Having meals that you have cooked all by yourself from home is so much better for you than anything that is premade at a store. It can be much cheaper to cook for yourself, as well as much healthier, as you know exactly what is in the food and it won’t have anything preservatives or other nasties. But from planning, shopping, to prepping, and then cooking, it can be quite time-consuming. So it is easy to see why people choose takeout or ready meals when they are short on time. So with that in mind, in order to be healthier and to save time in the kitchen, here are some of the top hacks that you can follow, to help you to save yourself time and money. Have you tried any of these before?
Meal Plan
The number one thing to help you to save time and money when it comes to food is meal planning. It may feel tedious, but it is going to help in the long run. One benefit is that you will not only know what you’re having each day, but you can plan meals around your busy schedule for the week. If you will be at work later on a certain day or have a busy family schedule on a particular day, some planning earlier in the week can help ensure you have dinner planned for that evening. Planning ahead will also ensure you have the ingredients ready to make a quick salad or pasta dish and avoid something like a risotto that would take longer to prepare.
Kitchen Gadgets To Help
There are so many kitchen gadgets that can speed things up in the kitchen. First of all, gadgets like spiralizers and julienne peelers can help you to make healthy food quickly. Second, something as simple as using your mobile phone can also help you multi-task, which in the long run, is going to save you some time. I can’t tell you how many times I have been preparing dinner while catching up with my parents or a friend over the phone. For those that have a landline in their home, a cordless phone can also be helpful. There are reviews for good cordless phones on sites like Two-Way Signal. Whether you use your cell or a cordless landline, just make sure you don’t put your phone into that pot of boiling water with your pasta! Another gadget that can help is a Google Home or Alexa. This is especially helpful when your hands are busy kneading dough or forming meatballs. You can simply call out requests or questions to the device, like converting oven temperatures or tablespoons to teaspoons, and so on.
Double Up Meals
What is one of the most time-saving things when it comes to cooking? Doubling up your meals so that you have enough for the next night. Not having to cook a couple of nights a week is going to be the real time saver. Make sure that you use your freezer too, as some meals will freeze well, and then you can take them out on days when you know you won’t have time to cook.
Use a Slow Cooker
Slow cookers are an amazing invention! This was made perfectly clear during medical school. They can be used to make a tasty meal with very little effort or even defrost meals that have been previously frozen. You can prep it in the morning, or even the night before. Then just turn it on so that it heats up and cooks while you are at work or running errands. When you come home six to eight hours later, you’re ready to go. It really is a great way to prepare healthy food in an easy way.
This is a contributor post, which has been reviewed and edited personally by me before being published. Links to external reviews are meant to provide additional ideas to readers and do not reflect my personal opinion or review of products.