Food Prep-xpert


Life goal…To stock my fridge like this every week and be a food prep expert! Right now it takes divine intervention to find time to prep food for the week. It’s softball season which means I spend very little time at home. Thanks to a rainy evening, games were cancelled so I had a few minutes in the kitchen this week. If I don’t make time, healthy eating becomes an extreme challenge.
Two words. Concessions stand.
Sunday my kid ate Skittles for breakfast and washed those down with a Gatorade and a salted pretzel with cheese. Sigh.
Let’s talk about food prep…

Thank you for the video Emily – my lovely assistant/daughter!  

Planning healthy snacks ahead=less trips to the concession stand. Since time is of the essence, I have learned a few tricks to make my food prep attempts a little more successful.
Step 1- Plan ahead. I used to aimlessly wander the grocery store and buy whatever. Now I plan meals for the week (Thanks Pinterest!) This way I can take inventory of what I need and make a list for everything else. Sometimes this is hard because on sports nights (aka every night) we either eat super early or super late. I usually make ahead or plan crock pot meals during this time of year.
Step 2- Prep my food as soon as I get home. If I don’t do this, I end up wasting food. If fruits and vegetables aren’t cut up and ready to go, they are less likely to get eaten. The fridge is a death trap for uncut veggies! I try to brown meat or cut up chicken ahead of time whenever possible as well.
Step 3: Multi-task. On grocery days, I usually cook dinner while I’m food prepping, helping with homework, and playing catch with my son. Yes. I have done all 4 of those things at once, but I wouldn’t recommend it. (I rarely do one thing at a time) As I am typing this, I am making lasagna for dinner tomorrow since I won’t have time to cook it before we have to eat and run! Even though my crock pot has a timer and will switch to a “warm” setting, the late night dinners end up mushy. So instead I put dinner in the crock pot before bed the night before. (Do NOT tell my mom. She thinks this is a fire hazard. Seriously.) When my husband wakes up at 4:00 am, he turns it off. By the time I leave at 7:00 am, it’s cooled down so I can put it in the fridge. Now it’s ready to eat later or the next day. We reheat a lot. While it’s not always ideal, I figure a decent meal reheated the next day will still taste better than fast food!

If you don’t do any food prep right now, it’s pretty easy to get started. A couple of my must have items:

-Ziploc divided rectangle food containers and a variety of smaller food containers
-Jello shot cups (I’m sure there is a more legit name for these)
-Food: nuts, fruit, cheese, boiled eggs, salad, hummus, veggies, and more

Some of my favorite combos:
Aussie Bites, fresh fruit, celery and peanut butter
Organics Superfood Power Snacks, Nuts, fresh fruit, salad with dressing and egg
-Hard boiled egg, veggies, hummus
-Cheese, crackers, fresh fruit
-Apples, peanut butter, nuts

The jello shot containers come in really handy for dressing, hummus, peanut butter, and nuts. I use the smaller containers for fruit and veggies. My kids like to grab those for a quick snack and then leave the containers wherever they are at that moment in time. Soooooo I end up buying these way too often. I just ordered reusable/washable snack bags from my daughter’s school fundraiser, so I am excited to try those out and maybe save a few bucks.

There are so many options! These are just a few I have tried. What are some of your food prep tips or favorites combinations?

My New Favorite Nutrition App!

There are so many helpful apps available for dieting and nutrition. I have many I love but recently found a new favorite! It’s called Fooducate and it is super simple to use.

  • Download the app

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  • Open the Food Finder section of the app

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  • Scan the bar code on your food item or search by name (My screenshot examples are Almond Butter Granola Cups)
  • A product grade is generated. Click the arrow on the right hand side and it will expand and give an explanation of each bullet point. (This is my favorite part!!!)

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  • Nutrition section shows the nutrition label and gives you a green check (good) or red exclamation point (bad) on anything worth noting

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  • It gives you alternatives. If you like this type of food, they can recommend some alternatives with the same or better score.

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This app has helped me tremendously! Sometimes I thought I was eating something healthy, when in reality it wasn’t that great. I love how it explains why the food scored the way it did. I have noticed sometimes the alternatives include the item I just scanned, or another variation of the product with the same score. But I like using that to compare my item to other options. In reality, I am not going to eat all A’s. Just sayin’. But since using this app I have tried avoiding C’s & D’s as much as possible. I would be happy with a B average for now!
It has a health tracker option so you can track the food you are eating. I just recently started using this so I don’t have enough experience yet to provide a great review. It seems easy and works a lot like the other food tracker apps out there.
It has a diet tidbits section with short, easy to read health articles on a variety of topics.
I am using the basic version, but you can unlock the Premium Features for an additional fee, which includes several options, including a Pet Food section! Seriously!
Try it out and let me know what you think!

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Muffins

20180503_204215_0001I have tried some recipes that were healthy but NOT delicious and some that were delicious but NOT healthy. These muffins are actually healthy and delicious! My super picky daughter liked them so that says a lot!
My 2 worst enemies = white flour and white sugar. Which, by the way, totally sucks because they are in just about everything I crave. Then my brother brought me a muffin to try & I couldn’t believe they had no added sugar or flour. They are simple to make (easy enough for my 10-year-old to make a batch with very little help) My 12-year-old made 2 dozen for a school project & they were a big hit! I have made these with & without the vanilla extract and they were good either way. This is a great recipe to use brown bananas that are a little too mushy to eat. It’s also a great way to sneak some extra protein into my kids’ diet without them even noticing. I like Vega One or Orgain Organic Protein powder, but I’m sure any vanilla flavored powder would work just fine.
These muffins are much better alternative to your sweet tooth craving than, oh I don’t know, say a bag of Oreo cookies or a package of Hershey Kisses! We are slightly obsessed with Costco muffins. Last I checked the Costco Apple Crumb Muffins are almost 700 calories, 38 grams of fat, and 48 grams of sugar. You could eat a whole batch of these muffins and still consume less sugar!
Healthy & Delicious PB Banana Muffins

  • 2 bananas
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 3-4 tablespoons of honey
  • 2 scoops of vanilla protein powder
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • dash of salt
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Blend all ingredients together except the chocolate chips until smooth. I prefer my bullet but you can use a blender. Once smooth, stir in chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into muffin tins and bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. Enjoy!