Soon there will likely be a bounty of fresh veggies overflowing in your garden! Take advantage of this time to make some staples for the fall and winter months to come. If you don’t have a garden, the local grocery stores or produce marts most will have it on sale with the abundance of seasonal produce. Look for tomatoes, beans, squash, and stone fruits…to name a few.
- Things that you see are on sale now and are not typically available seasonally. If you shop in a big grocery store you might see produce available all year long. That simply means they use purveyors from around the world and the produce is not local. Support the farmers at weekly local Farmer’s Markets that only carry fresh, seasonal produce that is locally grown if possible.
- Like having your everyday spices easily accessible? Buy 3 adorable little bowls/containers. One for Kosher Salt, one for Ground Black Pepper and one for a mixture of the two. Viola! Pinch when you want it right next to your stove top with ease.
- Re-use a glass jar or small seasoning jar to assemble your favorite pre-mixed seasonings to save time, money, and sodium. Cinnamon and a little sugar or Splenda®? Paprika and black pepper for tuna? Or a used jar to make homemade salad dressings or marinades.
- What would get you or your family to eat more fruit? Prep it! It’s much easier to munch on fresh berries or grapes if they are all washed and ready to enjoy immediately.
- Embrace left-overs. In fact, plan for left-overs to sustain you throughout the week. Left-overs should be renamed: life savers!
- Stop cooking your green veggies, broccoli and green beans. Freeze them and just add them to your Ziploc baggies frozen. When you reheat your food the veggies get cooked but stay firm. Baggies save big time.
- Make up the majority of your protein for the week to get a head start on a bunch of meals for your busy week ahead. Hard boil eggs. Make some tuna salad. BBQ several chicken breasts, turkey sausage links, turkey burger patties…etc.
- Prep your veggies to make it a snap to grab the right carb choice! Make up either a giant bag of mixed veggies, or portion them out to save precious time in the morning.
- Make up a bunch of Butcher-cut turkey deli meat & cheese roll-ups at one time assembly line style. Wrap your portions for each day and you’re good to go. You can add your home-made “ Dijonaisse” as you go under the cheese for more flavor.
- Saturday is marinate day & Sunday is always prep day.
