Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Slow: Friday Afternoon


Friday afternoon is when I typically go to the grocery store. When the weather began warming up I noticed how hungry the little tummies in my house seem to be all.the.time. Somewhere in the recesses of my brain I had a memory of seeing canning jars with fruit/veggies cut up and ready to go for quick eating and serving and that seemed to be a good idea for us.

For the last month, I've spent the time when we got home from the grocery store cutting up fruit mostly and having it ready for the week ahead. It has been so handy when hungry little people come looking for something to eat, packing lunches and even for pulling out to serve quickly with dinner.


So far, we haven't ended up with a perfect rainbow like this but I had strawberries and a few blackberries left from last week so that made it work this time around. Only one of the weeks I've done this prepping have there been any leftover. Even as I am cutting there are little fingers hovering to ask for "free samples!"

The week I took these photos, I also prepped some veggies {green beans, broccoli and zucchini} for cooking within the next couple of days.

It has been so handy to have the fresh options cut and ready and they look so pretty in the fridge. Plus it is kind of therapeutic to spend that slow time preparing fruit for the week ahead and an opportunity to once again marvel at God's amazing creation!





14 comments:

Julian said...

Oh I love it!!! Great idea!:) christina

Mom said...

The fruits and veggies look beautiful all lined up in jars, but my favorite photo is the one that includes a smiling boy! :)

Love you, Mom

Nori Coleman said...

What a great idea so colorful, healthy and time saving!!

Jen said...

I love this! I'm curious how they "keep"? Does the fruit get mushy or go bad? May have to give this a try!

Wendi said...

The jars looks so pretty all lined up. I try to wash and prep the veggies and fruit when I get home. I noticed that we eat it more when it is ready to eat. I hadn't thought of pre-peeling the oranges. That is a great idea!

Mary Ann said...

Those are beautiful! I often store salad fixings (finely chopped veggies) in wide mouth pint jars but hadn't thought about storing all the other things that way. Love having produce chopped and ready ahead of time! Jars would take less space than bowls too. :-)

Blissful & Domestic said...

Oh how beautiful those jars are. We've been doing the same thing and it has been awesome!

*carrie* said...

I bet you just stared and stared at those colorful goodies in jars. =) I would, too. Great work--both prepping and eating!

Monica Wilkinson said...

Jen: I have not had anything go bad. I kept strawberries in jars for two weeks since we had so many and they got a little more tart as the time went by but I've never seen ANY mold or anything mushy. It gets eaten too fast!!!! The zucchini looked like it might be starting to turn a tad brownish on the edges after 24 hours, so I just used it the next day in a casserole as I'd planned. Other than that, it's been great!

Elise said...

Wow, what a great idea! I throw away more food than I care to admit, so I need to implement this idea. Thanks for sharing!

Kelli said...

I love this idea ! I notice you use mason jars often. I have a wonderful collection of mason jars and need to use them more often.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful...and such a clever way
of having "munchies" ready for hungry little ones! Plus having the veggies ready to cook.
Love you, Grandma

Jill said...

Beautiful displayed in the jars! I prep our fruits and veggies too because I find my girls eat them better that way and it's so easily accessible. I will have to try the jar idea I love how it looks and is easier to see what's inside. Thanks for sharing. Have a great day!

Blessings,
Jill

Anonymous said...

God is so kind to us. All that lovely color and flavor!!! Not to mention the nutrients!! You are doin a very good thing with this idea!!! Inspiring!!~tammy