HEALTHY BITES WITH KERRYN HORRIFIED BY THE THOUGHT OF WEEKENDS LOST TO MEAL PREP? SAY HELLO TO DUMP DINNERS

written by Kerryn Waters

If you're trying to lose weight, meal prepping is probably something you've considered. But the thought of spending an entire Sunday chopping vegetables, cooking chicken, and filling up Tupperware containers can be overwhelming. Who wants to spend their only day off slaving over a hot stove? The good news is you don't have to.

The first step is to change the way you think about meal prepping. Instead of viewing it as a chore, think of it as a way to save time and money while eating healthy. You're not just filling up Tupperware containers; you're planning your meals for the week, so you don't have to think about what to eat every day. You're also saving money by not eating out as often, and you're reducing food waste by using up ingredients before they go bad.

Now, let's talk about different ways to meal prep that don't involve spending all day in the kitchen. The first option is to do what I call "ingredient prep." This involves preparing all of the ingredients for your meals, but not actually cooking them. For example, you could chop up all of your vegetables, cook a big batch of rice, and marinate some chicken. Then, when it's time to eat, you can quickly throw everything together and have a healthy meal in minutes.

Another option is to do "batch cooking." This involves cooking a large batch of a few different dishes and then portioning them out for the week. For example, you could make a big pot of chilli, a tray of roasted vegetables, and a batch of quinoa. Then, throughout the week, you can mix and match these dishes to create different meals.

But my favourite way to meal prep is by doing "dump dinners." This is where the slow cooker comes in. You can make a big batch of a slow cooker meal, portion it out into freezer bags, and then freeze them. When you're ready to eat, simply take a bag out of the freezer, dump it into the slow cooker in the morning, and let it cook all day. When you get home from work, dinner is ready!

And if you're worried that all of these meal prep options will leave you with a fridge full of Tupperware containers, don't be. With "dump dinners," you're not prepping a heap of individual single portion Tupperware containers, you're prepping a ziplock bag of ingredients to be frozen and used during the week. And the best part is, I have created a free meal prep mastery guide, where you can learn how I do this to make a week's worth of delicious slow cooker meals for lunch & dinner (as well as brekky & snacks)....all in under an hour!

So, don't let the thought of meal prepping overwhelm you. With a little bit of planning and creativity, you can save time, money, and eat healthy without sacrificing your Sundays. And, if you want to take your meal prep game to the next level, be sure to download the free meal prep guide and learn how to make a week's worth of delicious slow cooker meals in under an hour.

Get your FREE Meal Prep Mastery guide here.

WHAT IS AUSTRALIA’S BIGGEST SPIDER?

AUSTRALIAN RESEARCHERS HAVE DISCOVERED A SUPER-SIZED SPECIES OF TRAPDOOR SPIDERS FOUND ONLY IN QUEENSLAND.

The females of this rare species can live for over 20 years in the wild and grow up to 5cm long - large in trapdoor spider terms. The males grow up to 3cm. Unfortunately, much of its habitat has been lost due to land clearing, making it likely to be an endangered species, scientists said.

So-called trapdoor spiders build "trap doors" out of leaves to prey on insects. They typically measure about 1.5cm to 3cm. The newfound species, Euoplos dignitas, is a type of golden trapdoor spider discovered in the semi-arid woodlands of the Brigalow Belt, a region in central Queensland. It is not dangerous to humans. In Latin, its name means diversity or greatness, reflecting the "impressive size and nature" of the spider, said scientists from the Queensland Museum, which discovered it.

Females of the species have a red-brown carapace, while males have a honey-red outer layer and grey- brown abdomens. Euoplos dignitas lives in open woodland habitats, building its burrows in black soil. The females spend their lives underground. Males leave to find a mate in another burrow after five to seven years.

Very few specimens of this species have been collected in recent decades, with only a single female submitted to the Queensland Museum since the 1960s, the scientists said in a study published in the Journal of Arachnology. A three-day search in May 2021 revealed just one population along several hundred metres of a roadside verge, with most available habitat cleared for agriculture and stock. The continuing decline of such habitats may render the species "critically endangered" in the future, they said.

The biggest spider in the world is commonly known as the goliath birdeater - with a body length of about 13cm and a leg span of 30cm - larger than the size of a dinner plate.

By Kelly Ng BBC News