#82: Meal Prep and Going Vegan with Maddie of Let's Eat Plants

Maddie has been vegan for 6 years and loves showcasing how to save time & eat healthier thanks to meal prep. Her YouTube videos share vegan recipes, meal prep ideas, and time-saving tips, and she even has a meal prep course for vegan beginners!
In today's episode, I talked with Maddie about her experience going vegan and how she and her husband made that transition. We also got into a ton of meal prep and fresh produce tips! Maddie is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to prepping food - you're going to learn a lot in this episode! Enjoy!

Find Maddie's Granola Recipe: https://youtu.be/iQpHzMzC_LA?si=qk0KK_CVIrwEHka8

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LetsEatPlants
Instagram: @lets.eat.plants
Website: https://bit.ly/LEPmealprepcourse

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Transcript

[00:00:00] to the Plan to Eat podcast. Where I interview industry experts about meal planning, food and wellness. To help you answer the question. What's for dinner. 

Roni: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Plan to Eat podcast. Today I have an interview with Maddie from the YouTube channel Let's Eat Plants. Maddie has been a vegan for six years and on her channel she showcases how to save time and eat healthier with meal prep tips. So today we talked about her journey to veganism, what she thinks are some of the myths around veganism.

She gives a bunch of tips for how to get started, um, eating a more plant based lifestyle. Uh, she also gives a bunch of meal prepping tips for produce and storage tips for produce to keep it fresher longer. This episode is full of all the tips and tricks. Related to fresh [00:01:00] produce,

Maddie is super knowledgeable on that topic, and I hope you enjoy the episode. Maddie. Thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today.

Maddie: Thank you so much for having me.

Roni: So why don't we just get started by you having you say who you are and what you do.

Maddie: Sure. My name's Maddie. I am a YouTuber and I love showing people how to save time and eat healthier thanks to meal prep.

Roni: That's awesome. And you are specifically vegan meal prep, right? Vegan lifestyle meal prep,

Maddie: Yes, exactly. I've been vegan for six years. So there is kind of the emphasis of vegan eating on my channel. Although a lot of my viewers are not vegan, which they have told me. So it's also just like eating healthy and getting more veggies into your diet in general.

Roni: Yeah. What led you to make the lifestyle transition to only eating, only eating as a vegan lifestyle?

Maddie: Great question. Um, so I've been vegan for about six years, but actually our [00:02:00] journey started more than six years ago. I think around like 2015, 2016, there were a lot of documentaries coming out. about like health and environment. Um, like some, some of them are forks over knives, food, ink, cowspiracy. So my husband and I went down this rabbit hole of like watching all of these documentaries and like A lot of them do focus on health, but a lot of them also focus on the environment and animals.

And we kind of just took all of this information in and it was really eye opening because there's so much that is not really told to the consumer and things that I had no idea were happening in the animal industry. And so like, you know, there's a, a big important part of Going vegan was for my health, but the main reason was really for the animals, which I don't really talk about a lot [00:03:00] on my channel to be honest, but that was definitely the catalyst, like learning all of these things about the animal industry.

Just really opened my eyes and it was like really heartbreaking to find out, you know, you think you're doing the right thing by buying things like free range or cage free and come to find out that those labels don't actually mean anything. And yeah, I definitely encourage people to kind of do a little bit of research themselves.

I don't like to, uh, scare people too much about it, but it's definitely eye opening because I think most people, they really don't know the truth.

Roni: Yeah. Well, nobody expects you to be the spokesperson for it. So,

Maddie: Yeah, very true.

Roni: so was it just an overnight switch for you? Were you just like, we're going to be done eating animal products or did you kind of have to take some steps in order to get to eat and eating vegan?

Maddie: Yeah. So it was definitely gradual. Um, so like I said, we kind [00:04:00] of started in 2015, 2016 watching these documentaries, but it was not at all, you know, like the next day we woke up and was like, boom, vegan. No, it was like, okay, here's all of this information. Uh, let's start switching out. meat products slowly, which actually was pretty easy for me because I was never a huge meat eater, but my husband on the other hand, you know, all of his favorites were meat.

So like really learning how to switch those out was kind of a long process. In addition to like cheese, you know, most people say I could never give up cheese. I totally get that because that was me as well. Like It is super addictive. Um, and we were living in Asia at the time, so we also had a big move back to North America, and we were like, okay, well, in North America, there's gonna be a lot more, uh, vegan options at the grocery stores.

