Ever feel like you can’t keep up with cooking healthy meals for your family because you’re just too busy? Enter Bek Freeman, a good friend of Jo’s who is an inspiration to all of us wanting to eat well, despite crazy busy lives!

Bek is a teacher, has three young children, her husband works away a lot, and she has an illness which can debilitate her for hours when she’s really tired – so she really has to think ahead with the meals for her family. Her priority is her family’s health, and she has been on a mission to find ways to keep them all eating well, even on days when she doesn’t have the time or energy to do a lot of from-scratch cooking.

Bek plans and prepares all the dinners for three months – (a whole school term!!) – on the school holidays, writing out meal plans and ingredients lists and packing her freezer with wholesome meals for the family. She shared photos of her holiday cook-up with Jo, and Jo shared them with the Quirky Cooking community, and the internet went crazy and questions came flooding in!!

“How do you cook so much food in two days?? Don’t you get tired of frozen meals? How do you afford to do such a big cook-up? How do you store the food? How do you thaw and reheat it? Do you include fresh veggies in your daily meals, not just frozen? What kinds of meals do you freeze? Do you prep for school lunches? Can you share your meal plans and recipes? How do I get started with meal planning and bulk cooking?”

In this episode, Bek shares her tips and secrets for successful meal planning and bulk cook-ups. And don’t worry, bulk prepping doesn’t mean you only eat ‘frozen, reheated food’ – and you don’t have to cook for three months – but having a meal plan and some basic meals in the freezer can really save you time, money and your sanity!

Bek has recently started a Facebook group called Once a Term Cooking – if you’re interested in learning more, join the group! Or you can connect with Bek on Instragram at @rebekah_freeman_.

In the intro, Jo and Foo also discuss the Wim Hof deep breathing method which they’ve been trying for the past week, and their experience of increased energy, improved mood and calmness, and reduced inflammation.

Enjoy the discussions, and join in the chats on the Quirky Cooking Facebook Page and Chat Group, or feel free to email Jo and Fouad at help@quirkycooking.com.au.