Did you make a new years resolution to eat healthier? After enjoying all the cookies and candies over the Christmas holidays did the scale inch up a few pounds? Mine sure did. I’m at the age were the extra pounds don’t come off as easy as they used to. With the help of pre-made healthy homemade meals, exercise apps on my iPad and walking 10,000 steps a day, I am hoping that I will get to a healthy weight and maintain it.
I’m enjoying a great blog called Organize Yourself Skinny that has all kinds of healthy recipes for pre-made meals and snacks that you can just grab and eat. It takes a little time to do the prep work of shopping and chopping but it’s worth the pre-planning. Thanks to pre-planning, when you open that frig or freezer and can grab a salad, soup or entree and do not have to think it helps keep you on track and avoid fast food on the way home.
Beans are a great food to add to all your meals. Along with being reasonably priced, the added fiber from beans helps you feel fuller and you tend to eat less. When prepping meals I strongly recommend cooking 3 or 4 different varieties.
Lately I’ve be
en obsessed with making Mason jar salads. Always start by placing the salad dressing first, and add the greens last. Use your imagination by adding fruits such as apples, strawberries, pears, blueberries or nuts such as walnuts, almonds, pecans and pistachios. Mix it up! If you do not want to add the pasta or grains, leave them out. Make the salads with what you and your family like to eat. My husband has even been grabbing them for a quick lunch! The only problem with the Mason jar salads is that you have to empty them onto a plate to eat. You could turn the jar upside down so that the dressing drips down to the greens, but I find that you can mix it up better on a plate.
Just remember to keep the ingredients healthy without a lot of added fat. Enjoy!
Mason Jar Salad
Makes 5 -6 quart jar salads
Oil and vinegar salad dressing
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 green bell pepper chopped
1 can corn, drained
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
4 carrots sliced
2 avocados cubed and mixed with lime juice to keep from turning brown
3 stalks celery, sliced
2 cups cooked white beans
1 cup quinoa
1 cup whole-wheat elbow macaroni
1 cup cooked chicken cubed
Romaine lettuce, mixed salad greens, spinach
Line up all the mason jars and add about 2-4 tablespoons salad dressing at the bottom of the jar.
Divide the rest of the ingredients starting with the bell pepper and finishing with the romaine, salad greens or spinach. I put quinoa in a couple of the jars and the macaroni in the other ones.
Pop Sugar Fitness has 25 healthy Mason jar salads that are healthy and fresh. For even more Mason jar salad recipes that include beans check out our Pinterest page Salad in a jar .
