food(ie)

After spending last week reflecting on my 16 year-old self, I spent this week thinking about my take on energy and positivity, in particular getting both out of our daily dose of food.

I’ve mentioned it a couple of times here, but last year, I started a Weight Watchers diet. There had been an abundant number of times in which I was all like ‘hey honey, would you grab some take-out on the way home?’. This led to the fact that I was not happy at all with my body image so I shifted from take-out to a well-balanced diet. Of course, I still enjoy the occasional pizza or fries, but I do try to cook a healthy dinner every night. I admit, it’s an everyday struggle, getting home from work and cooking dinner, but I think I’ve found my way around it. Let’s give you a couple of my tips here.

First of all, I adore food. Food makes me happy. Honestly, a night of Netflix and Lay’s Oven Baked (paprika) sounds like my perfect date night. Why? Because of the Lay’s Oven Baked, obviously. During the day, I actually look forward to lunch and our monthly office lunches are the best days of the month. I have several favorite dishes, I love going to restaurants and I genuinely love food. Combine that with the knowledge that I also happen to love cooking and you know what initially got me to join Weight Watchers.

When I first started trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, both for my husband and me, I found it a rather difficult thing to do. I had to find recipes with healthy ingredients which proved challenging when it comes to lunch for work, but I also wanted everything to be quick. While I love cooking, I just don’t have the energy to spend over an hour preparing dinner when we come home from work. Throughout the year, I did find the perfect balance. It took me some time, but now I see nothing more than the benefits from it.

Here are some tips to get you started on a healthier lifestyle including an approach that isn’t time-consuming.

• Sunday Soup Day
  On Sundays I prepare soup for the next couple of days. I usually make a lot of soup that I put in the freezer in 500ml portions. They are half of my lunch during the week. I try to vary as much as I can here and when it has to go quick because we have weekend plans, I tend to keep vegetables in my freezer. I usually make soup in the morning while preparing our Sunday lunch.
• The oven
  The one thing I cannot miss in my kitchen is my oven. I use it every other day, I guess. The great thing about it is that you can put something in it and then you have 20 to 30 minutes to do other chores. It’s a win-win here, people.
• Steamer (basket)
  My steamer basket is the healthy approach to vegetables. Not to mention, they also keep their authentic taste. You can compare this to the oven. Once you put your veggies in the basket, you’re safe for about 20 minutes. Again, win-win.
• Plan
  I plan my menu for the week, but I can shift here. We buy most ingredients over the weekend with the possibility to change the menu (e.g. when we’re both home late or one of us has an appointment). Planning helped us also in a way that we don’t have to throw away that much and we visit the supermarket less frequently. I’ll say it again, win-win.
• Double up
  As there are only two of us for the time being, it’s fairly easy to cook for four so you have dinner for two days straight. I admit, I had to learn this, since I crave variation over anything.
• Harvest
  On low-key weekends, I tend to create a big batch of spaghetti sauce which I then pop in the freezer. Whenever I don’t feel like cooking or I need a quick lunch/dinner, this is my go-to meal.
• The freezer
  I simply cannot imagine life without our freezer. How Martha Stewart does that sound, really? Anyway, I use it for those big batches of spaghetti sauce mentioned before, but I also keep vegetables at the ready. They are a good alternative for those weekday nights.

Since I don’t really have any recipes at the ready now, I was wondering what recipe you would like to see featured here. That way, I can really prepare it, taking photos and all that. (As always) don’t hesitate to leave your questions and suggestions in the comments below.