Whether you make breakfast every morning or you need a plan for feeding overnight guests, these tips will make sure that breakfast time runs smoothly and that you enjoy the process.

1. Mis en place.

   Get out everything you will need for breakfast – skillets, spatulas, plates, forks, chopping knives, mixing bowls, nonstick spray, all of it. If you don’t, the temptation to bypass the kitchen and head out for some bagels or donuts will be strong! I am one of those people who hates to have anything out when I go to sleep, but the payoff here is unbelievable. Once you wake up and see everything in place, it’s a lot easier to start cooking. After all, once it’s out, your only choices will be to get cooking or put everything away.

2. Prep your food the night before.

   Get as much done as you can without actually cooking. If you need diced onions for an omelet, dice them up and put them in a little bowl or plastic bag. Scrambling eggs? Whisk your eggs in a bowl with seasonings and cover with plastic wrap so they’re ready for you in the fridge. Making bacon? Lay it out on a baking sheet and cover with foil so it’s ready to pop into the oven.

3. Have a cleanup plan.

   Either ask someone to handle cleanup or figure out the easiest way to accomplish cleanup. Can everything go in the dishwasher? Make sure it’s pre-loaded with detergent. Can you make everything using only one pan? What about if you wipe out the pan in between making different things?

4. Set aside a cook’s treat.

   A cook’s treat is a little something only the cook gets to enjoy. Pour a glass of orange juice and have a cup of coffee sitting in the fridge ready to be heated up when you get in the kitchen. Or it could be a little nibble of good cheese. Don’t let a growling tummy or sleepy eyes make you anxious to finish or start your day on a sour note.

5. Have some background noise planned out.

   A little tv, radio or soft music going as you move around the kitchen helps wake you up and not feel as if you’re working away alone. Nothing loud enough to wake other people, but something you can easily hear. This has an added bonus of maybe catching the latest weather or traffic report and being able to adjust your schedule or your clothes accordingly. Making breakfast can be your time to catch up on a podcast no one else likes or some trashy reality tv 🙂

I hope you’ve found this helpful!

I generally eat a diet that is low in carbohydrates and high in fat, otherwise known as LCHF or Keto. Sixty percent of my calories come from fat, thirty-five percent come from protein, and five percent come from carbohydrates. This ratio is commonly referred to as your “macros”. I eat this way both for weight loss and also to improve my health. A lot of the ways we usually stretch food farther involve carbohydrates like bread, rice or pasta. So when you cut these out of a meal, it can feel expensive to put a meal together. Here are 5 ways to eat low carb, high fat on a budget!

1. Brinner!

   Eat breakfast for dinner. This is an easy way to get a lot of meat on your plate without breaking the bank and breakfast meat is usually a lot higher in fat so it’s easier to hit your macros. Eggs scrambled in butter with bacon and sausage on the side is cheap, fast and delicious.

2. Start experimenting with compound butters –room-temperature butter with seasonings added.

   Eating butter with your meal helps you feel full longer and helps you hit your macros. It also imparts a lot of flavor to whatever you are eating. Tommy of EatLowCarbHighFat is the king of making easy compound butters and I regularly make his tasty versions. Check out his post on how to make garlic butter step by step. One of my favorites is to get a tub of whipped butter (not margarine!) and mix in 4 ounces of goat cheese. Snap the lid back on and you have a great compound butter ready to scoop and serve with meals. The butter is eaten at room temperature, not melted, like this: Orange Roasted Salmon with Broccoli Florets and Tomato Butter.

3. Take a break from eating replica food –food that is similar to high-carb versions of things.

   A lot of those kinds of recipes call for ingredients that can be expensive, like almond flour, xanthan gum, and flaxseed meal. You can play around a lot within the confines of meats, vegetables, eggs, cheese, butter and seasonings.

4. Save that bacon grease!

   Butter and olive oil can get pricey when you are eating low carb, high fat. Help yourself out by saving your bacon grease in a trapper or empty coffee can after straining it. Use that grease to saute vegetables or meat. An added bonus is that it also kicks up the flavor of what you are making!

5. Step up your wings game!

   Wings are cheap. It’s easy easy to make a lot of them at one time. You can drastically improve the flavor of them with just a few spices. Check out my Old Bay Wings and my Chile Lime Wings for a start. Dunk them in full fat dressings for more flavor and to improve your macros.

I hope you’ve found this helpful!

Like a lot of other people, I get overwhelmed thinking about what to take to work for lunch if there aren’t any handy dinner leftovers. It feels so much easier to grab a microwave meal or make a sandwich or eat out. So I got in the habit of making lunch for the week on Sundays. These are my go-to meals for making lunch prep a breeze!

1. Tupperware Salad.

   Most of us have seen those “salad in a jar” posts, where you layer salad ingredients in a jar and then shake it up right before you want to eat it. This is just like that, but with tupperware containers. I think the containers work better because I don’t want to travel around with glass jars, I don’t want to eat out of one, I can fit more things into a container and I can safely microwave the container for 5 seconds to take the chill off when it comes out of the fridge. What you do here is layer your salad from wettest to driest ingredients. A typical one for me starts with a little raspberry balsamic vinaigrette on the bottom, then some cubed smoked chicken, then sliced cucumber, then shredded cheddar cheese, and topped with lettuce. When I’m ready to eat, I turn it upside down and vigorously shake it with the lid on so the dressing goes all through the mixture. Turn it back over, take off the lid and enjoy! I can quickly make 10 of these containers for my husband and I to just grab out of the fridge before rushing off to work.

