10 tips to make prepping healthy, low-carb family meals easier

Vickie de Beer, co-author of the Sunday Times Food Weekly Cookbook of the Year for 2015, shares some simple tips that'll help you and your family maintain a healthy diet

PLANNING AHEAD MEANS LESS STRESS

1. We double up on some dishes, like our basic bolognaise, whenever we cook it. This can easily become a filling for toasted sandwiches or, with a pumpkin topping, you have quick cottage pie ready for another dinner on a busy evening.

2. Some things we pre-prepare over weekends to have in the fridge for lunch boxes and lunches for the kids. I pop two chickens into the oven every Sunday night so that we have roast chicken for wraps, pies and chicken mayo sandwiches for the rest of the week. In summer we braai extra hamburger patties on Saturday nights for burgers during the week.

3. We buy bigger roasts for Sunday to ensure that there will be extra for the week's sandwiches and wraps.

4. I bake the low-carb rolls and bread on a Saturday morning for the week ahead. I also make or bake a treat for each week, like cupcakes or low-carb pancakes.

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5. I make a few wraps, burgers and sandwiches and pack them in zip-lock bags, insulin dosage clearly marked (because my son is a diabetic), on Sunday evenings for the forthcoming week. These are used in lunchboxes but can also become lunches if things are hectic.

6. We make a big pot of beef shank soup over the weekend. This has saved our sanity on more than one occasion. It is a healthy and wholesome lunch for everyone and can become a quick and easy dinner on a hectic night.

7. I freeze things. Soup and burger patties freeze really well. One big batch of burger patties lasts two weeks - one batch in the fridge and one in the freezer.

HOW TO MAKE LOW-CARB LIVING A REALITY

8. We read labels for the carb count but also to find hidden sugars and starches.

9. I bought a lot of containers to keep all the flours and seeds needed for low-carb baking within easy reach, to speed up the baking process. (Try Vickie's low-carb focaccia recipe.)

10. I invested in a big mixer and grinder to grind the seeds and flours needed for the low-carb recipes. I created a dedicated space for baking equipment like mixing bowls, pans and measuring spoons so that I do not need to look all over the place for them.

BUY THE BOOK

The Low-Carb Solution for Diabetics by Vickie de Beer (pictured) and Kath Megaw (Quivertree, R335) is filled with delicious recipes that are equally useful to non-diabetics. De Beer and Megaw were named winners of the Sunday Times Food Weekly Cookbook of the Year awards, in association with Pick n Pay, at an event held at the Pick n Pay Good Food Studio earlier this month.