Hey guys and welcome back. I’ve got my long awaited winter meal prep video for you and it is packed with ideas to keep you nourished over these cold winter months. If you’re new to my channel, this is the fourth meal prep video in a series. So make sure to go back and watch the others to learn more about my approach to meal prep, which is prepping individual ingredients for easy mix and match meals throughout the week. In today’s video I’ll show you how to meal prep 10 ingredients and give you a few ideas for warm winter meals that you can quickly whip up.
But with the creativity in this community, I’m sure that you guys will combine these ingredients in even more delicious ways. And when you do, make sure to tag me on Instagram so I can see it. Now just as I’ve done on my previous meal prep videos, I’ve created a downloadable PDF guide of this winter meal prep so that you don’t have to worry about taking any notes 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’ve meal prepped this week. As usual, I’ll start with the ingredient that takes the longest. And today that’s slow cooker pulled pork. I love using my slow cooker in the winter for easy meals and this pulled pork is so incredibly flavorful. You’re gonna love it. I’m starting this recipe early in the morning just because it’s hard to film in my kitchen when its dark at night. But I do recommend you make this recipe the night before.
Your slow cooker can work its magic while you’re sleeping and you can wake up to lovely pulled pork. I’ll start by dicing up one whole onion and then add that to my slow cooker along with four garlic cloves and the juice from one orange. The orange not only adds sweetness to the pulled pork, but it’s what helps to make it so fall apart tender. When you grab pork from the market, make sure to grab a boneless pork shoulder, which is sometimes also called a pork butt or a Boston butt. In terms of size, you want four and a half to five pounds.
Though my two pieces add up to almost five and a half pounds. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed
that it fits in my slow cooker. Your pork should be well-marbled for that extra boost of flavor, but you don’t want too much fat on the edges. So if I see a little too much fat, I’ll just trim that off. Next I’ll make my pork rub, which is a combination of two tablespoons of paprika, one teaspoon of oregano, one teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of black pepper, and a half a teaspoon of cumin. Sprinkle this rub very generously over all sides of your pork and rub it in good with your hands. Place the pork into your slow cooker. And thank goodness mine fits, just barely. Then add the lid. I’m going to move mine out of the way, then turn it on low for eight hours. And you really do want to cook it low and slow as the meat will be so much more tender and flavorful than if you cooked it on high for four hours. For a delicious and healthy snack, I’m going to make some roasted beet hummus this week. I'll preheat my oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and give my beets a good wash using that vegetable scrubber I showed you last week. There’s no need to peel the beets with this recipe, and that’s always a bonus. Whenever I work with beets, I always lay down parchment paper underneath so I don’t have to worry about staining my cutting board. Slice off the stems, leaving about two inches attached, and leave the tails on as well.
The green beet leaves are also great and packed with nutrients, so don’t throw those away. Just add them to your next salad or green smoothie. I used to cook my beets wrapped in aluminum foil,
but as I’ve tried to get away from using aluminum foil, I now roast them in a cast iron pot. Because my pot is a very white Le Creuset pot that I don’t want to ruin, I’m lining it with parchment paper. But if you have a black cast iron pot or a glass baking dish, you could skip this step. Add the beets to your pot,
drizzle a little olive oil or avocado oil on top, and make sure they’re fully coated. Then add the lid and cook them for about 50 to 60 minutes.
While the beets are cooking, I’ll move onto my oranges. Oranges are in abundance during winter and I’m gonna enjoy the entire fruit this week, peel and all. Now I purchase all organic produce because it’s important to me. But if you sometimes do and sometimes don’t, I’ll definitely recommend prioritizing organic when you’re eating the outside peel or skin. Once the oranges are washed, I’ll take a small knife and cut off the top and bottom, trying not to cut into the flesh. Then I’ll score the orange from top to bottom four times, essentially dividing the peel into quarters, and slide my fingers under the peel to gently remove it. Slice each peel into quarter inch wide strips and then add them to a pot.