2. Chicken & Veggies.

   Buy cooked vegetables from the freezer section or canned section of your supermarket. Check the labels to make sure there aren’t any ingredients you want to avoid. If your vegetables are frozen, simply let them defrost on the counter. In meantime, season some chicken tenders and cook on each side for about 5 minutes, until cooked through. Then just start your assembly, adding a few chicken tenders and some defrosted or canned vegetables to each container. I give everything a quick sprinkle of salt and pepper and pack it a way in the fridge. Easy peasy. A favorite of mine is seasoning chicken tenders with Trader Joe’s 21 Season Salute and pairing it with their grilled zucchini and eggplant.

3. Bunless Burgers.

   Grab a pack of 100% beef burgers from your freezer section and toss them in the oven. If you have time to spare, you could mix up your own fresh burgers and bake them like I did in the Oven-Baked Salty Onion Burger recipe. When they’re done, put a couple in a container and top with a slice of cheese, a slice of tomato, pickles and an onion. You can add ketchup right to the top or take along some ketchup packets to squeeze on later. Because there’s no bun, everything heats up later in the microwave really well. I eat this with a knife and fork.

4. Quesadillas.
   These are perfect if you don’t have access to a microwave at work, you routinely have to eat on the run or you prefer to snack all day instead of eating at a set time. All it takes is a nonstick skillet, cooking spray, tortillas and whatever filling you enjoy. I spray the skillet with oil, lay down a low carb tortilla, add chicken, shredded cheddar and chili powder, top with the remaining tortilla and brown on each side on medium heat for 4 minutes, until cheese is melted. Remove from the skillet and cut into wedges. I wrap these in foil and keep them in the fridge. They are so good cold for just munching at your desk.
5. Antipasto Plate.

   Some of the most popular pictures on my Instagram account are the pictures I take of my antipasto plates. This is another one that requires no reheating. As a matter of fact, it involves no cooking at all! Just meats, cheese and a side. I typically do an italian version with salami, prosciutto, provolone (hard cheese), fresh mozzarella (soft cheese), olives and a sprinkle of black pepper. But you don’t have to stick to the traditional! I’ve made other versions with ham, turkey, cheddar, smoked gouda and pickles. Go Greek with sliced chicken, chunks of feta, pepperoncini, a dusting of oregano and a drizzle of olive oil.

I hope you’ve found this helpful! What are some other lunches I should add to my repertoire?

A big part of enjoying meals has nothing at all to do with your recipe or whether the food comes out perfectly. Here are 5 little things you can do to create an unforgettable dinner!

1. Light a candle.

   Use candles to create an atmosphere that makes you excited to eat! I used to work at a place that would spray a scent of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies right outside the bakery. Naturally, once you smell that you have to take a peek inside and drool over the cookies. It just gets you ready to enjoy what you’re about to eat. Before I start baking, I like to light a Banana Nut or Hazelnut candle, something that is complimentary to what I am making. Before grilling, I burn a Riding Lawnmower candle that smells like cut grass and makes you think of summer fun. Holiday candles work well with comfort food because they put you in the mindset to get into comfy pajamas and tuck into something warm and filling.

2. Break out the finer dinnerware.

   Every now and then, use your good stuff. I remember getting so excited as a kid when my mom would serve regular punch in a fancy goblet with dinner. It was just a regular day, but somehow the meal immediately felt special and I was excited to eat! Besides maximizing the cost per use that you get out of these items, it reminds you that every meal is something to be enjoyed.

3. Serve an appetizer.

   This is a bit of unexpected fun that serves a variety of practical purposes. I don’t usually eat appetizers unless I am at a restaurant or a party, so it’s unusual to be served one before dinner and I’m immediately impressed with whatever is coming next. This is a good way to get more vegetables into a meal without putting them on the dinner plate. It encourages others to linger near the kitchen, or wherever you place it, and chat about the day. Also, it buys you time to finish up dinner without anyone getting in your way because they’re STAAAARVING from the second they walk in the door. I like to set out something simple like baby carrots and a tub of horseradish hummus, mini sweet peppers stuffed with ham salad, some cubes of various cheeses, or fruit skewers sprinkled with lavender sugar —nothing that I have to cook.

4. Add variety to your dinner plate.

   Having a variety of things on your dinner plate forces you to slow down and pay attention to what you are eating, instead of just horking down a slab of lasagna. It’s also visually interesting. It doesn’t have to be expensive of labor intensive. You can achieve this by serving corn and peas as a side instead of just one. Cube a chicken breast and serve it with shrimp, instead of serving a whole chicken breast per person. Slice some tomatoes or cucumbers and put them on the plate with a sprinkle of salt and pepper when you’re serving dishes without sauces, like baked chicken.

5. Add descriptions to your menu plan.

   If you menu plan, add descriptions and put it on your fridge. When you swing by the fridge in morning, you will not only quickly know if anything needs to be taken out to defrost, but you and everyone else who sees it will get excited about dinner. Use words that tantalize, like “yummy” or “glazed” or “golden”. Descriptions can influence how we experience food. Just look at the descriptions on restaurant menus! Forget about “Baked chicken with asparagus and rolls.” No. “Crispy, oven-fried chicken with steamed lemon asparagus and golden brown country rolls.” Same plate of food, but I know which one I’d be rushing home to eat! Have fun with it. It’s only going on your fridge. Medieval Times used to call their tomato soup “dragon tail soup” and their roasted chicken “baby dragon.” Ha ha ha!

I hope you’ve found this helpful. Let me know in the comments if you have any other tips for how to make meal time more enjoyable!