Let's be fully vegan when we move back. So that was, like, end of 2017, beginning of 2018, [00:05:00] and we've been vegan ever since. And the industry has changed a lot too. Like that was, you know, a long time ago now. So even seeing all the vegan options expand from then until now has been like amazing to see,

Roni: Yeah, in general, I think that there's been a lot of progression in the food industry. I mean, you even think about like gluten-free things. You know, like 10, 15 years ago you couldn't find anything in the grocery store that was gluten-free, and now it's like everything, there's always an alternative for that.

So it's all over the place.

Maddie: Yep, definitely.

Roni: So you mentioned that, uh, cheese was a hard thing for you, but otherwise it wasn't as difficult for you as was for your husband. What do you think was the biggest challenge of switching over to not eating any animal products?

Maddie: Uh, definitely for me, it was the cheese, but also just like learning new ways of cooking, I would say, because, um, you know, meat [00:06:00] can be like a very, a flavor enhancer, I guess it's in like a lot of soup stocks and stuff like that. My husband is a big soup fan. So like learning to replace the Those and also just like in baking, I'm a big baker.

I was like, what do you replace for eggs? And it's not always like a one to one swap. You kind of have to learn, new recipes in general. So, but I really enjoyed doing that as well. So it was a challenge in terms of like, I had never done these things before, but it was a fun challenge for me, at least.

Roni: Mm hmm. Was there a part that felt easy about, about shifting your eating?

Maddie: For me, yes, because, like, giving up meat, I was like, okay, you know, I, I didn't miss it as much. That was probably the easy part. And I, I was already eating pretty healthy, like, you know, with vegan, you don't have to eat healthy, but I wanted to focus on those whole food, plant based sources of, you know, fiber and protein and all of those things.

Yeah, like I, [00:07:00] I was already eating pretty healthy and could just incorporate some beans pretty easily into my diet, some new grains into my diet, and I enjoyed that part.

Roni: So, what is your typical day look like as far as eating is concerned? Like, are you a three meal a day kind of a person? And like, what do those meals look like?

Maddie: am a three meal a day kind of person. Plus maybe some snacks. I, I'm a big, I like to eat. So, like usually we'll do Monday through Friday. We kind of do the same breakfast. We do oatmeal most of the time because it's really easy to batch prep. So I'll cook it like at the beginning of the week. And then we'll eat that Monday through Friday.

On the weekends, we're like, let's do some pancakes or waffles or tofu scramble, something a little more fun. And then lunch is usually like salad or wrap or taco bowl, something like that. And then dinner will be like pasta or soup or stew, stir [00:08:00] fry.

Roni: Mm hmm. And so are you mostly making those foods from scratch or do you find that there are a decent amount of like a semi homemade options for, um, for the meals that you eat?

Maddie: I, yeah, I, I don't like to make too many things from scratch because I just don't feel like I want to dedicate that kind of time to making sauces from scratch and everything. You definitely could. but there's so many things that are what we call accidentally vegan, right? Like I go to the store and it's like the pasta sauce is already vegan.

You know, the stir fry sauce is already vegan. You know, throw some vegan cheese on there and you have a pizza. So like, I would make something from scratch if I had to, but not my preference.

Roni: Well, and probably by the time that this episode comes out, you will not be pregnant anymore, but you're pregnant. Congratulations. [00:09:00] And have your eating habits changed at all with being pregnant or is it just, you know, Are you eating the same as you were before? Is there, is there anything that's shifted?

Maddie: A lot of things have shifted because, you know, pregnancy is pretty interesting in terms of eating. I, I did not give it enough credit. I was like, I'm gonna eat super healthy throughout my pregnancy. It's gonna be great. I'm already eating healthy. So I thought that I would be able to just continue on.

But, you know, first trimester, there are like, I had some pretty bad food aversions. I didn't even want to eat oatmeal, which is like, I've been eating oatmeal for years. Like, I was so surprised. Um, so it was just like first trimester. My appetite really decreased and just, I kind of was focusing on anything that I could eat.

I was still eating like, pretty healthy, but mainly focused on like, Those starchy white carbs, bagels, uh, fruit. I [00:10:00] ate a lot of fruit. It was summer. So it was like perfect fruit season. And then second trimester, it was a lot more kind of back to normal, but also giving into like the cravings. The cravings start coming in second trimester.

