Free Recipes & Tips

If you find meal prepping daunting, have a family with different taste preferences, you prefer variety throughout the week or just want to simplify your meal prep routine, then this one’s for you!

Follow my simple meal prepping formula of ‘3-4 PVC’

All you need to do is have 3-4 proteins, carbohydrates and veggies prepared at the start of the week. With these, you can put together endless meal combinations throughout the week.

Try to choose variety within these categories. For example, have some raw and some cooked veggies. Have grains and starchy veg. The more variety the better!

Simple assemble your meals as the week goes on. This way, it feels fresh, you get the pick a combo that you’re preferring that day and ingredients can simply be substituted in and out for different taste preferences in your household!

Recipes below!

High blood pressure, or hypertension is often known as the silent killer. Did you know that nearly 8 million Canadians are affected by hypertension?

May 17 th is world hypertension day and it’s a reminder to know your numbers and take simple steps to protect your heart. Let’s start with looking at how you can meal prep in a way to reduce your risk of hypertension. Steps to meal prep to reduce risk of hypertension:

User lower sodium seasonings. Consuming too much sodium may increase blood pressure as it promoted the body to retain water and puts pressure on blood vessel walls. In this meal prep I’m featuring Herbamare sea salt, which is a prepared with 1/3 less sodium than standard sea salt. It has less sodium because it’s made with a blend of 12 different garden herbs and iodine rich kelp to enhance the flavour of any dish. You can grab it on amazon or avogel.ca ! (AD)

Increase potassium intake as potassium helps to counter sodium’s effects. Some foods rich in potassium include potatoes, legumes, bananas, avocados, leafy greens. If you have kidney disease, or take medication to lower blood pressure, you may need to limit the amount of potassium you eat. Speak to your health care provider before you make changes to the way you eat.

Increase fibre intake – a high fibre diet supports blood vessel health and weight management. Legumes, oats, barley, flax and chia are great fibre boosters.

Increase unsaturated fats. Replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats may help blood pressure and hearth health. Go for olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds and fish.

Increase legumes – a recent study indicates consuming roughly 170 g of legumes daily may significantly reduce risk of hypertension.

Maintain adequate calcium & magnesium – these nutrients support vascular function.
Good sources include dairy or alternatives, tofu, beans and leafy greens

In 2026, I hope we’ve shed the dietary fat phobia that we all had in the 90s and early 2000’s – right? Dietary fat has many important roles in the body – including protecting vital organs, absorbing fat soluble vitamins, supporting cell growth, brain development and hormone production.

I do have to remind you that the type of fat you eat matters. The two most beneficial types of fats are listed below. 

Polyunsaturated fat Omega 3s are a nutrition powerhouse. They help reduce inflammation, which is connected to conditions like heart disease and arthritis, support brain health, heart health, pregnancy etc. ALA is the plant form of omega 3s.

Monounsaturated fats can help to improve cholesterol profile, support heart health and help with blood sugar control.

Where do we find these fats? Save this post for the list in the graphic and below! 

Omega 3-Rich Foods:
– Flaxseeds: 4.5 g ALA per 2 tbsp
-Chia Seeds: 5 g ALA per 2 tbsp
-Hemp Seeds: 2 g ALA per 2 tbsp
-Walnuts: 2.5 g ALA per 1 oz
-Algae Oil: 1-2 g/softgel
-Edamame: 0.5 g ALA per 1 cup

Monounsaturated Rich Foods:
-Olive Oil: 10 g per 1 tbsp
-Avocado Oil: 10 g per 1 tbsp
-Avocado: 10 g per 1
-Almonds: 12 g per 1 oz
-Seeds: 7 g per 1 oz
-Nut butter: 9 g per 1 tbsp

With Jack eating three meals a day now, I am simply modifying my meals to make them work for him instead of cooking separate meals. We have busy days so all of these meals are made in 20 mins or less and provide important nutrients – with the help of California strawberries! @castrawberries 

Not only are strawberries Jack’s favourite fruit but they are versatile and nourishing as well. Just one cup of strawberries has 95% of the daily value of vitamin C for the day! California strawberries are delicious, versatile, and perfect to eat on their own or as an addition to any recipe (even for lunch or dinner). A bonus is that California strawberries are available across Canada even when local strawberries aren’t.  
 
