“Can You Meal Prep While Eating Intuitively?” + Masoor Dal Recipe
Alright, let’s tackle this! I hear this from clients pretty often, and frankly, it’s a good question. It stems from the fact that diet culture has seemingly coopted “meal prep” and “meal planning” as a tactic for weight loss and controlling one’s body. The idea behind the diet culture version of this is highly disordered. It’s about pre-measuring and planning foods in order to make sure they fit neatly into this idea of the “perfect diet” (which, and I will die on this hill, is NOT a thing).
And thus, in the diet culture vernacular, “meal prep” is now synonymous with “pre-planned restriction” — a way to remove decision-making and keep yourself on said “plan”, so as to not actually tap into your intuitive eating brain, and instead stay in blind obedience to your diet.
So the question is, does diet culture own this method of cooking and strategy for food-related time-management? Absolutely 100% no.
Preparing food in advance, such as cooking up a big pot of this Masoor Dal (recipe below!) on a Sunday afternoon, can be a wise way to feed your family, save time during the week, or even be financially conscious.
[Personal note: I am not a “meal prepper”. I prefer to cook during the week, but I have carved out time to do this, AND I also am a very efficient cook after years of practice. I do, however, have a few things that I’ll often cook up on a Sunday, and I’ll tell you more about that in a few.]
Okay, back to the meal prep conundrum. The trick is melding this time-saving technique with eating intuitively, without restriction, and with the flexibility to meet your ever-changing energy needs throughout the day and week. So how do we do that?
Well, here are a few tips:
Make dishes that can be transformed into many different meals depending on your mood.
For example: My curried chicken can be served over buttered white rice one night, turned into a burrito with beans & avocado the next, thrown into a quiche, or topped on a pizza later in the week.
Don’t be afraid to freeze things if they’re no longer appealing to you.
So, let’s say you made a big chili. After eating it one night, you end up wanting to cook something else, but are concerned about the leftovers and not wasting the food. Throw it in the freezer! You will absolutely thank yourself on night a few weeks or months from now when you remember you have that on hand to defrost.
Cook without food rules. Include all foods in your cooking without demonization.
If you start restricting things like carbohydrates, gluten, sugars, etc…take a step back and assess your relationship with food. Cooking things in advance is not about restriction, it’s about making your very-busy-life easier.
When in doubt, just make a big pot of grains, a batch of cookies, and a delicious dressing in advance. These are my go-tos!
Having cooked rice (or any grain) on-hand is a life-saver. I am constantly using it to make fried rice, serving it with meatballs, or mixing it with egg and flour to create a flatbread that you can pan-fry (this is DELICIOUS).
The dressing can be something like pesto, ranch, curry, a honey mustard vinaigrette…whatever strikes your fancy! It’s just great to have a few of these in the fridge, because they instantly transform meals.
Finally, keep an open mind. Pivot when you need to. Notice if your mindset is shifting from convenience and pleasure to restriction and over-planning. Only you can know the difference.
With that said, here is my recipe for Masoor Dal. It’s a favorite of mine, and I think you’ll love it too. I will often use its leftovers make lentil burgers out of, serve with rice and scrambled eggs, or add into a big steak burrito later in the week.
Abbie’s Masoor Dal
Ingredients:
2 cups dry red lentils
4-5 cups broth or water (you can always add extra later, so start with less, it’s best thick!)
1.5 cups chopped fresh tomatoes or 1 can diced tomatoes
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 billion 🙃 garlic cloves, minced
6 tbsp ghee or olive oil
1 tbs cumin seeds
1 tbs mustard seeds
1 tbs ginger, minced or paste
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp coriander
2 tsp salt or to taste
1 bunch cilantro
1/2 lemon
Directions:
Add oil, onion, and garlic to a pan. Fry until softened. Then add ALL the spices — seeds and ground, plus the ginger. Stir into a paste.
Pour in the tomatoes, lentils, and water. Bring to a simmer and then cover until the lentils are fully cooked.
Puree half of the lentils, leave the rest whole. Add in plenty of lime juice and cilantro. Serve over white rice!