There’s a problem with “Real Food”. It’s time consuming. In a world of too tight schedules and too many places to be, it is little wonder that processed or convenience foods are in such demand. Throw in coupons which are, quite often, for convenience foods and it is no wonder that we often eat foods that aren’t exactly the most nutritious.
You can do it though. You can have your cake (oops, veggies) and eat them too without spending crazy amounts in the grocery store. So, put down that pre-packaged bag of carrot sticks and grab a bag of baby carrots or better yet, 2# package of carrots. They are cheaper and now, just the same since “baby carrots” are generally baby CUT carrots.
The key is organizing your week and time to make it work. When you are stressed for time and constantly running it is so much easier to talk yourself into McDonald’s or pizza. However, if you take one day – Sunday or Monday – and organize your meals you will be in much better shape.
Make a menu, make sure you have the necessary ingredients, and pull whatever you need out of the freezer. Plan a crock pot meal for a day you know is going to be insane or pre-prep a casserole and throw it in the fridge to pop in the oven. The other benefit to this is that when you DO have a crazy “eat on the run and cannot resist fast food” kind of day you don’t feel so guilty about it anymore because you have saved it for a “desperate day”.
Here is what I have found. If I don’t prep things Monday my whole week is shot. I don’t have my meals together and we eat on the go or unbalanced meals. How do you keep on track? I would love to hear your tips and tricks to “making it work”.