The beginning of a year is often associated with setting resolutions. We get a chance to start fresh in life. While there is no need to feel pressure from the media and force ourselves to come up with resolutions just for the sake of it – if there is a motivation to start anew, why not use it? 

And if healthy eating is among your goals this year, I will share some ways to make it easier for you.

To begin with, let’s establish that healthy eating is mostly about cooking at home. We are only in control of the meals when we cook them.

I know what you think: no way, ain’t nobody got time for cooking! But let me tell you something: there is no need to “waste away” your life in the kitchen!

How is it possible?

Try these time-saving tricks:

• ️Use a food processor/mandoline
  Chop, slice, and grind bulk amounts in seconds. Prep, freeze, or refrigerate the basics like garlic, onion, and carrot to eliminate the constant routine required for most hot meals.
  
  
• Soak beans and whole grains
  Place them into the water for a few hours before cooking (adding a bit of soda bicarbonate to legumes during cooking or soaking will soften them even more). This will save the time needed to actually cook them.
  
  
• Cook staples in bulk
  Cook in bulk legumes, grains, or other carb sources (e.g., potatoes, squash, etc.). Refrigerate or, even better, freeze the portion you will not need in the current cooking cycle. Don’t worry. Most of the nutrients will still be there when you unfreeze them! 😉
  
  
• Don’t bother peeling all produce
  While this doesn’t apply to onions and garlic (I bet those peels ain’t too delicious), you can keep the peels on of young carrots, potatoes, yams, and sweet potatoes. Helps save effort on peeling + bonus nutrients from the peels (yes, there are plenty!)
  
  
• Cook a larger portion
  It takes almost the same time to cook 2 or 6 portions of the same meal. And guess what, you’ll save lots of time if you do the latter. Just make sure to either refrigerate (for up to 3 days) or freeze (up to a couple of months) the leftovers.