Below is how I modified meals for Jack and why each of these recipes work for us! Don’t forget to grab some California strawberries at your local grocery store and check out californiastrawberries.com for more recipes. #californiastrawberries 

Breakfast: Strawberry Yogurt Bowl. I made Jack and I nearly identical bowls, his was a smaller portion however. The California strawberries are a great fibre boost in this yogurt bowl to start our day.  

 
Lunch: Strawberry Feta & Avocado Toast. Jack just didn’t receive the raw onions (hard to chew) and feta cheese (higher in sodium). I love a quick and easy lunch like this one because we are often on the go in the middle of the day and this lunch is very portable for both of us! 

 
Snack: Strawberry Spinach Chickpea Muffins. These are perfect for on the go! The strawberries add some vitamin C, which helps to absorb the iron in these muffins. Iron intake is so important for Jack right now!  
 
Dinner: Strawberry Tofu Bowl. Jack didn’t receive the raw veggies in the bowl and instead I put quinoa, California strawberries and tofu on his plate. I added some hemp hearts to the California strawberries for an iron and protein boost as well.  

Find California strawberries at your local grocery store. For more recipes and information, visit californiastrawberries.com. 

I have been plant-based for many years now and also have struggled with low iron on and off. I have to say, I haven’t always had the most well-rounded diet over the years of being plant- based. Being plant-based doesn’t automatically mean that you will have low iron but it is important to identify plant iron sources and incorporate them into your everyday meals.

This is why I’ve created this handy graphic and meal plan for you! As I have recently been through pregnancy and am about 1 year postpartum, my iron needs have increased. In additional to incorporating these plant-based iron sources into my everyday meals, I have been supplementing with Megafood Blood Builder daily, which has been clinically shown to increase iron levels without the common gastrointestinal side effects. If you struggle with your iron, I definitely recommended checking out Megafood Blood Builder. Have you struggled with your iron before?

Save this post for the iron list in the graphic and below!

Tofu (9 oz) – 4 mg

Protein Pasta (85 g) 2.5 mg

Tempeh (9 oz) – 6 mg

Edamame (1 cup) – 3.5 mg

Lentils (1 cup) – 6.5 mg

Peas (1 cup) – 2.4 mg

Cooked spinach (0.5 cup) – 2 mg

Black beans (1 cup) – 4 mg

White beans (1 cup) – 2 mg

TVP (1/4 cup) – 2.5 mg

Fortified cereal – 1/4 cup – 4 mg

Blackstrap molasses – 1 tbsp – 3 mg

Pumpkin seeds – 1/4 cup – 2.5 mg

Megafood blood – 26 mg in 1 tablet

f you’re struggling with meal prepping, let me show you how seamless it can be. This meal prep only uses 15 main ingredients (plus a few spices) to make four different recipes – let me show you how I did this.

The key is to use versatile proteins, starches and vegetables and to use recipes that use these overlapping ingredients. This way you’re never bored of your meals, you don’t have a long grocery list and you can get the meal prep done quickly and cheaply!

The first step is prepping the staples. For this meal prep, that means cooking rice in the rice cooker, making pickled onions, chopping the lettuce and tomatoes and making the BBQ tofu. From there, you are simply arranging these ingredients together in different ways for the different dishes.

For the taco bowls, I combined the wild rice, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles onions and tofu. I added guac for dressing.

For the meal prep BBQ tofu & wild rice bowl, you just need wild rice, BBQ shredded tofu, pickled onions and coleslaw. For the meal prep BBQ tofu tacos, you need the wraps, BBQ tofu, pickled onions, tomato and lettuce. Top with guacamole.

For the overnight oats, grab oats, chia seeds, protein powder, cocoa powder, banana and almond butter.