336: Hate WFPB Batch Cooking? Escape Meal Prep Dread

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Are you feeling trapped by health struggles – constant fatigue, the aches and pains, perhaps even a frustrating diagnosis or two – and desperately searching for a way out? You've heard Whole Food Plant-Based (WFPB) eating could be the answer...the path to finally feeling good again. But then reality hits: the daunting images of complicated meal prep, the dread of sacrificing entire days to batch cooking... It feels like trading one kind of exhaustion for another, right? What if escaping the pain of poor health doesn't need to require that kind of sacrifice?

If you're tired of feeling held back by your body and overwhelmed by the thought of adding even more complex tasks to your life, this episode is the lifeline you need.

Get ready, because today, Jarrod and Anita are debunking the myth that WFPB success demands hours in the kitchen. They're sharing the one simple strategy that bypasses the overwhelm entirely. Get ready to escape the massive meal prep sessions and step into the small, simple pre-prep secrets that make healthy eating the easy choice, freeing you from decision fatigue and kitchen burnout.

Imagine finally breaking free from:

• The exhaustion of both poor health and overwhelming meal prep.
• The cycle of starting WFPB only to be derailed by complexity.
• Feeling like delicious, healthy food is too time-consuming or difficult.

This episode delivers the practical solution. Discover:

• How to make healthy vegan grab-and-go options that you actually enjoy (it's easier than you think!).
• The 15-minute veggie prep trick that eliminates weeknight dinner stress.
• Unlocking incredible flavor with ONE versatile plant-based dressing or sauce (plus where to find the doable WFPB recipes that keep you from feeling deprived!).

Stop letting the fear of meal prep keep you stuck in the low energy and inability to fully live that you want to escape. If you need the healthy lifestyle solution that delivers real, lasting results without demanding your entire weekend, this is the plant-based podcast episode you've been waiting for.

Hit play and discover the simple, enjoyable key to reclaiming your health and energy through natural WFPB living.

💃🏻 Ready to learn how to actually enjoy eating whole plant foods so you can finally feel great and fully experience life? Inside Accelerator, we'll take you by the hand & walk you step-by-step through our proven 5-Step WFPB Framework so you can heal naturally & actively live your God-given dreams. Join the Waitlist Here... the Doors are Opening Soon!

🎁 Not yet a member of our FREE plant-based community, PIE? Once you're on the inside, every single podcast episode becomes searchable for you. 😲 Join the family to gain the plant-based encouragement, real health-changing ideas, and sustainable plant-based inspiration you've been praying for! 💕

🥣 Grab our Cookbook Bundles (and snag the incredible Bonuses today) to learn the simple way to make whole food plant-based eating quick, enjoyable, and sustainable.

🤔 Wondering what's in our new Thrive Cookbook? Click here for the inside scoop!

Please subscribe & give the show a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or other podcast providers. And don’t forget to share it with a friend for inspiration!

Episode Transcript

Anita (00:03):
Well, hello sunshine.
Today, we're going to besharing one simple strategy with
you that is going to help youstay consistent on your whole
food plant-based eating journey,because here's what we know
there's a real struggle thatmany face on this journey, and
it's falling off the whole foodplant-based wagon.

(00:23):
Now, there are several reasonsfor this, but one of them is the
lack of preparation, and sotoday, jared and I are sharing
the simple, actionable tips thatwill help you stay on track
without the need for anyexhausting batch cooking
sessions, which we all know canget way too overwhelming.

(00:43):
Are you ready?
Then let's get to it.
Hey sister, welcome to thePower on Plants podcast.
Are you tired of staring intothe fridge wondering what to eat
so you can just feel better?
Do you want to avoid spendinghours in the kitchen making
complicated meals in the name ofhealth?
Would you love to leave fatiguebehind and finally have the

(01:05):
energy to do all the things youwant to do?
Hi, we're Jared and AnitaRoussel, christ followers,
healthcare professionals,parents of four and big fans of
great tasting food.
We, too, tried exercising more,eating natural and clean foods,
but we still found ourselvesstruggling with what we thought
were changes that come with ageor bad genes, and we weren't

(01:25):
finding answers the traditionalroute.
So we dug into the research andcreated our secret nutritional
weapon sustainable plant-basedliving.
The truth is, you can eat morewhole plant foods and it's not
hard.
You just need the way that'srealistic and delicious so you
never feel deprived.
If you're ready to enjoy yourmeals, no longer be held back by

(01:47):
your health struggles andactively live your life, then
you're in the right place.
So grab your favoriteplant-based cup of happy pop in
those earbuds and let's getstarted.
Well, hello, friend, andwelcome back to the Power on
Plants podcast.
If this is your first time withus, we are so happy to have you
joining us to be a part of thePower on Plants podcast.
If this is your first time withus, we are so happy to have you
joining us to be a part of thePower on Plants family.