Um, which I had never experienced that before either. It's a, it's a different level of craving than, you know, just like, Oh, I feel like eating a burger. No, it's like, I need to have this.

Roni: Yeah. Yeah. Um,

Maddie: like, we did a lot more takeout than we usually do, um, during that time. And then third trimester, I just feel pretty full.

Like, I think that, you know, with baby growing and everything, there's not as much room in my stomach. But I have tried to maintain, like I said, kind of whole food sources of, protein, calcium. Uh, what else? Omega 3s, you know, all of the important ones. Like, in addition to the prenatal, I've just tried to, when I do [00:11:00] eat, you know, a big meal or something, I try and make sure I have some of those sources in there as well to make sure I'm eating pretty balanced.

Roni: was wanting to get started as a V have a vegan lifestyle, or maybe they just want to be more plant based, you know, you mentioned a lot of people who, you know, watch your channel or not strictly vegan, what do you, do you have some recommendations for where they would get started?

Maddie: Yes, definitely. I always suggest for people to start small, like start with simple swaps, for example, uh, swapping out your plant milk or regular milk for plant milk. Like there are so many different kinds of milk alternatives nowadays. There's soy, almond, oat, hemp, pea, coconut, like really every kind of, um, milk.

So like, You know, if that's something that you drink in your coffee every day or in your cereal and you don't want to give it up, try a few different ones until you find one you like. Probably the first one you try isn't going to [00:12:00] be the one you love, but you know, there's different options. And then also just like gradually incorporating more meals into your week that, and meals that you would normally eat.

Like, I mention pasta a lot because I think most people like a simple pasta with red sauce or something like that, and like, that would be really easy to take the meat out, we do one with a bunch of veggies in it, and you can add in lentils for protein, or some crumbled tofu, vegan sausages, um, there's a lot of different protein options nowadays.

So, you know, Something like a lot of my friends are like, well, I don't want to eat kale salad every day. And I'm like, no, no, no. There's so many like different, just kind of take what you regularly eat and learn some recipes to swap for.

So like something else that I see quite often is that people come in thinking that they can just swap one for one right off the bat as [00:13:00] well. Like. They say, okay, well, I really like steak, you know, so I'm going to go out and get a vegan steak and have it with mashed potatoes.

And I'm like, you know, those there, we have come a long way in the vegan food game, but there isn't always a perfect one for one swap. And as your taste buds are changing, you know, you may want to kind of incorporate those foods into a recipe instead of just doing like, um, a straight up, uh, one for one swap.

So like with burgers, for example, we have great vegan burgers nowadays, but other things, people may taste a vegan cheese and be like, well, this isn't exactly what I was expecting. And I'm like, instead of that, try a vegan recipe that is, has been crafted. To be perfect already as is and you know like the recipe developer has made that recipe probably without the faux meat or faux cheese and it tastes really good as [00:14:00] is so if you try you know one specific recipe that is made to be vegan instead of just swapping out those um commercially purchased products you may actually like the recipe a lot better.

Roni: Mm. I really like that tip because it also feels like there's a little bit of a mindset shift that needs to happen in there as well. That's like maybe, uh, if you were used to a simple recipe being something like steak and mashed potatoes or steak and steamed broccoli or something like that. You might have to switch your idea of like, what is a simple recipe look like?

That's vegan instead of just like a whole plate of meat.

Maddie: Definitely. That was like a huge mindset shift for us. Cause I think, you know, the standard American diet is like, okay, you got your meat, you got your maybe side of starch or carbs or something, and then a side of veggies, right? That's like the typical little three portion plate. [00:15:00] So it definitely starts to look a little bit different with, um, vegan foods, but I think it's, you know, really fun to.

have some different recipes that people may have not tried before and maybe trying cuisines from outside of your norm is also really good because there are a lot of other cuisines from other cultures that already have, you know, well established vegan and vegetarian recipes in them that don't really require a lot of swaps.

They're already delicious as is. Yeah,

Roni: point because yeah, there are a lot of places like I'm thinking of Asian countries where it's like, maybe the, the meat that they eat is predominantly fish. And so I would guess that there's a lot of recipes that's like, well, if, if we don't have any fish, like, what is the, what is the alternative that we're going to be eating tonight instead?

