I find a huge reason people justify crappy eating is because of the time it takes to prepare healthy meals. I completely understand having a busy schedule and I don't by any means deny the fact that hitting a fast food joint on the way home and not even having to get out of the car probably is quicker than coming home and pulling a bunch of ingredients out of the fridge, getting pots and pans out and actually cooking a meal. So I thought I would share a few things I do to make eating healthy on the go a lot easier!
First and foremost I cannot praise the crock pot enough, Pinterest offers a ton of easy recipes that you can get ready in the morning, leave it on low all day and come home to a delicious healthy meal! Most crock pots have the removable ceramic inside therefore you can get everything ready the night before, have it in the fridge to grab the next morning put it on low and run! How easy is that??
For me the biggest help in creating healthy meals on the go in having everything ready and easily accessible in the fridge all week so when I need to grab something on the run I eliminate the time it would take to clean and chop before cooking!
After grocery shopping every week I make the time that night or the next day to pull out all the fruits and vegetables we've bought and clean and chop everything! I find for me when I'm looking for a snack if things are ready in the fridge I am more inclined to grab a celery stick than a chocolate granola bar we have for Jason's lunch snacks (we apparently all wont go for a celery stick regardless of how easily accessible they are).
I am a lover of fruit, living in Alaska and not being able to get fresh fruit (because everything is shipped in) I really missed it. Now that we are out here in farm country I absolutely LOVE all the different fresh fruits we can get here. Unfortunately although this sounds ridiculous if I don't go through and cut up all the fruit and have it in containers in the front of the fridge I often forget its even there unless I go digging. So at any point in time I often have multiple containers of fresh cut fruit in the fridge so I'm always inclined to grab it when I feel a twinge of hunger!
Just getting back from vacation and obviously not eating as healthy as we might at home it is really important for us to jump back on the healthy eating band wagon! Truthfully for the most part we ate pretty well this vacation (FOR THE MOST PART!) but with not being at the gym and having access to more snacks than usual I really went overboard last night when grocery shopping with healthy goods!
Tonight we are going to be enjoying stir fry with fresh veggies and marinated chicken! Generally making a meal like this takes a lot of work, cleaning and cutting up all the vegetables, cutting up the chicken or meat of your choice! This meal prep time took me all of 5 minutes today as all my veggies were in the fridge and ready to go!
We do this with meat as well, after we buy meat at the grocery store we come home and separate it according to meals planned for the week so we just have to grab a bag out of the freezer and defrost it for the meal planned.
If its not possible to do weekly meal prep, which I understand it isn't always I do make a point to at least have some fresh fruit in a bowl on the counter, nectarines, peaches, oranges, apples... some avocados! Easy access!!
Eating healthy doesn't have to be overly time consuming, it can be quick and easy with the right preparation, it allows you to experiment with ingredients and spices, really find what works for you and your family, its absolutely cheaper than eating out and its so much better for you!
I'm off to make dentist appointments.. eek! I absolutely HATE going to the dentist, I love the feeling of super clean teeth but truth be told I am absolutely terrified of the picking, scraping, drilling and bleeding! I suppose there is no avoiding it, maybe they wont charge for a little laughing gas to ease my nerves?
Wow this is an awesome idea Nicole. I will have to try this the next time we go grocery shopping. I personally hate cooking, and Richard and I have different tastes when it comes to eating, but this would make it a lot easier.
ReplyDeleteThanks, you definitely should! Jason and I are both fussy eaters but in the complete opposite way! He is meat and potatoes and I am veggies and rice, so I never wanted to cook two meals because of the time it would take and this really helps out. You can chop things to the extent that you can throw it right in the pan for a bag. You can also put a roast, potatoes and veggies all in a freezer bag and throw it in the freezer, just to take out in the morning, throw in the crock pot with some stock and let it cook all day! I love how simple dinners can be made with little preparation directly prior! Let me know how it works for you! :)
ReplyDelete