Tips on making time for cooking and eating healthy?

borichfan
borichfan Posts: 208 Member
edited October 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Can someone give me some tips on making the time to cook healthy & eat healthy during busy schedules/activities? I am struggling with this. Can someone give me some tips on preparing some healthy foods ahead of time & having healthy foods & snacks on hand to eat during busy times?

Replies

  • Healthyby30
    Healthyby30 Posts: 1,349 Member
    Honestly, cooking healthy doesn't take more time than cooking unhealthy...unless you just never cooked before. Cooking doesn't have to take forever. You can pre-cut veggies and meat the day before so it's easy to throw things together. You can make soups a day or so before and reheat them, you can cook slow cooker meals, you can make casseroles up ahead of time and cook them the next day. Whenever I make anything, I make extra and freeze it, sometimes in individual portions, sometimes an entire pan. It's easy to grab an individual container out of the freezer for a lunch for work, or if you froze the entire pan you've just made dinner for another day. This especially works for soups, stews, and casseroles. Example...if I'm making lasagna, and I want an extra pan to make for another meal, I'll put everything in the pan but not cook it. The day I want to eat it, I'll take it out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator until its ready to cook so it can thaw out. If you're freezing individual portions, cook it first then freeze it so you can just reheat it in the microwave.

    For snacks, I eat yogurt, fruit and cheese or nuts, hard boiled eggs, veggies...those are all easy things I take with me to work.
  • lottycat
    lottycat Posts: 333 Member
    Stir frys are super quick to make, or get a crock-pot, chuck a load of stuff in it in the morning and just leave it to do it's thing.
  • Lazytoad2001
    Lazytoad2001 Posts: 45 Member
    Hi

    I try to be organised on a Sunday or if I know I have a day when im going to be late home. Yesterday I made, chickpea and chorizo soup & mushroom soup one is for tonight and tommorows tea with some bread the other is bound for the freezer. There are only two of us in our house, however I make all recipes up for the four they are designed for. That way I can make full use of my freezer and when im short on time I can pull something healthy and homemade out of it and voila :)

    Good luck

    K x
  • crux
    crux Posts: 454 Member
    1st Either meal planning or store cupboard planning. - Know a selection of meals (and their calories) that you can rotate through the week, figure out their ingredients and then shop for that or shop to keep the store cupborad stocked with the things you need to make the common meals.

    2nd Pre-prepare. - Schedule a day or some times during the week when you will prepare foods in advance. I make salads and soups etc on Sundays and Wednesdays bag or box them up and refrigerate, ready to go as lunches, snacks or whenever you need.

    3rd Learn how to cook fast healthy main meals from scratch. - Most of my weekday meals take 30 min's maximum to make it from raw ingredients to the table.

    All of this takes some initial time investment to learn and plan and calculate calories etc... but it's time well spent.

    This freed me from buying ready to eat processed junk meals.
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