like a boy scout (or girl scout, in my case) - [almost] always prepared...

What a beautiful day! I was so excited to get off work a 1/2 hour early today to enjoy the beautiful weather - 70 degrees and very sunny. It was so sunny that I bypassed the kitchen and headed out on a lovely walk with my husband. We only live a few blocks from the downtime area & when the weather is nice, we like to walk.
Speaking of the weather being nice, I'm not sure about you, but when it's nice outside I tend to spend less time in the kitchen and more time outdoors. Even if you typically spend less time in the kitchen when the weather is nice, it doesn't mean you have to sacrifice a nice low carb meal. So I wanted to blog about what I keep on hand so that we can fix a meal in a jiffy!
We keep the following in the freezer - chicken breasts, fish fillets, beef patties & pork patties. Sometimes I have chicken wings & shrimp, too. Tonight, my husband wanted to cook, so he whipped up a really nice meal - fried pork patties & leftovers (creamy coleslaw and Irish heritage cabbage). I like to keep frozen meats & fish in the freezer because that ensures we almost always have something on hand for a quick meal. I know some people never eat leftovers, but I truly appreciate being able to have enough extra for another meal. Sometimes we have our leftovers for another dinner meal or one of us eats it for lunch or a snack.
We also keep the following in the refrigerator for quick meals - fresh spinach leaves, cabbage, cauliflower, cheese, cheese and did I mention cheese? If you keep these items on had you can also fix something from the freezer along with a salad, slaw or maybe even just slices of cheese. We just love cheese!
Because I keep stuff in the freezer & refrigerator, it makes taking my breakfast & lunch to work very easy - in fact, it's much easier than trying to go out to grab a meal. For breakfast, I fix either some type of eggs or my hot milled flax seed cereal. Most of my work lunches consist of a cooked fish fillet (microwaved in the morning, sprinkled with lemon pepper) and a large fresh spinach salad. My version of spinach salad is so easy - parmesan cheese, olive oil & balsamic vinegar - and only 1 to 2 net carbs.
I think you get the idea, the more prepared you are the easier it is to follow a low carb lifestyle. Before we began this lifestyle, I assure you I wasn't very prepared for meals and like many other families, we ended up eating lots of meals outside of the home because either we didn't have anything or enough ingredients on hand to make a meal. Or we ordered pizza because that was so easy! When we started our low carb lifestyle, that curbed our restaurant eating because it was easier to eat at home. That also helped me learn that it's much easier to be prepared than to have to stop at a grocery store on the way home from work - this is one thing I hate to do but I used to all the time before our low carb lifestyle.
I hope these low carb ideas help you! If you ever have any questions, just let me know. Oh, about the low carb St. Patrick's day dessert that I said I'd post tonight - sorry, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow for the recipe. A long leisurely walk with my husband took priority tonight! Hoping you have a nice, relaxing evening...