So that just might be my longest title ever. I wanted to share with you three things that I do every week to keep my sanity and keep us from being in the drive thru line.
- Cut up all of our veggies in advance. Within a day or two of coming home from the store, I wash and cut all of our veggies up. You have no idea how nice it is to have pre-cut onion when you’re fixing fajitas or a good spaghetti sauce. Salads come together with great ease. Lunch box veggies are an easy side. The list goes on and on. I keep my veggies in Ziploc Containers, stored in the crisper. I’ve also switched from buying baby carrots to buying carrot carrots which I peel and cut. The savings on this small change are HUGE. One bag of baby carrots at Aldi (the cheapest place to buy them consistently) is ~ 1 lb and costs $0.99. A 2 lb. bag of regular carrots is $0.69. The time to peel and chop them is minimal and the savings RIDICULOUS. Plus I like the idea that fewer hands have touched our food.
- Meal Plan, Meal Plan, Meal Plan. My weekly meal planning savings my sanity and gives me peace in knowing that we have exactly what we need to fix the meal planned. I’m flexible and change things up when I need to do so (time constraints or something sounds better) but by and large I stick with the plan. I can also tell we’re more intentional about eating balanced when I plan to have specific veggies and fruits as a part of our fare.
- Cook Elements of a Meal in Advance. Rarely do I have the opportunity (nor could our small freezer handle much more) to cook entire meals in advance. However, I do like to cook components like ground turkey or black beans or pancakes or any other item that can be easily frozen in advance. Life flows a bit more easily when I know I already have one or two steps completed in the dinner dance. When I can double a meal and if I have space in the freezer, I take advantage of the opportunity but even doing a few small things makes life easier.
What about you? What are three things you do to stick to eating at home and more healthfully with less stress?
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I totally agree on the carrots!
It’s crazy how long it took me to realize that!