Plan your meals
Eating healthy is so much easier when you plan out exactly what you are going to each for every meal, every day of the week. We have a shared note on our phone and each week we sit down and figure out what we want. This helps us to stay on track, limit food waste and save money.
Create a list
Never go to the grocery store without a list. Once you have identified the meals you plan to make that week, look at the recipes and take an inventory of the items you already have at home. If you have a garden, maybe take a peek and see what may be ready to harvest. Once you have done your inventory, you can add the remaining items to your grocery list. Once you learn to only buy what is on the list, you will notice you purchase less snacks or sweets than you did before.
Cut & Prep all of your fruits and veggies for the full week, the day you grocery shop!
I made the transition to a clean whole food diet, containing no processed foods back in April and every Sunday when I get back from grocery shopping, I prep and wash all of my produce for every meal that week. I use the branch basics all-purpose spray to clean my produce and then I let it soak in water. After it has soaked, I set everything on a fresh kitchen towel and get to work.
Learn how to store produce to make it last
It can be so frustrating when you spend all this money grocery shopping and the next day your veggies or lettuce is all wilted. I have learned that for asparagus you should cut off the bottoms and then soak them in water, this helps keep the crisp until you are ready to cook. For lettuce you can wash and wait for the leaves to completely dry, then store them in a bag with a paper towel. If the leaves happen to wilt, toss them in a bucket of water with ice and soak for 10-15 minutes, they will crisp right back up. For Fruit, you want to wash and wait for it to totally dry to prevent molding.
Make a homemade dressing
Every single week I make a homemade dressing. This is such a great way to know exactly what is in it and it gives you yet another item that is prepped and ready to help make mealtime so much easier. I rotate between the Baked by Mellisa Green Goddess Dressing as well as the Baked by Melissa Green Goddess Ranch. I also love to keep extra lemons on hand so that I can easily make a lemon + olive oil vinaigrette to freshen things up.