(02:09):
Jared and I are completelypassionate about living whole
food, plant-based, and todayyou'll be getting a big glimpse
inside of why that is.
But I want to talk aboutsomething that I mentioned in
the intro.
If you didn't hear the intro,you need to, because it tells
you where we're going today.
Do you remember those batchcooking sessions when you got
together with friends at thisplace I think sometimes you even

(02:32):
had to have a reservation to gothere and you'd all gather
together and you'd spend anentire day cooking freezer meals
.
Now, supposedly the freezermeals would last you a month.
I never found that it actuallylasted me a month, but I can
tell you it was exhausting.
They tried to get you allpumped up, tell you how fun it
was going to be, but really itwas so exhausting and you've got

(02:55):
to wrap your mind around thefact of what you were doing.
Even thinking about that givesme nightmares, and here's why.
Who wants to spend their entireday off cooking and meal
prepping?
That's just not enjoyable.
Wouldn't you rather be outspending time with your family
and friends or helping someonein need?
Yeah, I know I would, jared,you would have loved those.

(03:16):
You should have been a part ofthose.

Jarrod (03:18):
Yeah, that's right up your alley.
I'm over here thinking on thesurface it sounds like that
could be a good idea.
Hang out with some of yourgirlfriends and I'm thinking
from the perspective of a womanHanging out with your
girlfriends cooking, talking andall that.

Anita (03:31):
What you don't think.
Guys actually took advantage ofthis.
Well, they may have.
They may have, but it'sprobably not as likely.

Jarrod (03:37):
I'm just thinking in general, it seems like it could
be a good idea until it's not,because you have to plan ahead
Now.
Would they do the batchprepping for 30 days, or was it
typically more for a week at atime?

Anita (03:52):
Oh no, I'm pretty sure it was monthly, From the one that
I'm remembering.
I don't remember the name of it.
I'm sure some of you probablyactually remember the name of it
.
You might even be screaming itat your phone right now, but it
was just so painful I tried towipe it from my memory.

Jarrod (04:06):
Once a month wouldn't be that bad, I'm thinking once a
week.
You'd have to be veryregimented to do that.

Anita (04:13):
Okay, now I have to argue with you there because we think
and we say to ourselvessomething like once a month
wouldn't be too bad.
But I want you to think aboutthat.
Once a month wouldn't be toobad.
That's 12 days out of your yearthat you have totally lost to
the kitchen.
Now I enjoy cooking from timeto time, don't get me wrong but
I don't want to live my life inthe kitchen.

Jarrod (04:34):
Well, you don't have to when you know a better way.
But I'm thinking if you'repreparing foods in mass like
that, one day a month is not asbad.
I'm not saying it's great, I'mjust saying it's not as bad as
one day a week, because that'smore of what I think of with
batch cooking and preparingahead of time, and you have to
plan that one day a week and youhave to be consistent with it.

Anita (04:57):
Okay, you're still giving me nightmares, and I'm going to
tell you why.
Because have you ever seen meget in the kitchen for a whole
day, one day a week, to do that?
So we're not talking about afull day to get your whole
week's meals done.
You can do that if it works foryou, but I'm just telling you
nine out of 10 of us that'sprobably not going to work for
and that's not what we see workfor our clients.

(05:17):
I know it doesn't work for meBecause still now you're talking
four days a month that I've gotto get in there and do a bunch
of batch prepping.
That's exhausting to me.
The key here is gettingyourself set up in a way that's
enjoyable for you.
So what we're going to talkabout today is going to change

(05:38):
things where you don't have togive up that one full day a
month or four full days a month.
When you're doing it one day aweek, it's not about a full day
cooking session.
That's what I want you to wrapyour mind around.
We've got to escape these ideasof well if I really want to set
myself up.
This is going to take a wholelot of work, and so we see that
and we think that and we hear ohwell, this must be it, this is

(05:58):
probably gonna work, becausethat's going to take a whole lot
of work.
No, you've got to learn theways to make this enjoyable and
exciting for you and for me.
That's certainly not spendingan entire day in the kitchen.

