HealthGuide

Time saving cooking tips to help you eat healthy

Eating home cooked meals is the best way to eating healthy. Even the most healthiest food available outside is not as good as what you cook for yourself. You may say that you don’t have the time to cook elaborate, tasty meals. Or that you don’t have the patience to slave over the stove. But there are some very effective time saving cooking tips which will help you cook delicious, healthy meals in a jiffy. Check them out:

Time saving cooking tips for you

Make the change to your thinking

Time-saving-cooking-tips

The most important thing you have to do is to change your mind set about cooking. If you keep thinking you don’t have the time, or that it’s boring etc, you’ll never be able to cook happily. And, let’s face it how many burgers and fries can you have? Gourmet healthy meals are very expensive, and you can cook those same expensive meals for a pittance at home.

So to begin your cooking journey or refresh it, do so by thinking of it as an investment for your health. Home cooking will help you cave on many calories, which is bad for health. Time saving cooking tips begins with considering cooking as an activity that leads to better health.

Read recipes completely before cooking

If you’re looking for tips for how to save time while cooking, reading a recipe from top to bottom is what the top chefs recommend. This is the first step to cooking quick and smart. This is because you will know what steps have to be set in motion while you prep for other steps.

Use the correct tools

Time-saving-cooking-tipsOne of the best time saving cooking tips is to use the correct tools for cutting, chopping and cooking. If you use blunt instruments, it will get you nowhere as you keep struggling to prep the meal. This one thing puts off many people. It would be great if you use this time saving cooking hacks – for example, buy a sharp set of well balanced knife set. An 8” blade (chef’s knife), paring knife and a serrated knife should be a part of your arsenal.

Choose seasonal ingredients

Another way to cook time saving meals is to use seasonal vegetables, fruits, meats, fishes etc. These are always full of favor and you don’t have to cook them for a long time to get the flavor. They are fresh and tasty, cook faster and saves you calories and time!

Don’t peel everything

You don’t have to waste precious time peeling all the produce. Most chefs suggest this time saving cooking tips, i.e. vegetables like carrots, potatoes, and beets can be roasted with their skin on. The skin of all veggies and fruits is chock full of fiber and nutrients, which is great for health. But before cooking vegetable with their skin, you have to wash them thoroughly three or four times at least.

Plan ahead

Planning ahead for meals on weekends will save you the time to do that on weekdays. You can plan meals on Sunday and stock all the ingredients on Sunday itself. Sunday nights can be spent reading recipes and prepping, which will save you time during the week.  Planning ahead is a must-do time saving cooking hacks.

Use passive cooking methods

Time-saving-cooking-tips

Plan for crock-pot recipes that will include all the nutrients and will be done in no time at all. You just have to switch on the crock-pot and put in all the ingredients and set the timer. Your dinner will be done by the time you get ready to eat it.

You could also use a rice cooker, air fryer, slow cooker etc, as these do all the work and you get a delicious hot meal. All you have to do is cut and chop, and if you do that on the weekend, you won’t even have to do that! This is one of the best ways of how to save time while cooking. This tip will also help you to save money on your energy bills when you are cooking.

Use simple but delicious recipes

If you’re a foodie, you will want to eat yummy food all the time. If you’re short on time, do not choose complicated recipes which requires many steps. Choose simple recipes which just call for one action, such as stir fry, or roasting, or baking or broiling. Too many steps might cause you stress, and making cooking seem stressful. So on weeknights, make a salad (for which you have pre-boiled the chicken), or a broth of vegetables and meat and so on.

It’s great to be able to make a lot of pasta sauce at one time. Do that when you have time on your hands and use it during the week. You would only have to cook the spaghetti or pasta which is quite easy to do. You can have  a nice Italian meal during the week!

Talking of Italian, why not buy Lasagna strips? You have the pasta sauce and mozzarella, add the veggies and bake with the strips – you can enjoy a complete meal with all the required carbohydrates, vitamins and protein.

Use leftover recipes

Time-saving-cooking-tipsUse the tasty remnants of your meals together to make some leftover baked vegetables. You can find some great leftover recipes on the net. Usually, most people cook leftover meals at the end of the week, when there is a substantial amount of leftovers.

Prep the pans

Another time saving cooking tips is to prep the pans too. Start with an empty pan and put in the oil when it gets a little warm,. Let the oil get warm/hot while you prep the veggies, and by the time you’ve finished chopping, your oil temperature will be perfect. Many people don’t know that this heated oil helps to cook food much faster.

Cook once but use in many ways

chicken

When you have time, cook more. For example, if you’re making roast chicken, make two. This is an amazing time saving cooking tips, as it can make your cooking faster during the week. Enjoy one roast chicken on Sunday and use the other throughout the week in salads, spaghetti, quesadillas, wraps and so on.

You can save time while cooking in many ways. Cook and roast double batches when you have time, so that you can have a mouth-watering home cooked meal whenever you want to!

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