If you want to adopt a healthier lifestyle, it is always recommended to prepare more meals at home. Many studies show that people who eat more at home than at restaurants have a better-quality diet, weigh less and they may even be better protected against type 2 diabetes.
Those who prepare 10 to 15 lunches and dinners at home each week are, according to research, less likely to develop type 2 diabetes when compared to people who ate 7 or fewer meals at home. Those who gained the least weight were preparing most of their meals at home, which can also explain the reduced risk of diabetes. If you need more info on how to protect your family against diseases such as type 2 diabetes and need some advice in terms of how to keep them healthy and happy, click here to visit Mommy Authority.
Make The Decision
It might be a major change to your routine when you make the decision to cook more. This might mean that it can easily be one of those commitments that you can keep up for a few weeks only but can’t sustain it in the long run. Here are a few strategies which may help you to spend more time in the kitchen without changing your daily routine completely. If you are a novice and want to start out with meals delivered to your door, check out an honest review on Purple Carrot.
Meal Planning
Write out a week’s worth of lunches and dinners before you go to the grocery store. The chance is good that you might stray from the schedule a little bit, but if you already have the ingredients and the menu, you might just follow through. Click here to get a few ideas on how to meal plan.
Cook It Once And Eat It Twice
Stocking your freezer with meals will prevent you from ordering pizza when you don’t have time to cook. Yes, make-ahead meals might take a bit extra time to make, but at least you only have to wash the dishes once. You can even prepare meals over the weekend when you have more time. It’s a great feeling to come home to a freezer full of healthy options after a hectic, long day. You can quickly pop it in the oven and within half an hour, dinner is ready! Spinach lasagna, chilis, stews and soups all freeze and reheat quite well.
Toss The Recipe
Once the basic techniques have been mastered for a specific dish, you can create many variations by using the ingredients you have at home without referring to a recipe. For example, enjoy whole-wheat pasta with artichokes, red peppers and feta cheese for a Greek-inspired dish; mozzarella, spinach and sundried tomatoes for an Italian-inspired dish and ricotta, squash and butternut for a fall version. Read more about how to improvise in the kitchen.
Simple Sides
If you are spending a lot of time to prepare a delicious main meal, do yourself a favor and keep the side dishes as simple as possible. Easy to prepare options include brown rice, baked sweet potato or white potato, a simple salad or frozen vegetables. If you have a few extra minutes, you can even roast veggies by putting it in the oven for around 30 minutes until they are browned at the edges.
Invest In A Slow Cooker
If you spend a few minutes tossing ingredients into the slow cooker in the morning, you’ll be greeted with wonderful aromas when you walk in the door after a long day. Try to find five recipes that you and your family enjoy and make one day of the week a ‘slow cooker meal day’ so you don’t have to wonder about what you’ll be eating.
Browse For Inspiration
If you have a well-organized, large recipe collection, it will definitely make the planning of your weekly menus much easier. Plus, you’ll become more efficient at preparing your favorite meals, the more you make them. There are many magazines and blogs which will provide you with a steady stream of ideas for preparing seasonal recipes that are made of whole food ingredients. There are also many authors with food blogs who prioritize convenience with the recipes they post.