HEALTHY HOME COOKED MEALS CAN BE EASIER

If you associate a home-cooked meal with hours of preparation, leave that thought on the doorstep. 

Take advantage of healthy convenience foods. Use bagged salads, frozen grilled chicken strips (watch the salt content in these), rotisserie chicken, frozen vegetables or microwaveable whole grains for part of your dinner. These foods and many more are easy, healthy timesavers.

Putting together a meal can be as easy as assembling. It can be as simple as opening a bag of salad, topping it with some microwaved pre-cooked chicken strips, adding a roll and a piece of fruit for dessert. You didn’t cook a thing.

Be efficient. Try cooking every other day and making enough to have leftovers to repurpose for the next day’s meal. If you are chopping salad ingredients, chop enough for a few days.

Making extra can go a long way. Make a big batch of soup, chili or double a casserole recipe when you have a little extra time. Portion the extra, and freeze for an easy meal later.

Use a slow cooker to have dinner already cooked when you get home. You can either prep it the night before and put it in the fridge or get up a little earlier and prep in the morning.

Cooking is much easier and quicker if you have all the staples on hand. Make sure to keep essentials such as flour, spices, oil, rice, beans, potatoes, pasta and canned or frozen vegetables on hand for quick meals. Look for those sales at your grocery store and stock your freezer up.

Set up a weekly menu and cycle through your family favorites. Cooking isn't about a new meal every night. Spaghetti Mondays or Tuna casserole Tuesdays repeated each week lets you plan ahead and gets you into a good routine. 

Hey I know some of you are scared of the kitchen so start small. If you didn’t learn the basics of cooking as a kid, start there. Make a grilled cheese sandwich, scramble an egg, or master one easy dish.

There are tons of videos out there to google of how to make a dish or ask for help. Ask a friend or relative who cooks if you can watch them prepare a meal (this is a good way to get a tasty meal). Once you have a few basic skills, start experimenting on your own and remember cooking isn't all that hard.  Make it the way you like it and enjoy it.