Um, you know, like, is it a soup with like a, uh, a vegetable stock or something that was homemade? Like, yeah, different kinds of things like that. [00:16:00] Yeah,

Maddie: Asian cuisine, like, also doesn't have a lot of dairy use. So, you know, that one's pretty easy to swap out. Like once you get the meat swapped out, the rest is pretty easy. My husband is actually Chinese, but he was born in Vietnam. So he, like his mother, um, has taught me a lot of Vietnamese recipes and those are pretty easy to veganize as well.

So yeah, just learning about different recipes from different cultures has been, has made the, the process and the switch a lot more delicious, I would say.

Roni: that's a good tip. What's a, a myth that you think people have about, about being vegan that you, that you don't think is true?

Maddie: I'm gonna give you two.

Roni: Okay.

Maddie: The most common one is about protein. Like, if any, if you talk to any vegan, I'm sure you have heard it before. Everybody asks a vegan where they get their protein. That is, like, the [00:17:00] first question. And now, of course, there are so many sources. There's going to be like beans, legumes, lentils, seitan, um, tempeh, tofu, you know, like in addition to all of that, we have to look at the animals, where are they getting their protein?

They're getting it from plants, right? We're just cutting out the middleman by eating the plants directly instead of the animals. So yeah, definitely. vegans don't get enough protein. They're actually, influencers, you, vegan influencers who focus their social media accounts on like protein specific recipes.

So I see, you know, girls out there getting like 120 to 140 grams of vegan protein a day. So if that ever was a concern for someone, or they wanted to follow a high protein vegan diet, they There are a lot of people who talk about those protein recipes as well. So there's definitely options. Um, [00:18:00] the second myth I would say is that people automatically assume that vegan equals healthy.

Roni: Hmm.

Maddie: So, you know, I've had friends who, they didn't really know what we could eat at first, and they're like, oh, you can't eat bread? You can't drink alcohol? Like, what is a vegan exactly? So, you know, within the umbrella of vegan, there are people who eat healthy, there's something called whole food plant based, which is usually what I personally lean towards.

Uh, that is like, you know, a more healthy version. You're getting the, the whole food kind of sources of the, the plant. And, um, Then there's like fruitarian. There's going to be people who eat raw. And then there's junk food vegans, right? Like Oreos and chips and all of those things are still vegan. So there's really a spectrum.

And if you don't want to eat healthy and you still want to be vegan, that's totally an option. And I [00:19:00] like to tell people that because I think, you know, people assume that, oh no, I have to just eat like a smoothie every day and a kale salad or whatever, be super healthy. Okay. Like, no, anybody can come to veganism and eat their favorite foods from before and, um, kind of do it how they want to do it.

Roni: That's a really good point. I think it's a, like an eye opening point in two ways that it's like, there's maybe not as many barriers to entry towards veganism as a lot of people think, but then there's also the other side of it. That's like, like you said, there are still junk food vegans. There are people who, you know, are not eating animal products, but they're still eating all of the, you know, like processed package food that.

In general, we're told we should avoid for the most part, you know? Ha ha ha ha ha.

Maddie: Yeah. I like to, uh, do the 80, 20 rule. So I'm like, I'm 80 percent healthy, but you know, I'm always vegan. So I just leave room for vegan ice cream, you know, treats like [00:20:00] that, where I don't like to, beat myself up over this.

Roni: Mm hmm. Yeah.

Maddie: It's all about balance, right?

Roni: Right. So your YouTube channel is all about meal prep. Did you, did you come to all of your different meal prep, like, skills and tips and tricks through being a vegan, or were these things that you had kind of cultured before that shift happened?

Maddie: Definitely before. So a lot of them started actually with my husband because he is like, Mr. Efficiency. I like, if it wasn't for him, I would still be doing the same thing that I was like years ago where you just chop everything and then cook it. I'm like, that's how you make food. What do you mean? He's like, he's like, there's gotta be a better way.

Cause he hates cooking, right? He'll do it. He's good at it. But if there's a more efficient way to do it, he would much rather do that. So, it actually started, we, um, were really into health and fitness. This is before we were vegan, we were like going [00:21:00] to the gym, and we both worked really long hours. So, we would leave for the gym at like 6am, and then get home at like 6 or 7pm.

