FUEL PREP
LOCAL WEEKLY PREPARED PLANT-BASED MEALS
Fuel Prep is on hold for the foreseeable future.
WHAT IS FUEL PREP?
Fuel Prep is a weekly service that will provide you with 10 plant-based meals a week. The 10 meals are intended to be eaten as lunch and dinner for the typical 5-day work week, but you can decide how and when to eat them. If you prefer eating multiple small meals in your day, they can be eaten half at a time.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Every week we will post a menu and you will have until Friday at 8PM to place your order. You will choose a total of 10 meals from the 4 listed options (the variety and quantity of each option is up to you as long as the total is 10). We will shop, cook, package, and label everything for you so all you have to do is pick it up Monday, heat, and eat!
ABOUT THE CHEF
Hello, I am Chef Christine and I am so excited to share my food with you! Before I do, here is just a little about me and where my love of cooking (and eating) comes from.
My journey began right out of school when I trained with the chef at one of California’s first vegan restaurants in 2005, and for the following three years I rotated through every restaurant position but found myself always yearning to be back in the kitchen. Though I went on to manage the restaurant as a whole, I desperately wanted to spend all my time crafting new dishes and releasing specials to the customers for feedback. Fast-forward to now and I find myself right back in that situation, trying to find my way to a kitchen to share my love of plant-based cuisine. From one serendipitous event to another I have found myself here, in Utah, with the Bristlecone kitchen at my fingertips and a community lacking a fresh meal prep option.
Outside of my kitchen experience I have managed multiple high stress businesses, a large sterile production facility with no margin for error, a seven-location retail chain for a lot longer than I care to admit, an aircraft maintenance department, and (if you would believe it) I am also a trained Blackjack and Poker dealer. Out of everything I have done, the last four years of providing prepared meals in San Diego prior to my move to Cedar City was the most rewarding experience and I couldn’t be happier to bring my food back to life.
My goal with Fuel Prep is to provide an easy way for anyone to not only enjoy the taste but also the health benefits of adding more plants, grains, and fiber to their diet. For some, going plant based is a drastic change from their usual diet and there are usually some questions, some fears, and some conflicting views around this way of thriving. I have some commonly asked questions below that I hope will help. Remember, having 10 plant-based meals a week will simply add more vegetables and variety to your diet, your favorite breakfasts, snacks, and weekend meals can be anything and everything you desire to nurture exactly what you need when you feel you need it.
With love and life for all,
Christine
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WILL THE FOOD STAY FRESH?
Certain items should be eaten the first 3 days, but we will let you know which ones they are. Otherwise, your food should stay in good shape if kept in the fridge. Most meals can also be frozen in their container for a longer shelf life. I do not suggest eating the meals after the following Friday evening unless they were previously frozen.
WHAT ARE THE NUTRITION FACTS OF THE MEALS?
These meals will provide you with a combination of fiber, nutrients, protein, antioxidants, and minerals. Most portions are between 350 and 550 calories, however that information will not be calculated with our menu. Our main focus is to provide you with delicious, colorful, plant forward meals to help fuel you throughout your day. We all have so much in our lives to worry about, let’s just thrive and eat healthy!
WHAT IF I HAVE ALLERGIES?
We will mark certain meals if they are made with a gluten free recipe “GF” and/or if they contain soy they will be marked with an “S”. Though we will try our best, please be aware that cross contamination can occur. It is likely most of the meals will have some type of tree nut to include coconut from the oil we use. The other common allergens (egg, milk, fish, shellfish, and peanuts) will not be present in any of the recipes, however the kitchen is a shared space with surfaces that are used to produce these items.
IS EATING PLANT BASED HEALTHY?
This question can depend on who you ask, and the answer is not usually based on fact but on opinion. The person you should check with first and foremost, is yourself. Are you feeling nourished and content with what you are currently eating? Are you healthy and thriving the way you know you can be? If not, maybe a change is due. Does that change include eating more plants? For me, it absolutely did. I talked to my doctor and was given a green light to remove each and every animal derived product from my diet. I was told there is not a single thing in an animal that I needed to lead a perfectly healthy and active lifestyle. It has been 7 years since I last consumed any part of an animal and I am no longer pre-diabetic, my annual blood tests are “boring” according to my doctor, and overall, I feel healthier than I have ever been. Check in with yourself and your health care professional. Note: If you do research online, I suggest you search for peer reviewed studies and carefully try to navigate the abundance of false claims on the internet.
WHERE WILL I GET PROTEIN?
This is one of the most common questions about a plant-based diet. We have been convinced as a society that we need an overabundance of protein, however that simply has not been proven. Protein deficiency is so rare you will likely only see it in developing countries. The bottom line is that tons of plants have protein and if you are consuming enough calories in a day you would have to intentionally try extremely hard to become protein deficient.
WILL EATING THIS FOOD MAKE ME BLOATED?
This is another common worry from those adding more plants to their diet. The answer is maybe. To be entirely honest, in the beginning you may experience this more than you would prefer. Understand that if your body is not used to eating a lot of fiber, it is likely going to take some time getting used to. I have learned from many years of meal prep that these tips helped some of my clients and these are good suggestions in general regardless of the type of diet we follow:
- Eat slowly and chew thoroughly
- Avoid eating dried fruits in abundance
- Take a short walk or include some type of movement after your meals if you have the time. This helps keep your digestion moving.
- Avoid drinking carbonated drinks with your meals
- Don’t overeat. If you find a portion size is too big for you, split it up and never push yourself to your limit!
- Record which meals don’t sit quite right and I am more than happy to help you narrow down any triggers you may have