You know that feeling you get after giving your house the spring cleaning it’s been begging for all year? That feeling of renewal and OMG-why-didn’t-I-do-this-sooner? Well we think that feeling shouldn’t be restricted to your newly cleaned baseboards and garage. Spring is also the perfect time to do a thorough cleaning of your personal habits: Keep the ones that are working and put some new ones into practice. So, after this spring’s house cleaning, create a new food habit — or two! — with us. Here are a few food resolutions to help get you started:
I want to resist the temptations of unhealthy snacking.
It doesn’t matter how on top of it you are when it comes to meal planning. If your boss drops a last minute project on your desk — or a toddler has a meltdown over buttered toast — all inhibitions are out the window and you’re reaching for the chips. Temptations are going to happen. All we can control is how we react to those temptations. We’ve found that having easy to grab healthy snacks on hand, that actually taste good (wait what?!), is the best solution.
- Lindsay Snack and Go! olives are perfectly pre-portioned and easy to keep at your desk, in your gym bag, or in the car to help you through the evening commute.
- Together, apples and almond butter is a match made in healthy snack heaven. But our Almond Butter Apple Slice Snacks take it to the next level (hint: it involves your favorite cereal and a few chocolate chips).
- Looking for keto-friendly snack ideas? We’ve got those too.
I want to eat cleaner & greener.
These days we’re eating more and more organic, plant-based meals. If you want to bring more veggies into your diet and avoid overly-processed foods, we’ve got some ideas to keep you going all day long.
- Start your day with a plant-based-protein-packed Powerhouse Almond Butter Berry Smoothie before your morning spin class.
- Add a little brightness to your desk lunch with a Rainbow Buddha Bowl with Turmeric Tahini Dressing or Warm Quinoa Salad with Olives, Tomatoes and Mint.
- Snack time? Lindsay Organic Green Olives Stuffed with Garlic and Lindsay Organic Kalamata Olives are a savory way to get in your “fruits & veggies” and avoid the 3pm slump.
- Time for dinner! Top those tempeh tacos with the world's first organic black olive — made with sea salt, water, and nothing else.
I want to make better lunches for myself & my kids.
Kids lunches are always going to be a balance between what’s healthy and what they will actually eat. Luckily, we’ve got 7 Healthy Lunchbox Hacks to help you accomplish both. And of course, your 6-year-old won’t want the same lunch as your 12-year-old. And you probably don’t want the same lunch as either of them! Here’s how to take the same basic lunchbox and make it three different ways.
When we’re making lunches, we love snack packs. Keep a variety of different snack packs in a box and ask your kids to pick out 1-2 each day to add to their lunchbox. You have control over what goes in the box. They have control over which snack they choose. Win-win! Make sure at least some of those snacks are healthy by tossing in Lindsay Snack and Go! olives
Alright: Grownup time! We love a mason jar salad when packing lunch for ourselves. They’re easy to make in advance and they hold up well for a few days in the fridge. Here’s how to take 2 of our favorite salads and make them mason jar friendly so they won’t get soggy:
- Antipasto Salad: Tomatoes, cherry peppers, artichoke hearts, olives and salad dressing on the bottom. Everything else on top.
- Salad Niçoise: Tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, olives and salad dressing on the bottom. Everything else on top.
I want to meal-plan healthy dinners my family will love.
Meal planning doesn’t mean you have to make an Instagram-worthy dinner every night. It simply means you know, in advance, what you’re having for dinner — even if that means picking up Chipotle on the way home. Here’s how we break it down to make Monday thru Friday more manageable.
Think about your weeknight dinners in 4 different categories:
- Go-To Dinners (20-40 minute recipes your family loves)
- Special Dinners (A new recipe you want to try, or something you don’t make all the time)
- Ridiculously Easy Dinners (Think frozen pizza and a simple salad)
- Take Out
Aim to have 10 “Go-To-Dinners” you know your family will eat and love (you probably already have a handful!). Choose 3 of these recipes to make each week. Then, fill in the other two weeknights with your choice of “Special Dinner”, “Ridiculously Easy Dinner” or “Take Out”.
Look at your schedule each week and add easier dinners on the nights with late work meetings or soccer practice. Make your special recipe on a night where you foresee having more time. If you do your meal planning and grocery shopping on the weekend you’ll be well set up, so no one will be asking, “What’s for dinner??”
Need some new recipes that are healthy & don’t have 1 million ingredients? Here’s your one pot/sheet pan/Instapot weeknight dinner go-to-list. Whew!
- Sheet Pan Olive Pork Chops
- One Pot Lemon Chicken Fettucine
- Instapot Lemon Chicken with Olives
- Taco Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
- Fajita Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Easy Skillet Penne Pasta
- Mini Chicken Meatballs with Almond Butter Sauce
I want to hone my hosting skills.
Being a great host doesn’t have to be a lot of work. Your guests just want to enjoy your company and leave with full bellies. Put everyone in a good mood with a ridiculously easy appetizer to start out. We love these appetizers which can all be thrown together in less than 15 minutes:
If you have company who likes to pop in unexpectedly, stock up on Lindsay Infused Blends olives (they come in 4 varieties of herbs & spices!), Lindsay Organic Green Olives Stuffed with Garlic and Lindsay Organic Kalamata olives. All are rich and robust — and easy to pull out of the pantry at the last minute.
Looking to up your wine game? Choose your favorite wine and build a dinner menu around it. Check out our wine pairing guide for all the information and ideas you’ll need.
Want to take your guests on a journey? Pick one of our Infused Blends pairing guides and build a tapas menu around one of these worldly flavors: Seville Citrus, Harissa, Sesame Soy or Thai Green Curry.
I want to organize my pantry & kitchen.
When your annual spring cleaning makes its way into the food areas of the house, we suggest thinking beyond the scrub brushes. We’ve already KonMari-ed our giant pile of clothes — now it’s time to better organize our fridge and pantry. Bring on the joy! Start by evaluating what’s in your kitchen and get rid of things you don’t need. Next, consider which items you need access to most often. Move less frequently used items to higher shelves or storage.
Now it’s time to organize what’s left. Use smaller boxes to group like kitchen items that aren’t as easy to organize as stackable cans or cereal boxes. This can include things like:
- Small bags of nuts and dried fruits
- Spices
- One-off snacks like granola bars, fruit snacks or Lindsay Snack and Go! olives
- Extra parts for a blender or stand mixer
- Smaller baking supplies like cookie cutters, cupcake liners or pastry brushes
Make sure to group like items or items that are frequently used together. For instance, Lindsay Almond Butter, chia seeds and protein powder could all be grouped together if you make smoothies every morning.
You probably won’t implement all of these food habits, but just trying out 1 or 2 will go a long way towards giving you a jumpstart for Spring. And hey: Trying out a delicious new recipe is a lot more fun than cleaning those baseboards anyway