How To Batch Cook with Confidence- GAPS, Paleo, AIP
Healing your gut and acne naturally is an undertaking of itself, not to mention learning to take more time cooking your own food. Food is one of the most important factors to be intentional about and preparation is key for success. I know what it feels like to not have access to easily grab and go food when you need it so I’ve created this step by step batch cooking guide to help you get prepared and always have food for on the go.
These recipes are foundational nourishing recipes that can support you as you learn and introduce more whole foods. I like to emphasize more of the gut-healing nutrients like meat stocks, fermented foods, diversity of non-starchy vegetables, and animal fats which will help support your mood and brain too! These provide the nutrient density needed to support the healing process of the gut to reverse inflammation.
The undertaking of learning new recipes, eliminating favorite foods or staple foods, and taking more time than usual to shop and prepare your meals can feel like a marathon and might give you the impression that it is a once in a lifetime venture. But, what nutrition and lifestyle changes do is prepare you for sustainable nutrition and lifestyle habits that will keep you feeling healthy and strong, for the rest of your life.
Batch cooking is a great time-efficient method of being in the kitchen and getting in touch with your food. It is the best way to make sure you are prepared during a busy week with food that is already prepared so that when you are starving after a long day of work you don’t resort to ‘junk’ food. Here is how you can Batch cook on the weekend to prepare for your week.
1. Plan your Batch cooking time. You will need about 2-3 hours to prepare ready-made ingredients and recipes to use for the rest of the week.
Gather the ingredients:
1-2 Whole Organic Chickens
2 lbs Bison or Ground Turkey
Coconut Aminos
Cooking Fat: tallow, ghee, coconut oil, duck fat, or lard
2-4 Large bunches of Greens: spinach, dandelion greens, arugula, mustard, chard, beet greens, kale, collards, or broccoli rabe
2-3 Butternut and sweet potatoes
2-3 Large Beets
Several onions, carrots, delicata squash, or turnips
1-2 large rutabaga and 1 large celeriac
1-2 Cauliflower Heads or Broccoli
Assorted spices of choice
2. Start by Making Meat Stock Overnight in the Crockpot.
This staple food provides flavorful stock to cook soups, make mashed cauliflower, and get all the amino acids needed for gut healing. Plus, you will have pre-cooked chicken to throw in any salads, stir-frys, or even have as a snack when you are having a sugar craving.
Crockpot method:
Best to start a crockpot the night before your batch cooking day and slow cook overnight on low heat.
Add a medley of choice vegetables (onion, carrot, delicata squash, rutabaga, or turnips) to the crock pot just to cover the bottom.
Rub melted coconut oil or duck fat and dried herbs under the skin of the chicken for more crispy chicken.
Add the chicken to the crockpot. You can make a well with the vegetables so the chicken can fit.
Add filtered water to the crockpot to fill 3/4 of the way covering the chicken. Cook on low for 8-12 hours (overnight).
3. Next day, Make Liver Bison Meatballs
Blend ¼ cup of liver or heart (optional) in a blender or food processor with garlic salt and herbs (oregano, thyme, sage, onion powder).
Add a splash of coconut aminos. In a large bowl mix, 2 lbs ground meat with the liver mixture until well combined.
Roll into meatballs 1 ½ in diameter and bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees F.
4. Prepare your Greens
While the meatballs are baking, prepare greens for the week.
Wash, dry, and then pre-chop your choice of tender greens: spinach, dandelion greens, arugula, mustard, chard, and beet greens.
You can choose to steam these in a pot for only a few minutes, or store in the refrigerator raw for salads, stir-frys, or soups/smoothies.
For hardy greens, kale, collards, and broccoli rabe, rinse and chop then steam for 10 minutes or save raw for stir frys or soups.
5. Make Chicken Bone Broth
After roasting the chicken and making some meat stock overnight in the crockpot, pour out the broth into a large stock pot to use later for a batch of soup.
Then remove the meat from the bones and store in a glass container in the refrigerator for easy protein.
Remove the carcass and place bones in the crockpot.
Cover with filtered water and add 1 Tbs of apple cider vinegar (ACV), whole onion, carrots, and celery.
Cook on low for 12-24 hours. Strain bone broth and store in jars, use within 4-7 days.
6. Make a Large Batch of Soup with Meat Stock
Using the meat stock you made overnight in the crockpot, make a large batch of soup. You can do butternut squash soup, sweet potato soup, cauliflower, and mushroom soup, or broccoli and mushroom soup. Try a new soup recipe each week.
Chop the veggies and bring to boil in the meat stock.
Let simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Puree soup if needed.
Pour into glass jars for storage. You can freeze a few jars for later weeks after they have fully cooled.
7. Roasted Squash and Beets
After meatballs are finished roasting, increase the heat to 400 degrees F.
Throw 2-3 butternut squash whole on a baking sheet for 1 hour-1 ½ hours till a knife easily pierces. You can also choose to use 2-3 sweet potatoes. Just make sure to pierce the sweet potato with a knife before placing in the oven.
Then roll beets in parchment paper and foil to add to the baking sheet.
Bake for about 1 hour for the sweet potatoes and beets. Then turn off the oven and leave the squash, beets and sweet potatoes in the oven for 30 minutes.
After beets, squash, and/or sweet potatoes cool, peel and chop. You can make a beet salad with beets, olive oil, ACV, and grated ginger. Also, use the beets for salads or in smoothies.
8. Prep for Rutabaga and Celeriac Hash Browns
During the roasting of squash and beets, grate 1-2 large rutabaga and 1 large celeriac to store in a container in the refrigerator for fast frying in the morning or in other meals.
9. Mashed Cauliflower
Boil cauliflower in meat stock until tender, optional to add a mix of broccoli. It is more flavorful when you boil in broth, so try to use some of the juices from the roasted chicken.
Pour out broth and drink as a snack.
Blend the cauliflower and/or broccoli with coconut oil or duck fat and salt and fresh garlic.
AND YOU ARE DONE!
You by no means have to do ALL of these steps. These are foundational recipes that you can do all or some throughout the week. You might even want to do a new fresh recipe every once in a while. But this way, you will be able to make lunch bowls with greens and sweet potato and meatballs or chicken and easy soup dinners when you feel like you are too tired to cook.