One of the biggest obstacles to eating healthy at home is the prep work and clean up! Even the easiest meals require some prep work and clean up. Glamorous cooking shows and food demo’s make it all look so effortless, while the rest of us are still trying to multitask and learn the art of “clean as you go”!

These 5 tips are require little to no extra effort on your part but have a big impact on simplifying your meal prep process and clean up!

1.) Use a trash bowl
This is so simple but makes life so much easier! As you are cutting and peeling your produce keep a bowl next to your cutting board and put all the scraps into that bowl.  It saves so much time and mess. When you’re all done, throw it out, compost it or if you’re frugal you can freeze the vegetable scraps to make soup stock!

2.) One Pot Recipes
One Pot Recipes get a bad reputation for being heavy, high calorie comfort foods. This just isn’t true! There are so many recipes out there that only require one pot or pan to turn out a beautiful, 100% healthy  meal for a family of one, two or many more!

3.) Set out your Ingredients
How many trips to the pantry do you make while reading your recipe?! Too many! Setting out all the ingredients makes putting them all together seamless. Doing this will give you a flow in the kitchen that will make you look like a pro; no more scrambling for forgotten ingredients.

4.) Read your recipe ahead of time
In order to accomplish the above tip, “Set out your ingredients ahead of time”, reading your recipe ahead of time is essential. It gives you an idea of what to expect and will help you move from one step to the next more easily. It technically is the very first step in “Mise en Place”, a French Culinary phrase meaning “everything in its place” or “putting in place”.

5.) Thaw meat the night before
Thawing the meat the night before eliminates one extra step and the stress of waiting for your meat thaws out on time! It allows you once again to have a smooth transition from one step in your recipe to the next and will cut your prep time down considerably!

 

I hope these 5 simple tips are helpful to you!

For anyone who was wondering where I was for the past several months I apologize! Family life, although always a priority, was requiring more of my attention and left very little time for anything extra. I’m hoping to continue writing a post once a month and am considering doing some short videos for those who find that more convenient! ( I know I do!)

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions please leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!