Now it’s Monday. A great day to organize. Each week, I start this day off by giving my kitchen a good cleaning. I thoroughly examine the fridge and throw away anything that might be nearing expiration. I grab my pen and paper and I start a shopping list (Spoiler Alert: I share this with you toward the end!)
Maybe you have a one-stop shop that you happen to love? Personally, I go straight to the Farmer’s Market to pick up my produce (don’t forget your bags). From there, I head on over to Trader Joe’s and I finish my list. We’ll get into a full list in a bit but some basics that I always like to have on hand are cauliflower rice, organic ground chicken, veggie or turkey meat, cilantro and veggies for roasting.
After I unpack, I grab
containers – I prefer glass: but anything that seals tightly will work here. Even plastic bags are fine if that’s all you have. Section out your fruits by day. I usually go about 3 days out and then repeat this again Wednesday evening. So, I’ll grab 6 2-cup containers and 3 1 cup. In the larger ones, fill it with the larger fruits like
melon chunks, strawberries, grapes – whatever you want. In the smaller cups, you can use blueberries, raspberries, diced apples. For my veggies, I take a larger container I fill it up with assorted snack-sized portions of
carrots, celery, sweet peppers, snap peas, broccoli, etc. prepare a
dill yogurt dip. If you like to treat yourself to cabinet snacks like
gluten free crackers or
Popcorn, or whatever portioned treat you prefer, definitely count/weigh this out and put them into containers or bags as well.
I always suggest starting with snacks first because I feel like this is where most people tend to slip up. We get hungry, we don’t have time to measure our portions and we just eat. So, do this immediately after you finish shopping and you will see how much more organized you feel in the morning – and how less inclined you are to just grab whatever is in front of you.
Next, let’s plan our meals. If you’re an oatmeal person for breakfast, you can measure the oats and place them in the bowl, ready for you to add the water and/or almond milk in the morning. Enjoy fruit in your oatmeal (I love kiwi in mine!), go ahead and dice up a 1/2 cup and store that away as well.
Lunches – try buying the larger leaf lettuce cups and replacing them with anything bread that you normally eat. It can wrap a turkey burger, grilled veggies, sandwich meat, ground turkey or chopped chicken. Possibilities are endless here.
For dinner, if you’re a “quick fix” kind of girl, definitely stock up on frozen fish. Make sure there isn’t any mercury or pesticides. Just about any fish can be baked at 350 with a little lemon and be on your dinner table in 30 minutes or less! Serve with some greens and voila! And definitely don’t deprive yourself of dessert.
Need chocolate? Buy some
mini dark chocolate dairy free chips and count out one half of a serving. This can satisfy any cravings you might have. I’d much rather you eat something planned out and portioned for you than trying to resist the urge and splurging later that night – yikes! If chocolate isn’t your thing, maybe count out a few sweet cherries or quartered orange slices. Frozen grapes is also an awesome go-to sweet snack.
I know you’re busy so I’m going to leave you with this one ah-mazing recipe before I head back into the kitchen. I hope you enjoy!
