14 Quick Tips to Save You Time and Money
Keeping a well-stocked, real food kitchen is essential for sticking to a healthy lifestyle. If you’ve got healthy foods at your fingertips all the time without processed foods to fall back on, you won’t be tempted to reach for the cereal on a busy morning, and the beauty of home cooked meals is that we know exactly what goes into the food we eat.
Here are 14 tips by John & Ocean Robbins to help you achieve balance in your kitchen!
- Plan Ahead. Create a meal plan. Don’t wait until dinner time to decide what to have for dinner.
- ZipList is a great app to help you organize and update your shopping list.
- Shop Less Often. If you plan ahead, and make good use of your freezer, you can trim your food shopping to once a week.
- Buy in Bulk. You can often save more than 30% of the cost of the food by buying in bulk rather than purchasing prepackaged items. Items such as grains, seeds, legumes, nuts, & dried fruit are ideal items to buy in bulk and always have on hand when you need them.
- Consider Pre–Cut Veggies. Buying these may cost a bit more, but can save you valuable time.
- Choose Convenience Foods Wisely. There are many ready-to-eat foods that are severely lacking in genuine nutritional value. Others however, are nutritional superstars. Please read labels and be your own detective.
- Make a One–Course Feast. If you’re tight on time, plan simple dinners where everything is in one dish. One of my personal favourites is using a Romertopf clay oven. You can use the protein and veggies of your choice along with garlic and bone broth or stock. This saves you prep time and saves you from lots of pots and pans to wash up!
- Get the Right Gear. There is some kitchen equipment that can make an enormous difference to your life. Having the right blender, food processor, pressure cooker, knives, cutting boards, colanders, etc. can make it infinitely easier to prepare healthy fast food.
- Chop Vegetables in Advance. Store them in airtight bags or containers in the fridge. Veggies that work well to wash and cut in advance include onions, cabbage, green beans, carrots, kale and broccoli. Softer or easier to spoil veggies and herbs like bell peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, parsley and cilantro are best left until the time you’re preparing the recipe.
- Build Your Base. Once or twice a week, cook a substantial quantity of a legume and/or grain of your choice. Use it in various meals during the week.
- Sauce It Up. Once or twice a week, make a sauce, dressing, or condiment that you can use on salads, in combinations of the legume and grain you cooked earlier, or mix with your main meals.
- Love Leftovers. Learn to love your leftovers, they can save you so much time. Cook twice as much as you intend to eat in a meal, refrigerate the leftovers, and you have a ready-made breakfast or lunch at your fingertips.
- Be Organized. The more organized your kitchen and pantry are the easier it is to prepare a meal. This leads to less waste, and saves you time and money.
- Clear the Way. Try and keep your kitchen clean, tidy and decluttered. There’s nothing worse than entering a kitchen that is dirty and disorganized.
Cooking healthy foods at home does take some time and planning, but not as much as you might think. Keep some of these tips in mind, and learn to create good habits that can bring health and a happy healthy kitchen.
Thanks for reading and keep well,
