Make it easy to eat healthier: Stock your fridge properly!

If you are a nibbler, snacker or grazer like I am, you find that a lot of your grocery bill goes towards SNACKS — things you can grab in a pinch, eat quickly and feel satisfied without having to get sweaty and dirty a billion pots to cook a meal.

I tend to only cook twice a week for my lunches and dinners, but in between, sometimes I don’t want to eat the same thing over and over again.

So stock your fridge like a vending machine!

I like to stock it with healthy foods that are still tasty, and won’t break the bank or make me fat, so here is a short list of my rules:

Don’t buy it in the first place

I don’t buy chocolate or ice cream unless it’s once every 3 months. If I do, I’ll eat it. And I’d rather not spend the $6 on a tub of quality ice cream unless it’s a one-off treat for the summer.

Don’t shop for food when you are hungry or thirsty

Going grocery shopping when you are starving or thirsty is not the best strategy.

I went to the supermarket last night and bought 8 bottles of drinks JUST because I was thirsty.

Bad, bad idea.

Prep everything

When I buy vegetables or fruits, I bring them home, set aside an hour or so, and clean them thoroughly, pack them in between paper towels, and chop them up for meals later on in the week, or just into julienne slices for snacks.

Another thing I do is also wash the fruit so that it’s all ready to grab and eat, because you KNOW that at 7 p.m. at night when you are feeling peckish, you are not about to grab a bunch of grapes and carefully wash them and dry them off to eat. You just want to grab and eat.

I also separate them into Tupperware boxes or individual portions so they are easy to grab and go.

Make them pretty and accessible

Did you know that we waste about $10 a week on average just because we didn’t see it in the fridge before it went bad?

With grapes and bananas or other fruits with a lot of water content, I freeze them.

Then when I eat the fruit, it tastes like I’m eating an iced sorbet, when it’s really just frozen fruit.

A very handy trick! They are refreshing and delicious.

What are some of your tips?

About the Author

Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver. I cleared $60,000 in 18 months earning $65,000 gross/year. Now I am self-employed, and you can read more about my story here, or visit my other blog: The Everyday Minimalist.