How many times have you found yourself thinking or saying out loud that you hate cooking? Although you love the finished product and enjoy a delicious tasting meal, maybe you’re tired of all the work that goes into it. Rather than giving up on cooking and resorting to takeout and restaurants for every meal, why not learn to find the joy in preparing healthy meals that take much less effort than you’re used to? It may be all you need to reinvigorate yourself and see cooking in a fresh new light. Here’s a look at some useful tips on how to prepare healthy meals with less effort.
Look Into a Meal Delivery Service
When you start to look at what the most time-consuming part of cooking a meal is, the preparation often ends up being top of the list. This includes coming up with a recipe, shopping for the ingredients, preparing all the ingredients (washing, chopping, slicing and so forth) and then the actual cooking portion. And if you’re focusing on healthy eating, there tends to be even more preparation involved since you’re likely using a lot of fresh ingredients.
A great solution is to use a meal delivery service. They take care of the most time-consuming steps. Your meal kit is delivered straight to your house and within the kit you’ll find all the ingredients pre-measured and ready to go, as well as in-depth recipe directions. It can cut the meal preparation time in half, even less. You can check this link for more info about Gobble Meal delivery review highlights and get a better sense of what these services are like.
Invest in a Slow Cooker
Another time-saving tip is to invest in a slow cooker. Slow cookers allow you to cook healthy and hearty meals all in one pot and with minimal effort on your part. The fact that everything can be done in one pot means less cleanup for you, which is a huge time saver.
The other fabulous pro in using slow cookers is the ease of use. The idea is that you place all your ingredients in the pot, stir it or leave it layered depending on the recipe, and then leave it for hours and come back to a delicious meal which is ready to be enjoyed.
Slow cooker dishes typically take anywhere from four to eight hours to cook so they are perfect for putting together in the morning when you’re getting ready to leave for work. Because they don’t require constant stirring and babysitting, you can let it cook all day while you’re gone and it will be ready and waiting for you at the end of your workday.
Embrace the Grilling Lifestyle
Any cook will tell you that one of the easiest ways to cook a meal and ensure it is packed full of flavor is to use the grill. Grilling is a whole lifestyle and, the more you embrace it, the more creative and bold you’ll get with your dishes and the items you choose to grill. With a little research, practice and luck, you'll be able to become the grill master of your household and awe your family and friends.
One of the best parts about grilling is that it doesn’t feel like cooking. You aren’t in the kitchen; you get to be outdoors in the fresh air which is exactly why so many people find it relaxing. Rather than thinking of it as a chore, grilling can become a hobby you embrace.
Get Into the Habit of Making Larger Portions
Another tip from the experts is to get into the habit of making larger portions. By making larger portions, you’ll have leftovers for a couple of days, which means no cooking necessary on those days. This is a huge time-saver and is perfect for weeknight dinners when you get home from work exhausted and don’t want to start a meal from scratch.
Use the Weekends to Prepare Meals
Speaking of not having the energy to cook after work, why not do a little meal preparation and cooking on the weekends? You can put items in freezer-safe containers, taking them out during the week as needed. If you live on your own, you can freeze them in individual portion-sized containers to ensure nothing goes to waste.
If you do plan to use this tip, just be sure that the recipes you use are freezer-safe. Not every food or recipe does well once frozen.
Treat Yourself to Great-Tasting Meals without Spending Hours in the Kitchen
All of these tips provide you with a way to treat yourself to great healthy tasting meals that don’t require you to dedicated hours’ worth of preparation and cooking time in the kitchen. Just because you want to eat healthy, doesn’t mean it has to be more effort.
