If you follow my instagram feed (and you should), then you’ve seen my Fresh 20 posts. (Under the hashtags #thefresh20 and #growupandcook)
The Fresh 20
Really.
Before The Fresh 20 I made healthy-ish food but there was no variety and too often I would pop a frozen lasagna in the oven. Every night we had raw spinach salad with tomatoes, and the kids had ranch dressing. I would make chicken as a main dish and bake it with some sort of random spice. I had one recipe for tortilla soup (thanks Rachael), which I would make for guests, and then a few other recipes for tacos and enchiladas (thanks Aimee). We also went out to eat A LOT.
Then I got The Fresh 20 for a post about being a healthy family. I loved the premise (which I’ll explain in a sec) and the look of the book, but it just sat around for a few months before I finally decided to buckle down and start learning to cook.
The heart behind the book is simple – 20 fresh ingredients for a weeks worth of healthy dinners. (The 20 items you need for the week don’t include pantry staples like salt and olive oil.) And the recipes are divided up by what’s in season. So we can get fresh fruits and veggies at the farmers market, or for a bit cheaper at the store. There are 4 weeks of meals for each season in the cookbook or you can get an online subscription with so many more options. Many of the meals are gluten free, dairy free and/or vegan too!!
Yes Please.
One of the many things that had overwhelmed me about making dinner was picking 5 random recipes for each night of the week, then buying ALL the ingredients for each recipe. I was wasting so much food. We have saved a lot of money by sticking to the plan, and we have virtually no food waste (especially with our chickens eating all our scraps).
But the biggest selling point for me, is each week has a shopping list (of only 20 items).
Now some of you are very good at this meal planning thing, and can design plans that have lots of crossover ingredients. That isn’t my…um… gift.
I started in February.
I committed to try everything. No matter what.
Shrimp and grits? Sure!
Salmon and bok choy? Why not!
Mussels? Yep! (Eli’s new favorite food.)
You guys! I had only cooked about 7 recipes in my whole life, and now I’m making my own salad dressing and meatballs and verde sauce from scratch!
I just made The Fresh 20’s scalloped potatoes for a Memorial Day BBQ people asked me for the recipe.
This is crazy.
The Fresh 20 even featured our family on their blog. That’s crazy too! I’m not getting paid to write about The Fresh 20, but it has really changes our lives.
Really.
You can get the book on amazon for only $15!
UPDATE: A lot of people have asked me if the recipes are time consuming or complicated or too fancy for kids.
Here’s what I would say…
Time: I am a VERY slow cook and I have to read a recipe 20 times during the process. It’s actually pretty pathetic. Some of the recipes take me about 5-10 minutes longer than the suggested time. I usually look at that night’s recipe during nap time and do any required chopping early. Having a plan and all the ingredients a head of time has been a huge time saver for me in other ways – no last minute trips to the store or scrambling for what to make for dinner.
Complicated: The recipes are simple and straight forward.
Fancy: The author, Melissa Lanz, is cooking for her husband and two sons. So she is planning meals with her family in mind. Our family is a little extreme in the food area and our kids have to eat what we eat, no matter what, and without other options. We “always try new things.” And while there were a few things I won’t make again (artichokes and butternut squash soup), we ate them and it was good enough. I would say 95% of the meals were awesome for the whole family.
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rachael says
I can attest to the fact that you tell the truth — about it all — in this post. Loving the Fresh 20 in our house (except for maybe a couple things here and there) and it’s saving me time and money, too. I am trying GF (ugh) for a health reason (not “to be healthy”) and I’m thankful there are GF recipes already in the cookbook. And being lactose-intolerant, I’m happy to see the lactose-free options as well. The best part is cooking the same meal as my BFF 2500 miles away 😉 Love you guys. Love the Fresh 20.