As I did my meal prep for this week, I thought to myself, this is what has changed the most for me. I shop weekly for the freshest fruits and veggies. I meal prep every Sunday and some Wednesday/Thursday’s.
Would it help to start a challenge for those who want to develop good habits before surgery? We could do a running post and share our food prep victories. I get so much pride looking at my island with all my Tupperware and baggies filled with nutritional foods for the week.
Let me know if anyone’s interested! Next Sunday I’ll take my pic of my food prep in all its glory!

If anyone’s is in the market for an Instant Pot they’re on sale for Prime Day on Amazon. I just got the 6qt one for $59 shipped when they’re normally $100+ ??

I’ve been wanting one for a while JUST to help with prepping lol!

I’m interested

Late to the party, but I need serious help in this area!! Great idea, AshAsh1!!

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Started filling my cart today. I usually shop online for my groceries, so I go online throughout the week as I think of things I'd like to buy.

I think I'm going to make some buffalo Brussels Sprouts next week! Someone gave me a their recipe in another post, and it has been on my mind.

What will be on your menu?

I'm trying this new green bean salad next week. I get a lot of my recipes from Kayln's Kitchen... this one looks delicious!

Green Bean Salad with Hearts of Palm, Olives, Red Pepper, and Feta

Yield: 4-6 servings

Total Time: 27 minutes

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 7 minutes

This Green Bean Salad with Hearts of Palm, Olives, Red Pepper, and Feta is a great side dish for a summer picnic.

Ingredients:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. fresh green beans, preferably French green beans
• 1-2 cups sliced hearts of palm
• 3/4 cup Kalamata olives or black olives, drained and sliced in half
• 1 cup roasted red bell pepper from a jar, diced in pieces about 3/8 inch square (You could use the whole jar if it’s a small jar.)
• 1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese
• fresh ground black pepper to taste

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1 T balsamic vinegar
• 2 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp. lemon zest (probably optional, but good)
• 1-2 T chopped fresh oregano (or use small amount dried oregano)
• 1-2 T chopped fresh basil (I would omit basil if I only had dried basil)

Directions:

1. Trim ends from green beans. (I do this by gathering a handful, then standing them up on the cutting board while holding loosely so the beans all line up, then trimming the ends. Turn over and repeat with the other end.)
2. Cut beans into pieces about 2 inches long.
3. Steam beans using a steamer insert in a large pot with a tight-fitting lid or an electric vegetable steamer until they’re barely tender-crisp. I steamed mine 7 minutes; I would check at that point to see if they’re as done as you prefer as I like to keep the beans quite crisp.
4. When beans are as tender as you’d like them, remove from steamer and plunge immediately into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.
5. Remove beans to colander and let them cool and drain about 15 minutes, then spread beans out on paper towels and blot dry.
6. While beans cook, drain and slice the hearts of palm, drain and chop red peppers, drain olives and cut in half, and measure out the Feta.
7. Combine balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, lemon zest, chopped fresh oregano and chopped fresh basil and process until herbs are very finely chopped and dressing is mixed well. (I did this in the small bowl chopper attachment of my immersion blender with a bowl attachment, which worked great but you can also use a food processor.)
8. To assemble the salad, combine the drained beans with sliced hearts of palm, olive halves, and chopped red pepper.
9. Add as much dressing as needed to moisten salad and combine gently. (You may not need all the dressing.)
10. Add feta cheese and stir enough to barely mix in feta.
11. Grind over some black pepper and serve immediately.
12. This will keep for several days in the refrigerator, but bring to room temperature before serving the leftovers.

This recipe created by Kalyn.

All images and text ©Kalyn Denny for Kalyn's Kitchen.