I can’t begin to count how many times over the last decade I’ve tried different food systems, meal prep methods and ways of eating, only to realize that none of them truly fit my lifestyle.
I’d spend four hours meal prepping on a Sunday, only to find myself craving something completely different by Wednesday. Other weeks I’d get caught up in rigid frameworks that looked great on paper but simply weren’t sustainable long-term.
When that didn’t work, I’d swing to the opposite extreme and tried to cook a warm meal from scratch almost every day. Between recipe testing for work, creating content, and preparing my own meals, I spent so much time in the kitchen that I eventually burned out. That’s usually when takeout, convenience foods, or random meals started creeping back in, out of sheer food fatigue and exhaustion.
And somehow, despite a fridge full of food, I still found myself standing in front of it wondering what to cook. Groceries went bad, the kitchen was constantly messy, and by the middle of the week I already felt like resorting to convenience foods.
The real problem wasn’t motivation or discipline or lack of recipes. I just didn’t have a system that actually fit my life.
While I have the privilege of working from home, my days are still stretched between running a business, recipe testing/creating content, caring for two high-energy hunting dogs, trying to be a present wife and supportive friend, keeping the house in order, and making time to move my body. Like for so many of us, time is always in short supply. Without a system, eating nourishing, home-cooked meals every single day simply isn’t doable (at least for me it isn’t — others might have alls sorts of different powers).
It honestly took years of trial and error to create a rhythm that finally clicked. One that gives me structure without feeling restrictive. Because I’m a foodie at heart. I love trying new recipes, cooking with the seasons and bringing home whatever catches my eye and smells good at the farmers market. I didn’t want a system that told me exactly what to eat every day. I wanted enough flexibility to keep on being inspired but enough of a system to actually make it work.
Today, I usually do only one focused prep session each week (about 1–2 hours), cook warm dinners around three times a week, and still eat nourishing, homemade food every single day.
Let me show you exactly how I do that so you can steal whatever works for you!
The Nourished Week is a food system I’ve developed after many years of trial and error to make sustained home-cooking feel realistic (not just on the days when life is calm, but especially during busy weeks).
It’s not a meal plan or meal prep in the traditional sense, and it’s certainly not about eating the same containers of chicken, rice, and broccoli for five days straight.
Instead, it’s a flexible weekly rhythm built around preparing versatile building blocks, assembling quick meals, and cooking fresh only a few times each week.
The goal isn’t to tell you what to eat. It’s to create a framework that is flexible enough to fit your specific lifestyle and taste preferences to make nourishing yourself and enjoying homemade food the convenient option.
One of the things I love most about this system is that it grows with you. Whether you’re cooking just for yourself, feeding a family, working from home, or balancing a full-time job, the principles stay the same. You simply adapt the building blocks to fit your lifestyle, dietary preferences, and the season you’re in.
Some weeks you’ll prep more, some weeks you’ll cook less. Some weeks you’ll rely heavily on leftovers while others you might want to prep ahead full meals.
It is designed to support real life, not an idealized version of it.
In the next section, I’ll walk you through the three parts of the system and show you exactly how I use it in my own kitchen every week.
My entire food system basically revolves around three simple steps. Once you understand how they work together, you'll spend less time wondering what to eat and more time simply enjoying nourishing food.
Instead of spending hours to cook full meals, I like to spend 1–2 hours preparing the building blocks that make eating well throughout the week almost super easy. This gives me structure while still leaving plenty of room to enjoy whatever I'm craving that day.
Here’s what you’ll almost always find in my kitchen after my weekly prep session:
I usually prepare enough breakfasts to cover the first few mornings of the week.
Some favorites include:
Probiotic Chia Pudding → Raspberry, Strawberry Vanilla or Apple Pie
Granola → Amaranth Pistachio, Apple Cinnamon or Snickers Chocolate
Overnight Oats → Fermented Oat Porridge or Bircher Muesli
Egg Muffins → Shakshuka Egg Muffins
One fresh loaf lasts us a full week and becomes the base for quick sandwiches. After 2 days, I slice and freeze any leftovers to enjoy fresh throughout the whole week.
My Rustic Sourdough → Einkorn Sourdough
These aren’t something I make every week, instead they are simply part of my fridge at all times. Depending on what’s still in my fridge I may choose to add additional ferments. Since lacto-fermented veggies usually take 1-2 weeks from start to finish it takes a bit of planning ahead.
The idea is to implement ferments organically into your daily meals: A spoonful of sauerkraut with eggs or on top of a lentil bowl, pickles in my egg salad or next to my hummus, kimchi alongside dinner, fermented tomatoes tossed into a salad. They instantly elevate a meal with flavor and beneficial microbes, keeping your gut microbiome healthy and balanced.
Some staples you’ll always find in my fridge:
Sauerkraut → Citrus Sauerkraut, Immunity Kraut, Red Sauerkraut
Seasonal Fermented Veggies → Lemon Dill Radishes, Garlic Cherry Tomatoes
Dilly Beans → Fermented Dilly Beans
Traditional Staples → Pickles, Fermented Onions
Besides that, most weeks I prepare 1-2 bottles of naturally carbonated probiotic sodas. There’s nothing I enjoy more than a delicious, low sugar fizzy drink in the afternoon and I have way too much fun playing around with flavor combinations. Here are some of my absolute favorites:
Wild-Fermentation → Apricot Soda, Cinnamon Apple Soda
Water Kefir → Blackberry Sage, Orange Thyme, Watermelon, Mango-Ginger-Lime
Kombucha → Cardamom Apple Ginger
Cooking these in advance means lunch is never more than a few minutes away.
