The One Easy System is our way of serving up REAL food REAL fast in 3 easy steps. Step 3 is Prepping Made Simple - Prep food for the week. Ever wonder how chefs get food out to dozens of tables within minutes? They have prep boxes ready to go. Once you unpack your week’s worth of groceries, start prepping what you can for the week. Chop carrots, celery, and peppers so your family can snack on healthy vegetables, rather than grabbing chips. Chop onions, potatoes, or any other food that may be used in a meal later that week. Brown some ground beef for tacos. Bake a double batch of homemade cookies. Make a few dozen pancakes and freeze half for the following week. Blend up yogurt smoothies to freeze for Popsicles. Bake two quiches and freeze one. You get the idea. Learn more in our Get REAL with Food Starter Kit. Everything you need - information, resources, recipes and a a big dash of inspiration - so you can feed your family REAL food at least 80% of the time, starting TODAY! There's even an entire CD devoted to this One Easy System, walking you through each and every step. So don't miss out. Eat REAL.

Feeding your family REAL food can be challenging. Planning and Shopping are essential. The third step of Our One Easy System is what will help you get REAL food into the hands of an overly-hungry toddler, a ‘starving’ 4th grader after school or an on-the-run teenager REAL fast! It will help you get REAL food on your table for a family meal before anyone can whine, “How long until dinner is ready?”
 
Prepping is how restaurant chefs get food onto the table – many tables actually – within minutes.

Chefs create prep boxes. Your prep boxes depend on your menu for the week. So, after you've planned and shopped, you need to set aside some time to do some prepping - maybe once a week, or maybe a few times each week. We like glass prep boxes best so food is not sitting in plastic. Some examples of prep boxes you might create for a week of REAL food meals and snacks include:

Protein Boxes – Hard boiled eggs; cooked chicken; bacon; sausage; cooked beans; sliced/cubed/shredded cheese; tuna or chicken salad; and any other protein source you feed your family.

Salad Boxes – Clean and chopped lettuce, spinach, arugula and any other greens for salads, sandwiches, tacos, etc.

Vegetable Box 1 – Cleaned cucumbers, carrots and celery sticks in water.

Vegetable Box 2 – Peppers sliced into strips and onions peeled and diced. 

Blanched Vegetable Box – Blanched broccoli, cauliflower, and asparagus.  Blanched vegetables cook faster and maintain a fresher, brighter color.

Fruit Box - Fresh fruit chopped - combine or keep separate.  Keep pineapple separate from other fruit.

Herb Box -  Fresh herbs covered with wet paper towel and a small glass container inside with pre-chopped herbs.  Garlic and ginger root would be kept in this box.

Baked Goods Box - Homemade muffins and cookies made with whole grains and REAL food ingredients like sucanat and butter.

Trail Mix Box - Make different kinds of trail mixes each week.  They can include nuts and seeds but don't have too.  Add dried fruits; unsweetened, shredded coconut; fresh fruits like blueberries and grapes; shredded carrots; jicama, etc.

In less time than it takes you to order carry-out food, you will have a nutritiously delicious meal for you and your family.  It may take a few weeks to incorporate this routine into your weekly schedule, but don’t become discouraged.  It’s worth the effort when you know your family is thriving because of all the Real Food meals and snacks they are eating! 

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