Time and Food

There’s always so much going on in our lives that sucks the time right out of each day.   It’s so easy to just say “the hell with it” when it comes to dinner and just have food brought in from our favorite restaurants. It’s easier — now. Not so convenient when it starts to cause health problems down the road.  Restaurants tend to use unhealthy oils (or oils that have been sitting in a deep fryer for hours if you’re getting some fried food, which I totally don’t recommend), they overseason food (to keep you coming back for more), and they give you portions that are WAY more than what your body really needs (but you keep eating anyway).  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying stop eating out but we have gone from a society that ate homecooked meals most of the time to one that mostly goes out to eat.

So, I know that cooking healthy dinners are time-consuming but there are things and ways to mitigate that, to make it less so.  I recommend making a meal plan for the upcoming week – I know you’ve heard this before but it really does make a huge difference. Here’s some steps that I recommend:

1. Go with a theme. Let’s say that next week you’re going South of the Border with food choices.  You get online and find some healthy recipes that you think “hey, that sounds pretty good” (did I mention “healthy recipes”? Ok, just making sure). Depending on serving numbers, choose 2-3 entrees that will feed you and your family twice (at least) during the week.
2. Choose a cooking day that you will volun-tell your family to help you with the prep work so you’re not the only one chained to the kitchen. Plus, this is a GREAT way to get some socialization with your fam!
3. Now that you’ve chosen a cooking day, choose another day that you will do the grocery shopping, preferably a day or two before your cooking day (if you hate grocery shopping like I do, then get onboard with one of the grocery delivery services in your area).
4. Make sure to order salad fixings for the week as well – not just lettuce and dressing but lots of yummy raw veggies that you’ll want to mix with your lettuce (please don’t choose iceberg lettuce, there are so many more yummy and healthier options). And stay away from croutons!  Choose some raw pumpkin seeds or walnuts instead for the crunch factor.
5. On cooking day, do all the prep work (chopping, dicing, cutting, cursing — oops, that’s one of my preps, sorry.) for all the recipes first. Use sealable bags to put just the right amount of the ingredients for the recipes. I like to put a piece of painter’s tape on them and write the recipe/ingredient on the tape instead of the bag (that way you can wash and reuse the bag).
6. Now get cooking.  When storing the food, use some of that painter’s tape on the containers with what the food is and the date you made it (easier to track when things should be tossed out).
7. As for the salad fixings? Use six resealable bags and make your salads — these will be your dinner salads for the week and your “side dishes”. Then, just add dressing!

And you’re done for the week!  Some people go and do this one weekend a month and cook food for the whole month (freezing things). I don’t suggest doing that with the salads, though.

In the long run, doing this will be healthier for everyone and might be healhier on your wallet, too.

After Thought: Splurge one night a week and eat out! I recommend it be the day before cooking day!