Jarrod (06:08):
And the method has to work with real life.
From my perspective, I feellike that is the huge disconnect
, because you could say, oh,I'll just do this once a week,
and then for those other sixdays, or even once a month and
the other 29 days, I never haveto cook another meal, which
probably I think it's probablynot realistic.
I think you're still going to,during that week or during that

(06:29):
month, have to do some food prepanyway.
So now you've got to take thisday and make it every single
week.
Well, what happens if kids havea soccer game?
You've got kind of a lastminute little trip you want to
go on, and now you think, oh, Iwould love to go on that little
weekend trip with you, honey,but I got a meal prep on that
Sunday so can't really do it.

(06:50):
So it's not really, I think,realistic with most people's
lives.

Anita (06:55):
Right.
So we're going to give you somepractical tips today for meal
prepping, and you can make itany day.
It doesn't have to actually bethe first day of the week,
although that works best formost people, and so it just is
what works best for you.
Take what we're sharing todayand shift it to the days that
work best for you.
Maybe you don't want to spend30 minutes in one day.

(07:15):
You want to spend 15 minutesover two days, and that's going
to make it simpler for you.
Again, do what works for you.
But what we're talking abouthere is there is some power
given back to you when you takejust a little bit of time to
meal prep not a full day.
Please don't waste your wholeday off doing this.

(07:36):
Really, it's just not necessary.
Here's the thing Pre-preppingcan change everything for you
when it comes to having successwith whole food, plant-based
eating, when you're doing it theright way.
Because what we know is, ifit's there, you'll eat it, and
if it's not there, you won't.
So pre-prepping is going tomake the healthy food not only

(08:00):
there but ready to go.
So we want to look at how canwe do small, fast pre-prep steps
which can make eating healthy,feel effortless for you
throughout the week.
So here are some whole food,plant-based pre-prep strategies
that can change your entire week.

Jarrod (08:18):
And I'll say many of our members have said this made
such a huge difference for themin eating this way.

Anita (08:23):
Huge.
There's so many differentthings that you can do, but this
can be a big key, so start withthis today.

Jarrod (08:29):
All right.
First strategy cut up yourfruit.

Anita (08:32):
And this one sounds so simple, but I remember back
years ago when one of my familymembers had really young
children this was even before wehad kids and they said to me
you know, it's so crazy becauseI can have all this fresh fruit
sitting out beautiful orangesand strawberries and grapes, all
these things sitting out herewaiting for them to eat them and

(08:54):
they won't touch them.
But if I take just the fewminutes that it takes to cut up
a melon and break up the orangeinto segments and just throw it
into a bowl in the fridge, it'sgone, it just disappears.
And this is so very true.
We found this to be true sincewe've had kids.
It's true for us.
I mean, if we have somethingcut up in the fridge, like fruit

(09:17):
, we're so much more likely tojust grab it and eat it than
think, oh well, I've got to takea few minutes to cut it up.
You just do that when you havea few minutes.
When you're listening to a goodpodcast episode Right now, while
you're listening, you could bedoing that.
You could be pre-prepping, soit could be during your podcast
listening time that you'restanding there pre-prepping and
doing these things.
Make it work with your schedule.

(09:38):
Don't make it something youhave to add on.
There's another mind-blowingtip Don't make these strategies,
when you add them, somethingextra that you have to do.
Weave them in seamlessly withwhat you're already doing.
Isn't that exciting?
I mean, that really is mindblowing right there, because you
don't have to make it somethingextra.
When done right, thesestrategies should be woven into

(10:00):
your daily life.
So, with this strategy, thinkabout grab and go fruit, and our
next strategy is very similar.
And our next strategy is verysimilar Chop a few of your
favorite raw veggies, likecarrots, celery, bell pepper,
broccoli, cauliflower, and I'lleven challenge you to add
something in there that's not afavorite yet or something that

(10:20):
you haven't tried before.
Like, you can pre-chop somepurple cabbage wedges these are
such a favorite snack and thenyou can just chop them up again,
keep them in a clear container,something that's very easy to
see, and you can snack on theseor even toss them into a meal
during the week.
Think about how much easierthat makes meal prep.

Jarrod (10:40):
We do that all the time, like if we come home and it's
later than we expect and we'rethinking what do we want for
dinner?
And we think, hey, salad mightbe good.
Yeah, maybe we've got somelettuce in the fridge that we
need to use up before it goesbad, but we don't really want to
have to take a lot of time toprepare all this.
Well, when we have everythingpre-chopped in the fridge, we
just throw it together, orsometimes we'll even have that

(11:02):
for grain bowls.

