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By: Bettina Berlin

In these hectic modern days, it's often difficult to find the time to prepare home-made meals. And do we do when we don't have time to cook? We order pizza or burgers, or grab ready-made frozen meals from the supermarket. Besides the fact that this kind of diet turns out to be quite expensive, it can also have many negative impacts on your health.

Cooking yourself is a much cheaper and healthier option. This does not need to be time-consuming. You can prepare delicious healthy meals in half an hour or less, simply by following these tips:

1. Prepare food to reduce cooking time
2. Choose quick cooking methods
3. Make use of waiting times
4. Share the work
5. Bulk cooking

1. Prepare food to reduce cooking time

If you cut your meat and veggies smaller, they will be done quicker. It's usually less time consuming to cut them than to cook the whole big bulk.

2. Choose quick cooking methods

One quick way to prepare vegetables is to cook them in boiling water. As nutrients are released into the water, don't overcook the food. Use the liquid as well, e.g. for a soup. Another great option is steaming, an even quicker and healthier method. When cooking pasta, pre-boil the water with the kettle to save time. Other quick cooking methods are stewing and microwaving.

3. Make use of waiting times

Don't prepare everything in advance. Rather use waiting times: Peel and chop your onion while the pan is heating up. Make the sauce while the pasta is cooking. If you use a slow and a fast cooking vegetable, cut the latter while the first one is already cooking and then add it.

4. Share the work

Involve your kids in meal preparation. Give them little jobs like cutting or peeling, fetching tools or ingredients. This does not only save you time, it also is time you can spend together and will make your kids more eager to eat the meal.

5. Bulk cooking

Soups and stews are perfect for bulk cooking and deep freezing. It will take you a bit longer to cook two or three times as much of a dish, but this is less work than cooking the meals separately. Choose days with more time for bulk cooking and keep the meals in the deep freezer for days with really tight schedules.

Now, you should have an idea of how many ways there are to prepare healthy meals in a short time. You can come up with many variations so that your diet won't be boring and you get enough of all food groups. Use a variety of spices to give your meals different characters. If you follow the tips given here, you won't need those take-away and ready-made meals any more. You can prepare your own healthy food, be healthier and have more money for other treats. How about a family outing to a decent restaurant and enjoying quality meals for a special occasion?