02 Apr Inside the Fridge welcomes Zen & Spice's Emily Hein

Meet Dallasite Emily Hein, chief blogger at  Zen & Spice. Emily shares healthy recipes, workouts, favorite things, and her thoughts on meditation and relaxation. She firmly believes that moderation and enjoyable physical activity are the keys to a healthy life. In her spare time she enjoys hot yoga, pilates, cooking for her family and friends and painting! Emily is also a registered and licensed dietitian.

You can also find her on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest!

Where do you shop for food?

For the bulk of my shopping list, I mainly go to our Wal-Mart to get the lowest prices around here. Most of the time their produce looks pretty good. When it doesn’t, I head over to Whole Foods for produce and any other specialty or health food items.

Do you love food shopping or dread it?

I actually like going to the grocery store! I love looking at all the fresh produce and learning about new products. If I’m short on time that weekend, shopping can get a little annoying. Having a grocery list so I can get in and out helps a lot.

What is the single most important thing on your mind when you are shopping for food?

Shop the perimeter of the grocery store! This is what tell my patients to do and what I try to do myself. This is where we’ll find the least processed foods—fresh produce, fresh meat, and dairy. The middle is where all the cans, boxes and bags are. I go into the middle for things like olive oil, nuts, canned tomatoes and beans. With a family history of high blood pressure, I also pay attention to the amount of sodium in foods that I buy. Reading labels is key.

What is your weekly food budget? 

Keeping within a food budget is one of my weaknesses! I tend to buy on impulse. I try to stick to my grocery list as best as possible. We try to spend less than $100 a week for the two of us.

How do you plan your weekly meals? Create a spreadsheet of fly by the seat of your pants? 

On Sundays, I sit down and make my menu for the week. My boyfriend and I will usually eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day, so that part is easy to fill in. Since there are only two of us, we usually pick two to three dinner meals that sound good, make the whole recipe, then eat off of it for a couple days. This saves us time during the week because we aren’t cooking something new every day! This also reduces food waste from uneaten leftovers.

What is the oldest item in the fridge right now?

I would have to guess the bottle of low-sodium soy sauce. That stuff lasts forever.

Do you believe in leftovers?

Definitely! We like to cook two to three times per week and eat leftovers for dinner. It saves us the trouble of cooking every single night of the week. The less work (cooking and dishes) we have to do, the better.

What cooking utensil/piece of equipment/appliance do you live for?

I really like using my toaster oven. I can broil individual chicken breasts or salmon filets without heating up the entire kitchen with our regular oven. It’s also very useful to use for broiling peppers and other veggies. It’s definitely an energy saver and an easy cleanup.

What are your go-to food/nutrition/culinary/cooking website/s, book or cookbook?

Pinterest is where I get a majority of my recipes! I also get recipes from The Pioneer Woman, William Sonoma, AllRecipes, and other bloggers such as Skinny Taste and The Lean Green Bean.

What was the last meal you cooked from scratch?

I made tonight’s dinner from scratch—Betty Crocker’s meat loaf, mashed potatoes and fresh green beans! My boyfriend had never had meat loaf before and it was high time he tried it!

What words of wisdom or advice do you have for other folks who are doing their best every day to fill the fridge?

Meal planning and prepping can be such a huge time saver! Plan your meals ahead of time and shop for everything you need. Spend a couple hours before the week starts prepping as much as you can for your recipes—wash lettuce, chop veggies, bake muffins, broil chicken, etc. Whatever you can get done ahead of time, the more time you save at the end of the day after work when you’re tired and hungry.

 Thank you Emily!

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