How to Eat Healthy Without Living in Your Kitchen
You want to feed your family healthy, tasty food, but so often it seems the advice on how to do that involves shopping at the farmer’s market for organic local produce and cooking every single ingredient of every meal from scratch. While those are worthy goals that work for some people, not everyone has the time and resources to devote to such a plan. Fortunately, there are ways to get healthy food on the table while still having time and money for other things. Here are some ways to eat healthy without sacrificing your entire schedule to the kitchen.
Use Both Fresh and Frozen Produce
Fresh, organic produce gives your dishes amazing flavor and packs a lot of nutrients. However, it can be difficult to find fresh produce during certain times of the year, and some things such as berries and exotic varieties can be quite expensive. The best way to get the most from your produce is to use a combination of fresh and frozen items. Frozen produce can be a great option as the fruits and veggies are picked at exactly the right time and frozen right away. In some cases, frozen vegetables actually have a higher concentration of nutrients than fresh ones.
If you have a local farmer’s market that is easily accessible, you can usually find a good variety of produce at decent prices. However, some farmer’s markets are more about food trucks and ready-made items from local vendors, and can be a waste of several hours if they aren’t run efficiently. Make sure you aren’t sacrificing several hours every week to go to the farmer’s market if you don’t consistently find things that you actually want to cook and eat.
Buy in Bulk
Instead of spending a couple hours every week shopping at local grocery stores and farmer’s markets, try making a monthly trip to a warehouse club to buy in bulk. Not only could you save a significant amount of money, you will also save time by doing the majority of your monthly shopping in a single day. Depending on what you normally eat, you may have to supplement your bulk purchases with fresh produce or dairy items a couple times a month, but you’ll still probably save time over weekly shopping. Some warehouse clubs take coupons, so check with your individual store before shopping.
Choose Healthy Pre-Made Items
If you want to limit your time in the kitchen, don’t commit to cooking every single thing from scratch. With all the healthy choices available nowadays, there are plenty of things you can find pre-made that are as healthy as you could make yourself. The best way to determine which products and brands to buy is by reading the labels and knowing what to look for and what to avoid. For example, try to avoid anything with artificial flavorings and colors in favor of natural options. One of my favorite pre-made items is a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket. Almost all stores carry these are they are a delicious time saver in the kitchen.
Another thing to look for is a short list of easily identifiable ingredients, similar to what you would use in making it yourself. HamptonCreek products are an excellent example of this. Their mayo spreads and salad dressings are made with a short list of real food ingredients. Their egg substitute is based on pea protein, a completely natural ingredient which offers several health benefits over eggs including fewer calories and less cholesterol. Once you find a few trustworthy companies like Hampton Creek, it can make your grocery list extremely simple.
Try Freezer Cooking
Another way to save time is to do all your cooking in large blocks of time. Freezer cooking usually involves preparing and/or cooking all your meals for the upcoming month and then freezing them. Each day you simply reheat a pre-cooked dish or place the prepared ingredients into a slow cooker and that’s it. Some people love this method and some don’t, so it’s good to try it a couple times and see if it works for you. Maybe try just prepping a week of meals to start and then work up to a whole month.
If cooking everything from scratch isn’t something you want to do, you can still serve your family delicious and healthy meals without spending hours every day in the kitchen. Freezer cooking works well for some people, and you can also find many healthy, high-quality pre-made items at your local grocery store. It’s wise to use a combination of fresh and frozen produce to maximize the flavor and nutrients. Doing the majority of your monthly grocery shopping in a single day at a warehouse club can significantly cut down on your budget and time spent at the store.
This is a guest post.