And by the time you get home, you're just like, you're hungry, you want to eat something, and so it's either takeout, Or, you know, spend an half an hour or an hour cooking. And we're like, we need a way that when we get home, either something's ready to go or at least, um, you know, prepped enough where we can throw everything into a pan and cook it up really quickly.

So, that was kind of how we started, and, you know, we definitely have ebbed and flowed from that. We felt off the track. I would say we had, like, a big move back from Asia to North America, so we kind of took some time off during that time. We were also traveling a lot. And then, My, uh, passion for meal prep kind of got reignited in 2021 right after [00:22:00] COVID, you know, there was, um, that period where everyone was staying home.

I was like doing a lot of baking and I gained actually a lot of weight during 2020 during the COVID year. So I was like, I want to get back into healthy eating, healthy routine, lose a little bit of weight. And so I started meal prepping just to have like The healthy food ready to go because when you open your fridge and you see like a prepped meal, you're going to eat it.

Like it's just the path of least resistance, right? So I was like, this is going to be the easiest way for me to get my health back on track. And so I kind of started sharing those meal preps on YouTube and people were like, Hey, this is really helpful. And I'm like, okay, that's great. Let me, let me do more for you guys.

And that's kind of how YouTube evolved, like my channel didn't start out that way, but that's kind of what it has evolved into.

Roni: Wow. That's so cool. Uh, so you've only been doing it for the last few years then.

Maddie: [00:23:00] Yeah, definitely. Like, like when we started it, it looked a lot different than what it is now.

Roni: do you have maybe like three, your top three, like meal prep or food prep tips, um, that you'd want to share with us that maybe are easy enough to explain over audio? Sure. Yeah. Yeah.

Maddie: Definitely. Okay. I'm gonna tell you all three and then I'm going to go back and explain each of them. So number one, meal prep in a way that works for you. Number two, start simple. And number three, the freezer is your friend, okay? So the first one, meal prep in a way that works for you. I think a lot of people, um, when they first hear the term meal prep, They think pre portioned out meals that are like reheat and eat ready to go.

So you got like your rice, your protein and your veggies in one little Tupperware and you just reheat it and eat it for five days in a row, which is totally fine. If you like that [00:24:00] simplicity, but there are different ways to meal prep. There's something that I like to call a batch prep, which is where you make batches of, uh, like a batch of rice and a batch of veggies, roasted veggies or something like that, a batch of raw veggies, a batch of beans, and you can combine them in different ways to make different kinds of meals throughout the week.

So you don't have to eat the same thing over and over. Um, and then even simpler than that, there's something that I call a wash and chop, which is like you get home from the grocery store and you just wash and chop your veggies and make sure that those are ready to go for the week. Because for me, I just hate washing and dropping veggies.

So I'm like, if I don't have to do that anymore throughout the week, then I will eat those veggies. I won't end up wasting them. and you're ready to go. You've set yourself up for the week. So meal prep in a way that works for you. You can try any of those. Um, my next tip, [00:25:00] uh, start simple, like I see people taking on too much at once.

You get overwhelmed and like, maybe burned out really easily. So I like to tell people to slow it down and then just start by meal prepping maybe one or two meals throughout the week. Like maybe their breakfast, which is really easy to prep. or a dinner, you know, make, um, a double or a triple batch instead and just kind of eat that for the next few days and start slow with recipes that are easy and that you know that you like already instead of trying these like really complex five meals for five days, you know, um, because you just, it'll be too overwhelming for someone who's just starting out.

And then my third tip, the freezer is your friend. I just love my freezer so much. I, like, I can't believe how much I wasn't utilizing it before I started meal prepping. Um, like if you have overripe bananas you can freeze [00:26:00] them for smoothies or banana ice cream. Leftover soup you can freeze and have a future homemade meal really easily.

If you make pancakes on the weekend you can make an extra double batch. Freeze those for the following weekend. Beans, you can freeze into quarter cup portions, like into those, uh, muffin cups or like silicone soup cups. And then just pop those out and add them into a soup or a stir fry, something like that.

So, like, with the freezer, I just feel that you're really, uh, thaw and reheat away from, like, a delicious meal. I don't know.

Roni: Yeah. I think that's a great one to remember. I don't utilize my freezer enough and I'm constantly trying to like, remember to put like extra portions in the freezer, you know, before it's the point of like, Oh, well, we didn't eat that now I need to throw it away. And I was digging through the freezer the other day and was like, and picked up this Tupperware and was like, Oh, this is like so much rice.

