freshblessings.net

What do you think of when you think of summertime??  I think of outdoor activities like swimming, frisbee, volleyball and watermelon!  Beach bonfires at night, looking at the stars from a hammock and homemade ice cream rate high on the evening list…  Food prep and slaving for hours on end in the kitchen are not!

Last summer, because of a very hectic schedule, I had some struggles with staying super high on the fresh food chain, but I’ve learned a thing or two over the months since then that have helped tremendously…

Keep it simple.

Summer is the best time of the year for readily available fresh,  local produce.  Many places around the country now have a Farmer’s Market where local people bring their home-grown produce to stands to sell.  This is the freshest food you will get anywhere (short of having a full fledged garden of your own) and it’s often a great place to get raw, local honey if you use it.  Plan your produce buying around your farmer’s market schedule.  Fill in with a grocery store run for the rest of your list on a different day.

I go to the farmer’s market on Saturday, and the grocery store later on Saturday and again about Tuesday.  I have found that ordering many non-produce or hard to find items to be so much more convenient from the comfort of my computer chair …  Keep a running list of things that you may be getting low on, and sit down at the computer for a few minutes once a week or so to stock up on things like yerba mate’ for cool summer beverages like this one…

http://freshblessings.net/?p=162 .

Prepare to be fresh.

After a long day in the sun/ water, the last thing I want to do is food prep.  I just want to grab something yummy and relax!

Washing and cutting up fruits, greens and veggies when it’s convenient for ME has proven invaluable!  I’m using glass storage containers made by Pyrex that I found at my grocery store with rubber lids to store the prepped food.  I find that keeping 2 kinds of fruit and some greens chopped up in the fridge helps with throwing stuff together in a hurry when the time comes and keeps me from eating something easier, but less nutritious…  Having washed greens ready makes a salad or smoothie choice more likely.

During this convenient time, make up a quick batch of guacamole’ or salsa or nut cheese.  Keep you outta trouble…

Freeze it while it’s hot.

Ok, that may be a bit of an oxymoron.  What I’m saying is that many fruits and veggies are only in season ( and thusly, inexpensive) for a short time each year.  There are different trains of though on losing nutrients via freezing, but the loss is minimal.  Berries  freeze very nicely.  Simply place them in a single layer on a tray or plate in your freezer, then slip the frozen berries into a bag or container for storage.  I am currently using gallon freezer bags, but looking for other less wasteful and less plastic storage options. 

Dehydrate in moderation.

I still like some dehydrated stuff, but noone wants the dehydrator competing with the air conditioning on a 100f day!  I now use my ‘D’ while we’re sleeping and it’s cooler temps all around.  I make one batch of chips or crackers (whatever I feel like this week), one batch of cookies and I usually have some grawnola around as well…  Fill up all the trays so that the energy is spent dehydrating food and not just your kitchen.

Evening is the time to set out anything that needs to soak, such as almonds for almond mylk or sun-dried tomato for marinara sauce.  Thinking ahead makes life much easier.

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