Many of us are cooking more than usual at the moment – and sometimes it can seem like a chore. Senior Dietitian Tracy Parker offers her tips to keep your cooking simple and healthy and save you time in the kitchen.
Stuck on what's for lunch, then dinner today, and tomorrow, and the rest of the week? With many of us at home more than usual, and maybe cooking for more people too, it can seem like a lot of cooking - especially when you’re short on time, energy, or just simply out of ideas.
1.Plan your weekly meals
Having a plan for the week’s meals in advance can save time and make meal preparation easier, turning a hectic week into one that is nearly stress-free. You get can your shopping done in one go, reduce food waste, keep meals more healthy, avoid both the stress and hassle of picking up last minute ingredients, and save some money.
Try these sample menusshowing what a week’s meal plan could look like (these are great if you’re on a budget, and delicious whatever your budget).
2.Keep the ingredients list short
Simple meals with few ingredients tick many boxes – tasty, healthy and time-saving. Try these 10 simple recipesthat use only four ingredients from your fridge or store cupboard.
3.Bulk cook - without getting bored
You can cut down the amount of time you spend in the kitchen by preparing big matches of basics that you can freeze or keep in the fridge to whip up a whole range of recipes.
Soups, stews, bolognese sauces, white sauces, beans and lentils are all good big batch foods that can be transformed into a variety of dishes.
This classic and healthy bolognesesauce can be used for lasagne, with spaghetti, as a cottage pie, in a chilli or a filling for jacket potatoes. And you can leave out the mince to make tomato sauce, or add beans or tofu instead (you can even blend in extra vegetables if you want to avoid the kids spotting them).
A large pan of cooked brown, green or Puy lentils can be used in different ways - mixed with roasted vegetables to make a hearty salad (or with defrosted frozen peas and cherry tomatoes for an easier option), as the basis for lentil soup, or added tomato sauce for a vegetarian bolognese. Use different herbs and spices to help make each dish taste different.
4.Use your leftovers
It’s great to have leftovers that can be used for a quick and easy lunch or dinner the next day. Make sure you have leftovers by cooking larger amounts and by putting the amount you want to keep for leftovers into a container as you serve up the meal, so you don’t get tempted to eat it all.
Here are some tips to make the most of your leftovers:
- Make the leftovers go further by adding extra vegetables (fresh, frozen or tinned) and pulses such as tinned lentils, beans, chickpeas, vegetables and tinned tomatoes.
- Roast meat or vegetables can be used in quick and easy meals for the rest of the week, such as soups, salads, sandwiches or pasta dishes.
- Cook double the amount of rice or pasta, and use the leftovers for a salad, or reheat them in the microwave. (Rice should always be cooled quickly and refrigerated within two hours, but can then be stored for a couple of days in the fridge or up to three months in the freezer.)
- Use the search box in our recipe finderto find recipes that use the ingredient you have left over.
5.Use your freezer
Stock up on frozen fruit and vegetables. They don’t require any washing, peeling, or chopping. There’s no waste, as they won't go bad before you can eat them, and you only use what you need. They’re just as good for you too - frozen fruit and veg are frozen soon after picking, so often have more vitamins than their fresh counterparts that may have been hanging around for a while. They are often a lot cheaper too!
Frozen veg are easy to add to soups, pasta and rice dishes straight from the freezer. They can bulk up meals to go further, make them more filling and add to your 5-a-day.
Frozen fruit is great for easy desserts. Try this berry trifleor this healthy, oaty black forest crumble. Or make a smoothie for breakfast or a snack - just blend the frozen fruit with your choice of water, fruit juice, milk or yogurt. Don’t forget that if you have fruit you’re not going to use in time, you can freeze it – even if it doesn’t look the same afterwards, it will still work well for smoothies, cooking and baking.
6.Try a traybake and save on the washing up
Tray bakes are a hassle-free way to cook dinner- pop all your ingredients on one tray and let the oven do the work while you get on with other things. This chicken and vegetable traybakeis one of our most popular recipes.
Traybakes can be based on meat, fishor just veggies. Roasted vegetables, potato wedges or sweet potato wedges can be turned into a meal when topped with a poached egg and perhaps salad or some peas alongside – or you can have them as a side dish with easy no-cook dishes like filled wrapsand rolls.
Sweet tray bakes such as this healthier carrot, sultana and orange cakeare perfect bake for kids to try as they are so easy. You can also freeze portions for later.
7.Skip the cooking
You can take the stress out of meals by keeping ready-to-eat foods in the fridge and cupboard. A bit of extra shopping or planning ahead can save time in the long run. Useful things to have at hand are:
- hard boiled eggs
- canned beans
- tinned fish
- hummus
- cooked meat
- grated carrot
- vegetable sticks
- ready-prepared salad vegetables
- cooked rice or pasta
- nut butters (choose no-added sugar and salt options)
- breads, wraps or other flatbreads.
Having a few of these in your fridge and cupboard can give you endless possibilities for using them, and save stress when you’re busy and everyone’s hungry. They can save washing up too.
Here are some simple almost no-cook meals - they also mean everyone can create their own versions:
- filled wraps, pitta, rolls
- meals on toast - baked beans with grated cheese, or tinned sardines or mackerel in tomato sauce
- a simple salad like this pasta and bean salad
- make a “buddha bowl” - start with a starchy base like leftover cooked pasta, rice or other grains, add two or three salad vegetables or leftover cooked vegetables, or veg from the freezer (defrosted) like peas or sweetcorn, then a protein like beans, lentils, tinned fish, or roast chicken, and then top with a homemade healthy salad dressing.
8.Get the kids involved
If you have kids who are at home, get them involved. Teaching them some cooking and baking basics can help develop their skills for life. On a more practical level, they can help you with preparation. Children can be more willing to try new foods if they’ve helped to make them.
Get them involved in the planning stage – maybe they can choose, plan and then make a dish?
If your children are old enough, get them to make their own simple meals - scrambled egg or baked beans on toast are good places to start with, and can be a balanced meal with a portion of salad or fruit to go with it.
Or get them involved in creating more complex dishes – depending on age and cooking skills, they can either help you out, or develop their cooking skills by taking on the role of head chef for the day.
- Try our portobello mushroom margherita pizza
- Try our spicy turkey and butternut squash fajitas
- Try our jumbo fish finger wraps
- Try our chicken and leek pasta bake
9.Easy comfort foods
Uncertain times often call for easy comfort food. These quick feel good recipes, such as mushroom and steak stroganoffor macaroni cheese,can be cooked in batches and frozen for those times when cooking is the last thing on your mind.
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