Day 7: You must be proactive!

I hear this many times each day. And it couldn't be more true when planning your meals. This doesn't just apply to allergy sufferers either. If you don't plan for lunch or dinner you will surely be heading to the nearest drive thru. Meals don't have to be fancy to satisfy even the pickiest people.

Recently I've learned I need to be more proactive when planning meals. This way I'm not running into situations that could potentially make me sick. One of the biggest things I've found helpful is, once you get home from the grocery store, cut up everything you plan on using for the next 5 days. If you do this think of how much time you will gain by not having 20 min of prep work for each nights dinner. Another tip is to place all of the chopped up ingredients in to separate small baggies then label one big bag for each meal. It takes only a second to grab a bag and whip up a meal.

These are things I'm starting to implement in my shopping routine. I freeze my fruit for smoothies and precut veggies. What I don't use right away I freeze for a hectic day when I don't feel like doing much work for dinner.

Like today for example, I was in panic mode this morning because I forgot to make lunch for work. My panic mode took me through all the things I could make using the contents of my fridge. Everything needed to be chopped up and I didn't have time. Thankfully I had frozen some leftover red and yellow bell peppers. Found a can of tuna, chopped a few slices of cucumber, tossed in some peppers, and mixed with mustard. Lunch in about 5 minutes. Crisis averted and I didn't have to spend time looking for gluten free options on the web!