Cause I made [00:27:00] like a double batch of rice and froze the second half of it and was like, Oh, well, I guess I need to take this out so that we can use it.

Maddie: Labeling is important too. If you're the kind of person who forgets, yeah. Throw a little, um, sticky tape label on there so you don't forget when you made it and what it is.

Roni: Yeah. So I have a question related to your first, well, your first idea, you were talking about that wash and chop method. I'm curious, do you do like, I'm thinking of like onions, you know, like I feel like every single recipe I make has onions in it. And so, but like, sometimes you just want like a, you want like diced, really finely diced onions.

Sometimes you want more like big chunky pieces of onion. What's your method of. Say you're like, you're like, okay, well, I have five onions that I know I'm going to need for recipes this week. Like, what's your method. Do you just start with like, I'll just make everything big and chunky. And then when I go to actually make the recipe, make them finer.

Or do you, what's your, what's your method? I'm curious.

Maddie: So I'm not a big, um, uh, [00:28:00] stickler for following recipes. So I would probably just make them all the same size and use them like that throughout the week because it wouldn't bother me personally. But funnily enough, onion is the one thing that I don't prep. I've done it before and like, it lasts perfectly for a week.

So there's no problem doing it. It's just, One of the things that I really hate chopping. So like if I get out my food processor, which has chopping blades, I'll throw a bunch of onions in there and have those throughout the week. But I don't use that food processor, uh, with the chopping blades every week.

So usually I will, the onion will be the only thing that I will chop before a meal. And so for me, it's like everything else is ready to go. All I need to do is chop the onion. I don't mind to chop an onion right before I start cooking. Um, It keeps it less stinky in the fridge as well. So,

Roni: Good,

Maddie: for me, I would just take out the onion and dice it into whatever shape was needed, but if you [00:29:00] did want to prep it, I would say, keep it chunky.

And then right before you're about to cook everything, if you did want to finer dice, it would only take a minute or two to just finally dice those.

Roni: good thought about that. Cause that is something I feel like I always struggle with. Like, I don't even know, like I have five onions. What am I even supposed to do with these? Um, so are you a meal planner as well? Do you plan for all of, the food that you buy and then prep or, uh, like what's your, what's your meal planning process look like if you have one?

Maddie: That's a good question. So I am not a big planner. I actually, I really prefer the batch prep method where you kind of just make a few different side dishes and combine them in different ways because we like variety. And just having done this for a while, we kind of have our staples on rotation. So, uh, I've become pretty good at like looking in the fridge and [00:30:00] assessing, okay, we have a batch of rice.

That means we can make Fonji, we can use it for a stir fry, we can use it in rice pudding, you know, we can use it in um, a sushi bowl or just regular sushi rolls. So, I feel like that's kind of just a skill that I have, developed over the past couple years, but definitely I'm trying to get better with the whole prepping part and like, uh, sorry, I should say planning part, because that's something that I have always kind of struggled with.

So actually using the plan to eat app has really helped me out with that because it, you know, really forces me to look into the future of the week of like, Hey, what do we want to eat? And I find that the week goes so much more smoothly when I have planned, even if I do do a batch prep, still kind of having those ideas of, okay, well, we have the rice so we can make these three dishes with it.[00:31:00] 

And kind of scheduling those out in the planner has just helped me so much. And like, it's really, um, yeah, it's really changed my, my whole planning. Technique, I would say.

Roni: Oh, that's great. Do you mostly plan? So then do you mostly plan not from recipes and like your meal planner just serves as a reminder? Or do you, you know, try new recipes sometimes and then you really want to have them on the planner?

Maddie: Yeah. So I mostly go by, you know, what's already in my head, the ones that we have in rotation, but I am trying to incorporate more recipes, which is also why the app is really good because I am not joking. When I first signed up with the app, I had over 200 recipes saved in my Safari browser. on my phone.

Like, you can open different tabs and I would just leave them open. And so I would go into Safari and it's like, you have 200 plus tabs open and they're all [00:32:00] recipes. So I would just seize, you know, like with vegan recipes, you're like, oh, that looks really good. I want to try making that. I've never done.

vegan ribs before like, wow, that looks awesome. So you just save it and then you never go back to it. But now with the app, when I'm doing my planning, it's like, okay, I have our staples of things that I know will be fast and easy to make. And I kind of add those in, but then I also have room for like the more fun ones to try out, which have been in my, uh, you know, in my rotation forever and I just haven't gotten around to making them.

