Healthy Eating Idea- Making Your Own Healthy Convenience Items

One thing that I find really helpful to me with eating healthy meals during the week, is cutting up, cleaning, and bagging all the fruits and veggies that I possibly can, on a less-busy weekend day.  If I have carrots or cauliflower already cut up and in a bag, it is so much easier when I am preparing dinner, if I can just open up the bag and dump them in my steamer for an easy and healthy side dish.  It is a very efficient use of your time to cut up everything that you can at once.  You only have to wash items one time, and then you only have to clean up once as well.

Making your own fresh fruit and vegetable convenience items can also save a lot of money.  You definitely have to pay a premium price for pre-packaged healthy convenience items at the grocery store.  Instead, stock up on the fresh fruits and vegetables that are in-season, or on sale in your area, and package them up yourself.  I have learned that unless I package up healthy fruits and veggies in bags for my husband to grab on his way out the door in the morning, he doesn't take any!

There are many items that work well if you pre-package them up in serving size baggies on the week-end (such as grapes, cantaloupe, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, onions, and some lettuces).  I probably would not count on pre-paring all of your produce on the weekend, but you can at least prepare 3-4 days worth.  Some fruits and vegetables may start to deteriorate after you cut them up (such as tomatoes and many fruits).