Life is busy – I understand this! And I realise that many people are time poor and ready to simply relax come the end of the day. Often by the time it comes to prepare dinner myself, I just want something fast and easy, yet still truly nourishing and satisfying.
Over the years, I’ve developed some go-to hacks for whipping together a delicious, healthy meal with minimal time and effort for when you need it served on the table in a flash. Remember, the healthy life is a way of living that’s sustainable and doesn’t add pressure to your day! There’s no need for fancy and time consuming recipes in order to enjoy fresh, wholesome food. I’ve shared my top tips below.
Embrace ‘One-Pan’ recipes
These nourishing, healthy meals have become some of JSHealth’s signature recipes for a reason. They are super simple and, as the name suggests, they only require one pan. They are truly family-friendly too and so easy to whip up – throw everything into the pan, pop into the oven, bake and come back to dinner ready to serve. I love these so much that there’s a whole section dedicated to one-pan dinners on the blog.
“Cook once, eat twice!”
Make your meals work harder for you in one word: leftovers. They are lifesavers! Make the “cook once and eat twice” motto part of your meal repertoire. All this means is you simply make extra for dinner and save some of it to enjoy the following day.
Shop on Sundays
Literally book out an hour in your weekend schedule (even add it into your calendar if it helps!) and dedicate this time to going and buying all your groceries for the week ahead. This includes all your fresh produce, lean proteins, whole grains and whatever else you require, which will save you time come weekday dinners as you have the ingredients at your fingertips.
You can also use the smart shopping list in the JSHealth App to make a list of everything you’ll need for the week ahead, and cross it off as you go! Our shopping list function conveniently groups together ingredients from the recipes you choose.
Prep
After you’ve done your shop, prepare some individual ingredients ready to go. For example, bake a big batch of roasted vegetables, chop up some salad ingredients you can use in a variety of ways, cook a packet of plain chicken breast, which you can add flavours or sauces to later.
This way, you can mix and match and create super simple meals come evening with the prepared ingredients you have right in front of you… And you won’t be eating the exact same thing day after day.
Make friends with your freezer!
Don’t feel like eating the same meal a few days in a row? Or maybe you’ve prepped a batch of soup or sauce? Most of these can be frozen in portioned containers in the freezer, ready to go for when you need one. You can also get creative with frozen meal components, such as serving a bolognese sauce with mash instead of the pasta you originally made it to go with.
