“…healthy, delicious food doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated… we can eat well, even on a budget, even on a Tuesday.” ~ Sarah Britton

Goal: eat healthy plant based, on a budget, while preparing uncomplicated meals that excite me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Weekend Fridge Shot ~

Action plan: I cleaned and stocked my refrigerator for the week. This is a work in progress for me, so hopefully as I gain experience my fridge game will become more on point. But let me tell ya… I do not have a gigantic refrigerator, and I am sharing the space with my husband and toddler. And I will admit that my eyes are sometimes bigger than my stomach, so I need to remember that, and when shopping keep in mind I only need one gigantic heirloom tomato instead of three.

What inspired me to organize my refrigerator is the idea that food waste is a huge problem, and I too am tired of throwing out too much food and money.

The fact is 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted every year. That is about 1/3 of what we eat. That’s why finding ways to help use this food is a worthy goal.

My idea is to plan out my meals for the week. Then divide the week into two parts, making a grocery store haul that will cover one part of the week, (once the food is eaten) then make a farmers market haul to cover the second part of the week. This way I’m only buying the things I need, in small portions – leaving more space in my refrigerator and eating things up before they go bad. This way I will always have fresh produce on hand, and I’ll use up what I have before buying more, with the goal to eliminate waste and save money.

No more plastic, Glass everything.

Glass is the best and safest way to store your food because when heated it doesn’t allow your food to absorb any toxic materials. Also to your convenience it is microwave, dishwasher, oven, and freezer safe. So because of this I got rid of most of my plastic containers and replaced them with stackable glass containers. Stackable is amazing because it doesn’t take up as much space in the fridge.

I’m also storing all of my nuts and seeds in the refrigerator in glass jars. This is the proper way you should store these items because it prolongs their shelf life. Because glass is transparent, I’m able to see what is in each jar and the quantity. I’ve been just reusing jars I already have on hand, such as jars from pickles or pasta sauce I’ve used up.

My must have items that I always have.

~ Kale for green smoothies, and to throw in omelettes and salads.

~ Beets for roasting and smoothies

~ Almonds for making almond milk

~ Greek yogurt

~ fresh seasonal fruit

~ fresh seasonal veggies

~ garlic

~ ginger

~ parsley

~ cilantro

I just started to store my herbs in a jar of water in the refrigerator, for longer shelf life and easy access.

This week’s meal prep…

I’ve made my favorite chickpea dish, Chana Masala. I’ve roasted veggies. I baked fish. Made a salad with homemade dressing. And made an avocado mango salsa. I also have a green juice on hand, you can find the recipe on my instagram @sweat1xdaily.

I hoping all of this planning, prepping, and goal setting with an action plan will help me cook more and eat more at home, save money, and eliminate waste.