Nutrition for the Week

Do you complain about not having time to eat healthy during the week? Do you think making healthy food takes too long and is too much work?

Here are nine things you can do on Sunday afternoon or evening to improve your nutrition. All it takes is a little prep work and planning:

1. Wash and chop vegetables. Store in air-tight containers so they will last longer. Do not wash berries before they are ready to be eaten.
2. Keep your fruits and vegetables separate. Fruits like apples give off an orderless, harmless and tasteless gas called ethylene when they have been picked. When ethylene producing items are kept near other kinds of produce (like a bag or drawer) then it speeds up how fast the produce ripens. So if you want to speed up how fast an avocado or tomato ripens, then put it in a paper bag with an apple. To keep items fresher for longer, keep them separate.
3. Save money by buying dried beans, lentils, legumes, and grains (as compared to quick-cook or canned items). Use your slow cooker, pressure cooker, or stovetop to slowly cook according to directions. Once they are cooked, drain, rinse, and let dry. Then portion into 1 or 2 cup servings in plastic baggies or tuberware, and place in the freezer. Then for the next few weeks you will have no excuse to not make a healthy recipe because you don’t have to sit and wait for the rice, beans or lentils to cook (and your veggies are all chopped and ready to go).
4. Label all of your items well.
5. Make one large salad for the week. Then each day you can have a salad ready for lunch or dinner.
6. Portion out snacks into your own “100 Calories Snack Packs” or single servings. Take nuts, chips, or crackers that you may un-knowingly  overeat, and portion into small zip-lock baggies.
7. Make a half dozen-dozen hard boiled eggs.
8. Plan out your menu (at least do dinners) for the week. Knowing what you are going to eat for dinner can save stress and time during the week after a long day at work. It also helps you from leaving your nutrition up to chance.
9. Make double- batches and freeze.

What other tips and tricks do you have to share?