So that's been really helpful actually to kind of be able to peruse recipes more easily. Having them all in one place instead of on Safari has been great for

Roni: Oh, wow. You are not alone in that struggle. I think that we have so many people who find plan to eat and they're like, Oh my gosh, I didn't realize that, like I had all these recipes and there was no, you just never, I feel like when you find a great recipe, it's always because this looks really pretty or somebody recommended it to [00:33:00] me.

But then when you actually go to, you know, cook dinner or go grocery shopping, you're never thinking of that recipe in the moment. And so, yeah, they just pile up and get lost. And I appreciate that about Plan to Eat a lot because, um, yeah, when I was before, like way before I started working for Plan to eat, I had so many recipes saved in my browser and it was like pointless because they were never going to get made.

Maddie: Exactly. Yeah. And now it's like, okay, I'm craving a dessert. Let me go to the dessert category and scroll through and look for one that looks good. It's awesome.

Roni: So then how often are you grocery shopping for fresh produce? Do you do it once a week or do you do more or less frequently?

Maddie: We usually do around between seven to 10 days. Um, I've gotten it to a pretty good system. for that schedule. I've noticed that when something is on sale, especially like the hardier vegetables. So things like sweet potatoes, cabbage, [00:34:00] carrots, celery, those last for a really long time. Um, usually what I like to do is let's say celery is on sale.

I'll buy two or three bunches at once. And then on my meal prep day, which is usually Sunday, I will just wash and chop one of them. and leaving the other two untouched, you know, they will stay good in the fridge for at least another week, usually like multiple weeks, right? So, you know, with that kind of system, we're going to the grocery store a lot less.

Mainly it's for things like bananas ripen really quickly, or we go through them really quickly. So we need to stock up on a couple of those, um, a couple of those items more frequently, but usually The produce rotation is around seven to 10 days.

Roni: That's pretty good. And then I know you talk about this a lot on your channel, but what are, what are some tips that you have for keeping produce fresh, particularly, I think after you've [00:35:00] maybe like washed and prepped it, cause I feel like there are some. Some things that like, you know, like an onion or something like it does stay more fresh if you just leave it as its whole onion.

And then if you prep it, it's like, you really do need to use it within the next, you know, five days or something. Otherwise it gets kind of grody. So do you have any, any tips for, for keeping the produce fresh?

Maddie: Yes, definitely. I, um, have quite a few. I'll go through a couple of them. So for things like fruit. I've noticed that they ripen obviously really quickly on the countertop. So if you wanted something to ripen quickly, I would leave it out. Usually, you know, our bananas will help ripen things. So bananas, oranges, Avocados that I want to ripen.

I would leave on the counter with those. And then anything that I don't want to ripen quickly, I put it in the fridge. So usually, like I said, I can buy two bags of avocados. If they're on sale, I'll keep [00:36:00] 90 percent of the avocados in the fridge and I'll just take out one or two to ripen on the counter and kind of.

Work those in a few days of rotation. So after maybe two or three days, take out another one or two avocados to ripen on the counter. And then you have like this never ending cycle of perfectly ripe avocados without having to have them all get ripe at once, you know, that's the worst. So. That's kind of my fruit rotation.

Most of it stays on the countertop if we want it to ripen, um, but if you don't keep it in the fridge. With vegetables, um, there's, you know, it totally depends on the kind of vegetable. Things like carrots, celery, Beets. Those last a really long time in the fridge, untouched. So usually, like I said, if I buy a huge bag of them, I will prep them on one day and [00:37:00] they, like, like, a grated carrot will last in the fridge, grated, for about five days.

So as long as I've done everything on the meal prep day, in terms of my washing and chopping, that is enough food for that week, then it usually lasts for the five or six days. It's pretty much perfect. But like leafy greens, You kind of want to be a little bit more delicate with them. They're not as hardy.

Also things like bell peppers and cucumbers, those kind of only last for maybe two or three days once they're chopped. Um, so I like to kind of make sure that I'm chopping them right before I'm about to use them. And with lettuce, actually greens, I have like a whole greens procedure with lettuce and herbs.