Because orange peel and especially that white pith can be bitter, well remove some of that bitterness
by boiling the orange peel in water. While I’m waiting on the water to boil, I'll slice up my orange flesh
and add it to a storage container. I’ve now got an easy no fuss snack for the next few days or I can easily throw these oranges into smoothies. So, back to our orange peel. Once the water is boiling, drain it over a colander. Then fill the pot back up with water and repeat the same process one more time.
I know it seems a bit tedious, but it really does help to remove some of that bitterness. After you’ve drained it a second time, we’ll be more measured and add two cups of water and one cup of sugar.
This is essentially a thin simple syrup and you can also use any sugar you’d like. I’m using organic cane sugar, but you could also use coconut sugar, maple syrup, monk fruit, other low carb sugars,
or whichever sugar is your preference. Stir the sugar and water together, bring it to a simmer, and set your timer for 30 minutes.
At this point our roasted beets should be done, so remove those from the oven. Use tongs to carefully transfer them to a cutting board. And you’ll notice I’m using parchment paper again to keep my cutting board clean because I’m all about making my life easier in the kitchen. Slice off the stem and tail on each beet. And for this recipe, I’ll only need two beets. So I’ll save that third one to pop in a smoothie
or top on a salad throughout the week. And one last bonus point for parchment paper. Look at how clean it kept the inside of my pot. If you’ve watched my hummus video, you know how easy it is to make creamy and smooth homemade hummus in your Vitamin.
I’ll add two cans of chickpeas to my blender along with one third cup of Aquafina, which is the liquid from the chickpea cans. To this Ill add a half a cup of tahini, a quarter cup of olive oil, the juice from one lemon, one or two garlic cloves, a half a teaspoon of salt, and two of my roasted beets. I'll add the lid to my blender, get my tamper ready, and turn it on. And within seconds, my regular hummus turns the most beautiful and vibrant shade of pink thanks to those lovely beets. Once it’s done blending, I’ll use my under blade scraper to get it all out, transfer it to a storage container, and place it in the fridge.
My orange peel should be just about done.
And you’ll notice that most of the simple syrup has evaporated. Lay down a piece of parchment paper on your countertop and place a cooling rack on top. Then use tongs to remove the orange peel slices and lay them on the cooling rack. These need to dry at least eight hours, though I prefer to let them sit overnight. So well come back to these a little bit later. In the meantime, I’ll make my ultimate seed crackers, which is a boosted version of flaxseed crackers and only takes a handful of ingredients.
That includes one cup of ground flaxseed, one third cup of sesame seeds, a quarter cup of chia seeds,
and a half a cup of pumpkin seeds, which are also known as pepitas.
Now because pepitas are big and whole, well need to grind them up. And the easiest way to do that is in a food processor. If you have a mini food processor like this one, it’s perfect for the job. Just add the pepitas and pulse a few times or until the texture resembles course sand.
Add the ground pepitas back to the bowl with the other seeds along with one teaspoon of salt and one and a quarter cups of water and give it a stir. The mixture will be really liquidly at the beginning. But as soon as the chia seeds start absorbing water in that first minute, it will thicken up. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, which is a low temperature. But that’s because our goal is to dehydrate
the crackers and make them crunchy. Lay out a piece of parchment paper on your countertop and scoop half of the mixture into the middle.
Add another piece of parchment paper on top, squish it down a bit, then use a rolling pin to flatten it out. You want the dough to be about a quarter inch thick or slightly thinner. Remove the top piece of parchment paper and use a knife to score the dough. You can make squares or diamonds or whatever shape you’d like.
And this just makes it easier to break the crackers up once they’ve cooked and cooled. Carefully transfer this to a baking sheet and repeat the same process with the other half of dough. And then bake them for two and a half to three hours. I’ve really come to love lentils over the last few years. And while they’re generally easy to cook, I do have a few tips. Add one cup of lentils to a strainer and give them a rinse. But while you’re doing this, make sure to remove any bad lentils or small stones,
which can sometimes sneak in.
Pour them into a pot and add four cups of water. While lentils do expand like rice, you don’t want them mushing together. So more water is necessary.
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