Depending on the week, I might prepare:
Black or Green Lentils (if I have the time I sprout them)
Chickpeas
White or Black Beans
Buckwheat
Quinoa
These become quick salads, grain bowls, breakfasts, soups or simple side dishes throughout the week. Whenever I cook larger amounts, I keep a few servings fresh in the fridge and freeze the rest for later in the week.
Here are some favorites:
Having nourishing snacks already made means I’m much less likely to reach for convenience foods when hunger hits. I generally keep this relatively simple in effort, yet really nourishing and delicious.
Weekends are usually when I may indulge in a proper baking session for fancier desserts (usually for hosting, special events or the holiday season).
Some favorites include:
This is probably the most underrated part of my system.
A good dressing or sauce can completely transform the same ingredients into an entirely different meal. It can make or break a salad/bowl and is one of the easiest things to make at home and keep handy in your fridge.
Some staples I rotate:
This is where the magic of the system really happens.
Because I’ve already prepared the building blocks, breakfast and lunch rarely require any actual cooking. Instead of starting from scratch every time I’m hungry, I simply assemble a meal based on what I’m craving that day, which keeps this system incredibly flexible, despite relying on reoccurring ingredients.
Most meals come together in less than 5–10 minutes, yet they still feel fresh, varied and nourishing. Component-based prepping creates flexibility: you prepare versatile ingredients once, then combine them into different meals throughout the week instead of committing to identical lunches every day.
Here are three of my favorite ways to do that.
This is probably my go-to lunch several times a week.
I simply combine whatever cooked grains or legumes I have on hand with fresh vegetables, herbs, a generous amount of homemade dressing, and one or two fermented foods.
If I want a little more protein, I’ll add a jammy boiled egg, leftover chicken or salmon, a can of sardines, or cooked legumes.
A typical bowl might look like this:
Black lentils or quinoa
Cucumber, tomatoes and seasonal vegetables
Fresh parsley or dill
Fermented cherry tomatoes or sauerkraut
Dressing
Jammy egg or canned seafood
Every bowl is a little different, depending on what’s in season and what I’m craving that day.
I honestly think snack plates are one of the most underrated meals.
They’re incredibly quick, require almost no preparation, and are surprisingly satisfying when you combine protein, healthy fats, fresh produce and something fermented. Personally I also like to include something like berries, so you get a fun balance of sweet and salty.
A typical snack plate for me might include:
A jammy boiled egg
A few spoonfuls of sauerkraut or kimchi
Fresh cucumber, carrots or tomatoes
A handful of berries or seasonal fruit
A can of sardines or smoked oysters
A few slices of Parmesan or goat cheese
That’s it. As simple as it is genius and tasty. It’s nourishing, balanced, and on the table in five minutes.
Another staple in our house.
I start with thick slices of fresh sourdough, spread on whatever sauce or dip I have prepared, pile on plenty of fresh vegetables, and finish it with a protein.
Some favorite combinations are:
Pumpkin Seed Pesto + tomatoes + cucumber + boiled eggs
Hummus + roasted vegetables + sprouts
Goat cheese + fermented tomatoes + herbs
Leftover chicken + greens + homemade dressing
Smoked salmon + cream cheese + cucumber + dill
Served alongside a handful of ferments, it’s one of the easiest meals you’ll make all week.
The beauty of assembling instead of cooking is that every meal can be completely different, even though you’re using many of the same ingredients.
One of the biggest misconceptions about my system is that I only eat prepped food. The truth is quite the opposite.
I’m a big foodie, I genuinely love cooking, experimenting with new recipes, and making the most of seasonal ingredients from the farmers market. I just don’t want to feel like I have to cook every single day.
Instead, I usually cook a fresh, warm dinner around three times a week. Friday evening is reserved for Shabbat dinner where we’re either hosting or invited.
Because breakfast and lunch are already largely taken care of, dinner becomes something I can actually enjoy rather than another task to check off my list.
The key is simple: I always cook enough for two meals. Instead of cooking seven nights a week, I’m really only cooking three.
As my recipe collection grows, this section will become my personal library of favorite weeknight meals. Recipes that are nourishing, simple enough for busy weekdays, and make delicious leftovers.
Some current favorites include:
If you’re just getting started, don’t immediately try to tackle everything at once. Changing habits and implementing any new system takes time, so start slow and keep what is already working.
This week, choose to prep:
one breakfast you love
one grain or legume
one dressing
one easy ferment
and one fresh dinner recipe
That’s more than enough to experience how much easier your week can feel.
Looking for weekly inspiration?
If you'd like to take a peek into my kitchen and see how I actually put The Nourished Week into practice, I highly recommend my signature series, Ferments & Foods.
Every edition includes a collection of seasonal recipes, meal prep ideas, and fermentation projects that fit seamlessly into this framework. It's where I share exactly what I'm cooking, prepping, and eating each week:
Weekly Ferments & Foods
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Jun 14
Summer has fully arrived here in Los Angeles with temperatures in the high 70s and 80s, and with it comes an abundance of stone fruit, fresh herbs, cooling drinks and longer evenings spent outside.
I hope this framework serves you as well as it has served me.
More than anything, I hope it takes some of the pressure out of nourishing yourself. You don’t need to cook elaborate meals every day or follow a perfect meal plan to eat well. A little structure, a few thoughtfully prepared building blocks, and the freedom to adapt as life changes can go a long way.
I’m so glad you’re here, and I can’t wait to continue building The Nourished Week together, one recipe at a time.
-Kirsty
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