I, I usually wash them and dry them off mostly, wrap them in a tea towel, and then store them in either a Ziploc bag or a [00:38:00] Tupperware. And that kind of like a little bit of moisture from their like, uh, stuck on the tea towel and helping them stay moist kind of makes their lifespan a little bit longer that way.

I noticed that either people store them too wet or too dry, and I kind of find that like this light middle ground is really perfect for leafy greens and herbs too. But if you ever are in a place where your herbs have gone completely limp, or your, you know, your lettuce or chard or something like that have gone completely limp, the way to revive them is to soak them in ice cold water. you can do a little ice cold water bath. Literally, I put some ice cubes in there and soak them for about 20 minutes and that will completely revive them and then you don't have to toss them out. So I like to tell people that because they're like, Oh, you know, my, my lettuce is wilted. I've had it in the fridge for a whole week and I'm like, try and revive it first.

There [00:39:00] are ways to save it or you can always just throw it in a smoothie if it's really, it's really gone.

Roni: That's a really great tip. I find that, um, If I, if I do happen to like make a salad and I've chopped Romaine for it or something, leaving it inside my salad spinner does a pretty good job of keeping like already chopped lettuce good for a day or two. And I think it's that, like, it gets just the right moisture level of like, you know, it's in the colander part, but there's still a little moisture maybe in the bottom that it's not like touching the, the lettuce leaves.

Maddie: Exactly. And with lettuce, I would say also don't chop it too finely. If you were going to leave it, um, for a few days, I would leave the leaves more intact. When you're wrapping them in a tea towel and then the day you want to make your salad, it's just a two minute chop to get those leaves into, into your salad.

Roni: hmm. Well, do you have a favorite recipe that you've had recently that [00:40:00] somebody you think you think everybody would love whether they're vegan or not?

Maddie: Yes, I do. I have so many. No, I was just, I just made a really big batch of granola and I was just thinking, like, This is one of those recipes that is so easy to make. Anybody can make it. It's a lot of pantry ingredients, so you probably have them on hand already. And it's very simple. You don't have to be an expert baker or anything to make it.

And I think that store bought granola has to be one of the most expensive things I've ever seen. I went to buy some like a couple years ago and it was like seven dollars for this tiny little bag. And I was like, there's got to be a better way. So, homemade granola with a little bit of flax, ground flax, and maple syrup.

are really all you need. Those are like the three main ingredients. Well, the oats, obviously, those are the three main ingredients. And then of course you [00:41:00] can add nuts, you can add vanilla, a pinch of salt. Sometimes I like to do tahini in there for a little bit of extra flavor and or cinnamon if you wanted some spice in there.

And then you just bake that. For 30, well, 20 to 30 minutes at 350, and you get these really big clusters, you know, like, um, everyone thinks that you need a lot of oil to make all of the oats stick together, but you can actually get these huge delicious clusters that you can just break off and snack on. I just love granola.

Roni: hmm. That sounds really great. And you're right, granola is really expensive. And I always feel like store bought granola is like, It's almost like a breakfast junk food when you buy it from the grocery store, because there is a lot of extra stuff in there that you're like, it probably doesn't need to have all those things and it can still taste good.

Maddie: yeah, this recipe does have a fair amount of maple syrup, but that's what makes it delicious. So it's um, it's a little bit sweet, but really, really [00:42:00] delicious.

Roni: That sounds great. Why don't you tell everybody where they can find you on YouTube and connect with you that way?

Maddie: So on YouTube, it's Let's Eat Plants. And same with Facebook and Instagram. On Instagram, it's Let's Dot Eat Dot Plants. And yeah, there's lots of meal prep tips, vegan recipes. And of course I also have like, um, an email newsletter with meal prep tips. So if people are interested, they can join that as well.

Roni: Beautiful. Well, thank you for joining me today. This was so much great information. I really appreciate it.

Maddie: I'm glad to hear it. Thank you so much for having me, Roni.

Roni: As always, thank you for listening to this episode. There are links in the show notes to.

Maddie's YouTube channel, as well as where to connect with her on Instagram and her website, all the places. There's also a link to the video where she gives you the rundown of that yummy granola recipe that she talked about. [00:43:00] And if you are enjoying the Plan to Eat podcast, please give us a rating or review on Apple podcasts, Spotify, and Audible.

Thanks for listening. And I will see you again soon.