Anita (11:03):
It works great for grain bowls, noodle bowls.
Any meal you can think of thatneeds ingredients, which is
pretty much any meal right.
You have those ingredientspre-prepped and ready to go.
But I love that idea ofchopping up some cabbage
specifically purple cabbage intowedges, because that goes
really well with this next tip,as do all the veggies there, and

(11:24):
that is pre-prepare a deliciousdressing or a sauce, at least
one versatile dressing or saucethat will elevate your meals
during the entire week.
And if you think I have no cluewhere to start I don't even
know how to make a dressingwithout pouring a ton of oil in
it or putting mayo or eggs in itthen you want to grab your copy
of the Power on Plantscookbooks at poweronplantscom

(11:45):
forward slash cookbook, becausethat's where I share all of my
favorite dressings.
These are the dressings andsauces that our family eats
every single week, and I can'ttell you how much we hear from
people.
These are the things that changeeverything for them the
dressings, the sauces.
Getting them onto your foodsamps up the flavor and makes

(12:06):
things delicious, and when youdon't miss your dressings or
sauces, you don't miss theflavor.
So this is the big key.
Why does this work so well?
These small steps are going toreduce your decision fatigue and
make healthy eating automatic.
Think about it.
Anytime you can put somethingon automatic, are you much more
likely to do it.

Jarrod (12:26):
Absolutely.

Anita (12:27):
Absolutely Every single time.
When it's on automatic, it'sjust more likely to get done.

Jarrod (12:32):
And we've used many of the dressings as dips and there
have been times we've come homeand just had broccoli dippers.
The broccoli was alreadypre-cut up.
We had the dressing slash dipand then we just dipped it in
there and ate it and that wasour meal Zero prep time, because
it was all done ahead of timeand we just pulled it out of the
fridge and ate it.

Anita (12:51):
And I know, if you're new to plant-based, this could be
shocking to you, because youthink If you're new to
plant-based, this could beshocking to you because you
think, yeah, I could never eatthat for a meal.
Just wait, when you go all in,it's going to start tasting
amazing and it is going to flooryou.
The things that you're actuallygoing to enjoy and look forward
to eating, and these are goingto be the things that are going
to power your body.
Well, you don't have to startthat way.
We're going to help you findall your favorites the lasagna,

(13:12):
the cheesy soups, the creamyveggie chowders, the desserts,
the brownies, all of thosethings that you love.
Yeah, we walk you throughexactly how to do that.
You want to start with thecookbooks.
Again, you can grab those atpoweronplantscom forward slash
cookbook.
But the main thing is to startfinding your new favorites and

(13:33):
build on those, and definitelystart with the dressings and
sauces, because they can makeall the difference for you.

Jarrod (13:39):
Because, really honestly , you were using those
beforehand.
I mean, you were putting sauces, maybe on animal based foods,
or you were using dressings onsalad if you ate salad
beforehand, so why would you notdo that, going into whole food,
plant based?

Anita (13:53):
Yeah, sauces make all the difference.

Jarrod (13:55):
It skyrockets.
The flavor, all the difference,these strategiesrockets the
flavor, all the difference.

Anita (13:58):
These strategies are life-changing when done
consistently.
So our challenge to you is totry at least one of these tips
this week, and if you'rethinking, look, anita, these
tips are helpful, but what Ireally need is the way to get
out of the mess I'm in.
I need for my body to finallyfeel good, and I want someone to

(14:19):
show me how I need this, stepby step way.
That's actually exciting, it'senjoyable and will give me
optimal health that lastsbecause I'm sick, I'm not
feeling good and I want to bedoing the things I want to do in
my life without my body holdingme back anymore.
I want to get rid of what'sbeen sabotaging my health and to
know what to buy and where tofind it, and how to make my

(14:42):
meals so enjoyable that I neverfeel like I'm missing out again
Never.
If you feel yourself shoutingamen to this on the inside, then
you are going to love ouraccelerator program.
Go right now topoweronplantscom forward slash
accelerator to learn more.
That's poweronplantscomaccelerator Friend.

(15:03):
The reason that Jared and I areso very passionate about helping
you to reverse your healthstruggles the enjoyable way is
because we got tired of helpingpeople just manage their
diseases.
So now we spend our dayshelping our patients and our
clients reverse disease insteadof managing it, and what we see
over and over again is that theaccelerator framework for whole

(15:25):
food, plant-based eating leadsto lasting energy and health,
because this is the simplest,most enjoyable and exciting way
to regularly eat plants that youcan imagine.
Friend, our hearts are for you.
What lights us up is seeing yoube able to actively and fully
live the dreams that God hasplaced in your heart, and we

(15:48):
want you to know that we arehonored to be a part of your
plant-based journey to feelinggood.
We'll be back with you againnext week with another episode
dedicated to helping you thriveon a whole food, plant based
diet the enjoyable, exciting way.
In the meantime, know that youare loved, you are prayed for
and we will see you very soon,thank you.