My husband and I just started the mediterranean diet. I recently found out I had some vitamin deficiencies and LDL is a little elevated. I’ve always been intimidated by cooking solely with fresh ingredients (in the past when I’ve tried to do this I get burnt out by cooking pretty quickly and fall back into making more convenient/more unhealthy meals). The pics are the meals we have made this week. So far I’m sticking mostly to recipes from The Mediterranean Dish and bought a couple of cookbooks as well. What do you guys recommend to help maintain the diet and not get overwhelmed with the cooking aspect? There is lots of chopping involved here lol, so at least I get to improve my knife skills. Also, how are you guys storing all of these fresh ingredients so they don’t go bad before you can use it all?! Appreciate any ideas and advice! 😊
by loopylucylou
9 Comments
Make large batches so you just have to heat things up throughout the week.
Pre-chop veggies so that you don’t have to chop them every time you want them.
Have simple meals like oatmeal, sardines on toast… At this moment I’m eating cottage cheese topped with All Bran, almonds, and a rhubarb strawberry sauce I made yesterday. It doesn’t have to be perfect all the time.
Crack open a can of beans, and fry up with veggies, meat, grain whatever you have. Blindly throw spices in. I never follow recipes and this is part of the reason I think I don’t burn out.
Looks great and delicious 🤤
I use a food sealer to store my veggies and spices from my garden. Sometimes I wash dry and chop. Other times I wash,dry and store bunches to use for the week. I hope you enjoy your new lifestyle and have health benefits too 👍👏
Someone in this thread mentioned the Mediterranean Dish site to me! I’m loving it. I haven’t had the courage to make something yet…but looking at your image, that looks amazing. I just need to get over the fear of purchasing different ingredients and cooking new things. lol
the cooking will feel easier as time goes on and you do it more! one thing that i think helps is finding a way to make the activity of cooking more meditative or enjoyable. You and your husband could cook together for quality time, or you could listen and dance to music while you do it!
I learned about the Budget Bytes website in college and I still use it even though I’m out of college. She uses a lot of pantry ingredients which help reduce the amount of prep I’m doing all the time. She also has a section “quick meals” that is so helpful to balance out the more time intensive chopping dinners. Not everything is strictly Mediterranean diet but a lot are (I make her quick white bean soup all the time) and I think a lot could be adapted easily, like brown rice or quinoa instead of white rice
The salad in number one!
Everything looks really yummy
This all looks so good! I do lots of the chopping at one time and then store the ingredients until I need them.