Batch Cooking for His Family of Seven—How Jeff Brewster Does It (video chat) + Miso Tahini Dressing
By Molly Patrick
Dec 7, 2019,
Jeff had a health scare in May of 2019 and it prompted him to switch to a plant-based diet. He and his wife now batch cook for themselves and their five daughters each week. Yes, they batch for SEVEN people every week! If that’s not worthy of a huge high five, I don’t know what is. I knew I wanted to chat with Jeff and see how they do it. I had a great chat with him. You will walk away inspired and ready to get in your kitchen and batch ALL the plants for ALL the people!
Here’s a message from Jeff before you watch the video.
I am a married Father of 5 beautiful athletic daughters under 12 years old. My wife and I are both entrepreneurs, and we have a few successful businesses. We are on several paid and volunteer boards, giving back to the communities we live and work in.
Between 30+ Cheerleading/ Volleyball practices or games a week, plus the several meetings daily we have in between, to say we are busy would be an understatement and unfortunately, my health took a back seat.
May 13, 2019 I made a decision to take my health back! I had been slowly killing myself eating a SAD diet and drinking alcohol moderately. I switched to a WFPB (whole-food plant-based) diet and have not looked back. I started at over 310lbs and have lost 95lbs in 189 days. I have NEVER felt this good or had this much energy in my entire life.
One of the biggest struggles was the planning and prepping for dinners each week while keeping it interesting and fresh. I am so happy I found the CFDG community. I joined the Facebook page and started reading the blog.
I just knew I had to sign up for the meal plans. Like everything I do in my life I jumped in with BOTH feet and haven’t looked back. We have been batching and following the meal plans for the past 4 weeks. Keep in mind that I am batching and cooking for a family of 7 every week. This is no small feat and batching takes at least 3 hours per week but WHAT AN INVESTMENT IT IS. I am still losing weight and feeling great. The meals have all been a hit with the whole family and they have eaten each meal without any complaints.
I LOVE that I no longer have to think about what to make for the week.
I LOVE that I no longer have to think about what to make for the week. I just #TrustTeamDirty. On Sunday I wake up, flip the lights on and go pantry shopping. I check off grocery items that I have, whip up a huge smoothie, and head out the door to grocery shop. Once I am home, my beautiful wife Tanya and I start with the prep and knock out the batching for the week in between driving kids to and from activities. We just team up and fucking kill it!
After that we sit back, put everything together, take a beautiful photo and admire our handy work. Then I quickly find something that “has” to be done and look busy doing it while Tanya puts the fucking disaster from the tornado in our kitchen back together.
Every night of the week we look forward to whipping up the quick meal we have 80% already made and then crush it. There haven’t been any leftovers yet!
I have heard people say eating healthy costs too much. Well I have to disagree here, as my grocery bill for 7 has not changed much and if any is slightly less now that we are not purchasing meat each week. Also this is an investment to keep the one and only body you have HEALTHY. If you want to talk about expensive, let’s talk about type 2 diabetes or heart disease – now THAT is expensive, and it could cost you your LIFE.
Thank you Molly and the whole CFDG group for Welcoming this CFDGuy and Crew to your wonderful community. I look forward to the future.
Lots of love,
Jeff Brewster
Jeff, you and your wife are total badasses.
I am well impressed with your dedication and your no excuses attitude. May parents everywhere be inspired by you and follow your lead. Thank you for chatting with me and for helping your family fuel with plants.
How many people do you batch for each week?
Talk to us in the comments below!
Ingredients
- ½ cup tahini (120 g)
- ½ cup water (120 ml)
- 1 tablespoon yellow miso
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons brown rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into a small bowl and whisk to combine.
Notes
- If your tahini is thick, it might be easier to place all of the ingredients into the blender and blend just until smooth. I like making this recipe with thinner tahini so I can mix it with a whisk in a bowl. The texture comes out the best when following this method.
- The dressing may thicken in the fridge.
Wishing you a happy week. May it be filled with batching for the ones you love.
Xo
Molly
16 Comments
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You can also make the dressing easily by pouring everything in a jar and just shaking it!
Absolutely! Excellent suggestion.
xo
Molly
Thank You Molly, Thank You Jeff, this was just an awesome interview. Jeff, you and your family are so inspirational. I’m plant based but I needed a kick in the pants coz I’ve been veering into the convenience of pizza and fries and using working too much as an excuse. But no more, I’m all inspired to make a food shopping list for the week and go shopping. Wooohooo!!!!
Yes! I am so glad you were inspired!
xo
Molly
Thank you for the recipe. If not all consumed at once how long would this last in fridge please.
Probably about a week. Mine never lasts that long!
You can also freeze it 🙂
xo
Molly
If I don’t have miso will it still delicious?
Also- way to go Jeff! What an inspiration!
Hi Jane! You could definitely leave miso out and it will still be delicious. If you ever happen to see a small container of miso in the refrigerated section of a market, pick some up, it lasts a super long time in the refrigerator and it’s used in many of our meal plan and blog recipes. Miso soup is quite lovely and easy to make, too! ~Karen
Great story! You’re killing this WFPB life, Jeff! And kudos to you for staying sane while raising 5 (!) Girls 🙂
What brands of tahini do you like? Is it raw or roasted? I have only bought organic raw, but 3 different brands, so I am thinking maybe the roasted tastes better for dressings. I am new to this tahini thing so any tips you can lend are appreciated.
Hi Jeannie, Definitely go with tahini made with roasted sesame seeds. There are many threads in our private Facebook group about good tahini versus not-so-good tahini to check out. I have used a few brands: Soom, Mighty Sesame, and Pepperwood Organic Stone-Ground Whole Sesame – all are good. Other brands such as Whole Foods 365 and Trader Joe’s also get a lot of love in our group and there are others, too! ~Karen
About to make this as I love misi and tahini, but coconut aminos and soy sauce both??
Hi Louise, You can modify however you like! It will still be delicious. ~Karen
I want to make this, but don’t have lemons. Is there a good sub for lemon juice in a pinch?
Apple cider vinegar is probably the closest in flavor for substitution. Lime juice would probably work, too, but the flavor would be different. Give one of those a try and see how you like it. High five! Stephanie
Thank you so much!