The Sunday Reset: How to Batch Cook a Full Week in 3 Hours

This is the backbone of the entire protocol. Three hours on a Sunday afternoon and your food is handled for the week. Four batch proteins, two vegetable preps, four sauces. No daily decisions about what to eat. No 9 PM delivery orders because you have nothing in the fridge.

The framework matches Week 1 of the 30-day Walford/CRON meal plan. Every component carries Walford functional ingredients — kombu, miso, nutritional yeast, dulse, turmeric, gelatin — so every calorie carries its full micronutrient load.

What You’re Cooking

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4 Batch Proteins:

1. Kombu chuck roast — braised with shiitake, miso, gelatin, rosemary. ~3 hours at 300F (hands-off after the first 20 minutes). 425 cal, 45g protein per serving.
2. Miso chicken thighs — cast iron seared with miso-turmeric-garlic glaze. ~35 minutes. 280 cal, 36g protein per serving.
3. Nooch egg muffins — 12-count, loaded with nutritional yeast, Parmigiano-Reggiano, diced peppers, turmeric. ~25 minutes.
4. Cowboy caviar — black beans, corn, red onion, peppers, lime, cilantro, dulse. ~15 minutes (no cooking).

2 Vegetable Preps:

• Turmeric roasted potato — 3 lbs Yukon Gold, roasted and cooled overnight for resistant starch. White potatoes have a fraction of the oxalate load of sweet potatoes with comparable potassium and better RS3 formation. The CAPP2 trial — a 20-year randomized controlled study of nearly 1,000 participants — found that 30g/day of resistant starch cut non-colorectal cancer risk in half among high-risk subjects.
• Nooch broccoli/cauliflower — 4 lbs, roasted with nutritional yeast, dulse, turmeric, black pepper.

4 Sauces:

• Nori lemon caper vinaigrette
• Miso ginger dressing
• Tahini sauce
• Chimichurri

The 3-Hour Timeline

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Start the chuck roast first. It braises hands-off for 2.5 hours, and everything else fits into that window. Print this out and tape it inside a cabinet until it becomes automatic.

0:00 — Chuck Roast In

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Preheat oven to 300F. Pat the chuck roast dry. Season all sides with garlic powder, smoked paprika, turmeric, pepper, and salt. Sear in the 12-inch cast iron over high heat, 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer to a baking dish. Add beef broth, diced tomatoes, kombu strip, dried shiitakes, sliced onion, white miso, and rosemary sprigs. Cover tightly with foil. Into the oven. Set a timer for 2.5 hours.

The roast is now hands-off. Everything else happens while it braises.

0:20 — Potatoes In

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Bump a second oven rack into position (or use the same rack if your baking dish fits alongside a sheet pan). Cut 3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Toss with avocado oil, turmeric, black pepper, and dulse flakes. Spread on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Into the 300F oven alongside the chuck roast. They need about 45 minutes at this temp. Cool overnight in the fridge — the retrograded starch that forms during cooling is the whole point. RS3 resists digestion in the small intestine, ferments in the colon, and produces butyrate. Reheating does not fully reverse the RS3 structure, so you keep most of the benefit even after microwaving.

0:25 — Season and Sear the Chicken

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Pat 6-8 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs dry. Combine miso paste, garlic powder, turmeric, nutritional yeast, and black pepper into a rough paste. Rub under and over the skin. Heat the cast iron (wipe it from the chuck roast sear) over medium-high with avocado oil. Skin side down, 7 minutes.

0:32 — Flip Chicken, Transfer to Oven

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Flip the thighs. If your oven is full, pull the potatoes (they should be close to done at this point) and slide the skillet in. The chicken needs 25 minutes at 300F (or bump to 400F for crispier skin if potatoes are out). Set a timer.

0:35 — Prep Egg Muffins

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While chicken is in the oven: separate 12 eggs (whites only for higher protein density). Whisk whites with nutritional yeast, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, diced bell peppers, turmeric, dulse flakes, salt, and pepper. Pour into a greased 12-cup muffin tin. These go into the oven when space opens — 350F for 20-22 minutes.

0:45 — Make Cowboy Caviar

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No cooking required. Drain and rinse one can black beans. Combine with thawed frozen corn, diced red onion, diced bell pepper, chopped cilantro, juice of one lime, dulse flakes. Season with salt and pepper. Set in the fridge.

0:55 — Pull the Chicken

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Internal temp should read 175F. Transfer to a cutting board to rest. Pull potatoes if still in the oven. Slide egg muffins in at 350F (adjust oven temp).

