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Photo: Catherine McCord
Known forWeeliciousand four associated cookbooks, Catherine McCord is an expert at all things family-friendly. Whether it’s maximizing space or making meals her kids will enjoy, the author and cook is willing to share everything she’s learned to help parents create a stress-free environment in their own kitchens.
In her most recent cookbook,Meal Prep Magic, McCord provides timesaving advice and delicious meal-prep-friendly recipes that are manageable for a variety of lifestyles. We sat down with McCord in an exclusive interview to talk more about the book as well as her meal-prepping favorites and must-haves.
Read on to learn more about McCord’s book and her kitchen organization tips—and we got the recipe for her Crispy Chicken Thighs with Artichokes, Lemon & Herbs that you have to try!
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Catherine McCord
EatingWell:SinceMeal Prep Magic’s release, what are some of your favorite, easy recipes that you’re still making from the book?
McCord:When you write a cookbook, it becomes your favorite, so you keep rolling with it! I do a lot of the Blender Banana Breakfast Loaf because it’s literally dump it in a blender, then in a loaf. So it’s breakfast, it’s for when my kids come home from school, it’s a snack in the snack box, it’s good for multipurpose grab-and-go. We make a lot of the Salmon Burgers and the California Black Bean Burgers, those are really versatile and you can make them ahead and freeze them. We make a lot of the Brown Rice Cakes, the cheesy rice cakes because it’s a great use for leftover brown rice, which I meal prep a lot of on Sundays.
EatingWell:Could you talk more about your Crispy Chicken Thighs with Artichokes, Lemon & Herbs recipe? How were you able to incorporate meal-prep-friendly techniques into the comforting main dish?
McCord:For me, especially with meal prep, it’s about staples. Things that are in your pantry, in your freezer that you always keep—I always have my family make a list of their 10 favorite foods so I have them on hand. So you’ll see a common theme throughout the book, which is using a lot of these foods. A lot of those comfort foods are just your classic favorite foods and how you can reinvent them or redesign them. It’s the stuff that you grew up with that your mother used to make. That’s a big theme for me.
Catherine McCurd
Get the Recipe:Crispy Chicken Thighs with Artichokes, Lemon & Herbs
McCord:I love Stasher Bags, they totally save me. I make salads ahead of time and I’ll meal prep them in my refrigerator for my lunch, or for two of my daughters—they love salad! I’ll freeze in them, I’ll put snacks in them, sandwiches; I don’t have to waste money and time on plastic bags. My Stasher Bags are my go-to, and then I have a lot of glass containers. It’s funny because I had a chef friend at our house this weekend, and he was like, “Oh my god, this is so organized, and they’re all glass!” No plastic, so if you want to reheat them, microwave them, it just makes it [easier].
EatingWell:What’s your No. 1 tip for keeping your kitchen organized?
McCord:I would say that it’s containers. Our refrigerator is this big box, same with our freezer and our pantry, and they need containers to hold different foods. In the pantry, I take out all the pasta, rice, grains and put them in glass containers. If there’s cooking instructions that you need, tape them on the bottom. It just looks so beautiful, it’s very soothing and you can actually see the food as opposed to another package that’s smashed in the back of your pantry. I even have bins for sweet snacks, salty snacks, I have lazy Susans which are great space savers for hot sauces, honey and maple syrup and oils, vinegars. That’s the pantry. The freezer, I use plastic shoe bins and I put frozen fruit in one, frozen vegetables, meats, anything that can be frozen. I use the bins because they’re easy to pull them out. Label them so you don’t have to dig, you know where everything is. Just having organization is a great way to see your food, save space and keep things fresher longer.
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EatingWell:What are your top pantry staples?
McCord:It’s such a tough question because there’s so many people that live in our house, but I would say eggs definitely. Oats because I find them really multipurpose for baking, oatmeal, we use them in a lot of muffins and things like that. And grated mozzarella, especially for a kid-friendly house, that’s always a big one. But also frozen fruits and vegetables! They’re in the freezer, they’re picked at the peak of perfection, so they’re less expensive than keeping fresh fruits on hand.
EatingWell:What are some veggies that you always have on hand and love adding to your meals?
McCord:We go through a lot of avocados and cucumbers. We’re very seasonal eaters, so in the fall, it’s 100% sweet potatoes and butternut squash. My kids work for a potato farmer, so we go through a lot of potatoes.
EatingWell:What does “eating well” mean to you?
McCord:Eating well to me means eating real food and eating it together. If you’re eating well, you’re eating real, good food. Not just plant-based, but whole foods. And I always think that means technology-free, eating together with friends, family and mindfully eating.
Up next:Laura Prepon Says This Plant-Based Protein Is Her Go-To for Quick and Easy Family Meals
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