolate covered bananas.
If you'd like any toppings on your bananas
like nuts, shreddedcoconut or dried fruit,
make sure to get thoseready ahead of time.
To get started, add abouteight ounces of chocolate chips
to a heatproof glassand melt the chocolate
either on a double boileror in 20 second increments
in the microwave.
Then take your frozen bananasand dip them in the chocolate.
You can cover them all the way,
though I found it's a little less messy
to just cover them about 80% of the way.
Let any excess chocolate drip off
and you'll notice that the chocolate
will start to harden quitequickly on the frozen bananas,
so be ready to sprinkle on your toppings.
I've found that holding the banana
while sprinkling thetoppings allows the chocolate
to harden around the banana.
If you place the bananaimmediately on parchment paper
and sprinkle without holding it,
you'll find your chocolatespreading out flat.
Today's toppings on these bananas
includes shredded coconut,freeze dried raspberries,
chopped pistachios, cacaonibs, chopped hazelnuts
and almond butter.
Chocolate covered bananasare the best summertime treat
and you can pre-make themfor the entire week, as well.
Just place them back in the freezer
in the storage containeronce they're coated
with your toppings.
(cheerful music)
I hope you enjoyed all ofthose delicious recipes
and as I mentioned at the beginning,
I created a downloadable PDF guide
of this summer meal prep for you.
It should hopefully make your life
a little bit easier in the kitchen,
as it contains all of thefood storage guidelines
and links to all of thefull recipes on my website,
downshiftology.com.
You can download this PDF guide
in the video description box below,
but if you're already on my list,
because you downloaded thespring meal prep guide,
you don't have to do anything,
you're automatically gonnareceive this summer meal prep
in an email from me today.
One of the benefits ofsubscribing to my website
is that you're always the first to know
when new recipes and videos go live.
If you liked this video andwould like to see more videos
in this meal prep series, makesure to give it a thumbs up,
hit that subscribe button and let me know
in the comments below.
And if you haven't yet watchedmy first meal prep video
or my spring meal prepvideo, I will link those
on the last screen.
Alright, that's it for me this week.
I will see you guysagain in the next video.
(cheerful music)
My summer meal prep is finally here! Create an endless supply of healthy meal prep recipes throughout the summer with this new meal prep plan. Today I’m showing you how to turn 10 ingredients into delicious smoothies, vibrant salads and satiating snacks. All of the meal prep ideas are light, fresh, hydrating and delicious! BONUS: Because of your amazing comments and feedback on my meal prep series I created a PDF guide of this summer meal prep plan. You can download it here: https://mailchi.mp/downshiftology/meal-prep PS - As a reminder, all healthy recipes and meal prep on my channel and website are always gluten-free. For the FULL blog post and recipe links: https://bit.ly/2nR9oZi Thanks for watching! Make sure to subscribe for more videos: http://bit.ly/2afhftX PRODUCTS MENTIONED: Glasslock Containers: http://amzn.to/2EGyVzf Weck Jars: https://amzn.to/2L74Jvk Nut Milk Bag: https://amzn.to/2vXAYs1 Skimmer: http://amzn.to/2BIXKIb Salad Spinner: https://amzn.to/2nONzJK Natural Paper Towels: http://amzn.to/2EPNboD Crate and Barrel Bowls and Plates: http://bit.ly/2EJ9rRR VIDEOS MENTIONED Meal Prep Ideas (Meal Prep #1): https://youtu.be/vmdITEguAnE Meal Prep for Spring (Meal Prep #2): https://youtu.be/txWA3vJs59U Meal Prep Storage Containers: https://youtu.be/3OOqn1P1cwY Hard Boiled Eggs: https://youtu.be/gNoOMVnb0Tw Homemade Mayonnaise: https://youtu.be/NYRlBWgLbKU ALWAYS IN MY KITCHEN: Counter Stools: http://bit.ly/2tUNvZG Vitamix: https://amzn.to/2NjFp75 Tea Kettle: http://amzn.to/2uuNSMp Utensil Holder: http://bit.ly/2tVfGaH Flour Jars: http://bit.ly/2tV6C5y Knife Set: http://bit.ly/2tUGzMa Cutting Board: http://bit.ly/2tFsF53 Glass Mixing Bowls: https://amzn.to/2L2hx6O The music I use: https://bit.ly/2Ms5nF2 - Great music for YouTubers! WHAT I'M WEARING: Madewell Muscle Tank: http://bit.ly/2L3IXbL White Shorts: http://bit.ly/2tmO7Yl Linen Apron: http://bit.ly/2twA32E WEBSITE: https://www.downshiftology.com INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/downshiftology FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/downshiftology PINTEREST: http://pinterest.com/downshiftology Disclaimer: product links may include affiliate links.