1:00 — Roast Broccoli and Cauliflower

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Cut 4 lbs broccoli and cauliflower into florets. Toss with avocado oil, turmeric, black pepper, and dulse flakes. Spread on sheet pans. These go in at 400F for 20-25 minutes (bump temp after egg muffins come out, or run alongside).

1:05 — Make the Four Sauces

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While vegetables roast, knock out all four sauces. Each takes 5-10 minutes:

Nori lemon caper vinaigrette: Crumble one nori sheet. Whisk with lemon juice, capers, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper.

Miso ginger dressing: Whisk miso paste with grated fresh ginger, rice vinegar, sesame oil, a splash of water.

Tahini sauce: Whisk tahini with lemon juice, garlic, water until pourable. Salt to taste.

Chimichurri: Finely chop cilantro and parsley. Combine with olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt.

Four jars. Five minutes each. These are what make the same proteins taste different every meal.

1:20 — Pull Egg Muffins

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22 minutes at 350F. Pop them out of the tin immediately. Let cool on a rack.

1:25 — Pull Vegetables

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Broccoli and cauliflower should be charred at the edges. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast while still hot — it sticks better. Set aside.

2:30 — Pull the Chuck Roast

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The timer goes off. Remove from oven. Pull out the kombu strip and rosemary sprigs. Shred the beef in the braising liquid with two forks. Whisk 2 tbsp gelatin powder into the hot liquid until dissolved. The jus thickens as it cools.

2:45 — Portion Everything

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Get your containers out. You need 12-15 containers:

• 6 breakfast: 2 egg muffins each + 1/2 cup roasted potato
• 5-6 lunch: Miso chicken or chuck roast + broccoli/cauliflower + sauce + cowboy caviar
• 5-6 dinner: Chuck roast or miso chicken + roasted potato or cauliflower + different sauce

Sauces go in small separate containers or jars. Lid everything. Label if you want. Stack in the fridge.

3:00 — Clean Up and Done

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Wash the skillet (hot water, stiff brush, light oil after). Wipe the counters. Put away the cutting board. Kitchen is clean. Week is handled.

Daily Macro Targets

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For a moderately active guy in the 35-50 range running a CRON deficit, here is how a day stacks up:

Target: ~1,600-1,800 cal / 150-180g protein

Add a protein shake (160 cal, 30g protein) to hit ~1,680 cal and 184g protein if your target is higher.

The Weekly Grocery List

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For one person, one week:

Protein

• 3-4 lbs chuck roast
• 3 lbs bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (6-8)
• 1 dozen eggs
• 1 cup shelled edamame (frozen)
• 1 cup Greek yogurt

Vegetables

• 3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
• 4 lbs broccoli and cauliflower
• 2 bell peppers
• 1 red onion
• 1 bunch cilantro

Walford Ingredients

• 1 strip kombu (4 inch)
• 4-5 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 2 tbsp white miso paste
• 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp dulse flakes
• 1 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 2 tbsp unflavored gelatin powder

Cowboy Caviar

• 1 can black beans
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 2 limes

Sauce Ingredients

• 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp capers
• 1 sheet nori
• 1 inch fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp tahini
• Rice vinegar
• Sesame oil
• Olive oil
• Red wine vinegar

Pantry (buy once, lasts weeks)

• Avocado oil
• Beef broth (32 oz)
• Diced tomatoes (14 oz can)
• Garlic powder
• Smoked paprika
• Turmeric
• Black pepper
• Kosher salt
• Red pepper flakes

Estimated weekly cost: $45-60 depending on your market. That is $6.50-8.50 per day for every meal. The Walford ingredients add $5-8 to the basic grocery bill but they replace a supplement stack that would cost $40+/month.

The Real Point

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This is not about being a good cook. It is about removing daily decisions that drain willpower and cost money. Three hours of focused work on Sunday buys you six days of not thinking about food. The meals are not gourmet. They are not Instagram-worthy. They are consistent, they hit the macros AND the micros, and they are there when you open the fridge at noon on a Wednesday.

That is the protocol. Run it for three weeks and it becomes automatic.

3-4 lbs chuck roast
3 lbs bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (6-8 thighs)
1 dozen eggs (whites only for muffins)
1 can black beans
1 cup frozen corn
3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
4 lbs broccoli and cauliflower
2 bell peppers
1 red onion
1 strip kombu (4 inch)
4-5 dried shiitake mushrooms
2 tbsp unflavored gelatin powder
2 tbsp white miso paste
4 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tbsp dulse flakes
1 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup low-sodium beef broth
1 can diced tomatoes (14 oz)
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
1 bunch cilantro
2 limes
1 lemon
2 tbsp capers
1 sheet nori
1 inch fresh ginger
2 tbsp tahini
avocado oil
garlic powder
smoked paprika
kosher salt