Prepare healthier meals faster with these tips

The credo of healthy living makes it essential that you prepare most of your meals yourself, which rightly takes up a lot of time. As time is an extremely scarce commodity these days, it is important to work efficiently without neglecting the quality of your meals.

Tip 1 - Prepare yourself thoroughly

It's almost certain that your parents will have told you wisdom like: "Organization is half the battle" during your childhood. The fact that this wisdom, which is the result of pure life experience, has practical relevance is also evident in the kitchen. Accordingly, the preparation of every dish follows a set pattern. First of all, you should take a look at the recipe and pick out all the cooking utensils you will need during preparation in advance. The reason for this is that you save time by not having to interrupt your work after each individual step to dig a chopping board, knife or pan out of the depths of your kitchen. In a second step, you use the recipe to make sure you know which ingredients you need and prepare them as far in advance as possible. This in turn has the advantage of significantly reducing the likelihood of your dish burning due to the delay in cutting an ingredient.

Tip 2 - Take care of your freezer

What do you need a freezer for? Clearly, to store frozen food from the supermarket, as everyone knows. However, in addition to storing ice cream and frozen pizzas, the freezer is also ideal for storing pre-cooked ingredients such as sauces, pureed vegetables or fresh herbs. The big advantage of this is once again the time saved, as you only have to defrost these prepared ingredients (if you know early enough what you want to cook) before you can use them ready to use. Herbs and vegetables can also be used immediately when frozen, as these foods defrost very quickly.

Tip 3 - Think ahead

Thinking ahead and being able to multitask will help you save a lot of time when cooking. So before you get down to work, take another look at the recipe and check whether you need to heat the water or preheat the oven. Ideally, you should start the pasta water, for example, while you are chopping the vegetables. You can also use forced breaks in which you have nothing more to do, despite explicit planning, to set the table or start cleaning the kitchen.

Tip 4 - Set a timer

In order for multitasking in the kitchen to run smoothly, you need to plan your time precisely. Even if you assume that you personally have an exceptionally good sense of time, it's still never a good idea to rely on it in the kitchen. One targeted measure is to use a timer of some kind, which you can use to keep an eye on all processes and cooking times without running the risk of burning anything. You can use the good old egg timer for this purpose, but you can also rely on modern technology in the form of smartphone apps. Special programs for the kitchen are available in the respective app stores for all common devices.

Tip 5 - Concentrate on a single recipe

Of course, the internet makes it very easy to find the right recipe for every conceivable dish within minutes. This is undoubtedly a great thing, but the variety on offer means that many amateur cooks feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of recipes for one and the same dish. So if you want to try something new, you should commit to exactly one recipe and follow it instead of printing out three or four at the same time and putting them next to the stove.

Tip 6 - Cook for a whole company

Even if you are only cooking for yourself, you should not be afraid to prepare large quantities at once. Double or triple the amount of ingredients so that your culinary outpouring is enough for a whole company in an emergency. The big advantage of this is obvious, because by preparing large quantities, you can portion them wonderfully. This saves you having to cook on some days of the week. On a side note, this also has a positive effect on your energy consumption, which is sure to make your wallet happy. What is particularly practical, however, is that you can store the individual portions in a suitable container in the freezer so that you can heat up a full meal in just a few minutes.

Tip 7 - Keep the kitchen tidy

We can't emphasize enough how important it is to keep your kitchen tidy if you want to save time. That's why you should always keep pots, knives and other utensils in the same place, so that you could almost cook blindfolded. Of course, what applies to cookware also applies to food. So it makes perfect sense for pasta, potatoes, vegetables and spices to have a fixed place in your kitchen. Ideally, your fridge should also have a uniform layout so that all ingredients are within easy reach.
Tip 8 - Pay attention to cleanliness in the kitchen
Admittedly, this is not a real trick, nor is it particularly new, but it is worth repeating again and again how important it is to keep the kitchen clean in order to work efficiently. Who really wants to prepare a Tuscan-style salmon amongst dirty plates, vegetable peelings and dirty pots? Clutter is not only unattractive to look at, it also slows down your pace of work as you are constantly having to create new space to work in. As a result, you should get into the habit of disposing of waste as soon as it is produced and putting cooking utensils in the dishwasher immediately after the last use.