Healthy Diet | How to Cook More at Home

Cooking at home is not only cheaper but much healthier as well, especially in the current situation. Ordering food or eating frozen dinners is convenient and more alluring but it is equally unhealthy as well. When you cook for yourself, you can customize the meal or the dish as per your preference and still make it delightfully delicious. However, If you work all day, it is harder to convince yourself to cook but with the right reasons you can inculcate the healthy habit of cooking at home. Get FITFEAST for expert dietary advice from professional nutritionists.

How to Get Yourself to Cook at Home

• Set aside time for cooking

Cooking does take time; we will give you that. You have to buy groceries, clean the veggies, meat, etc., and prep before you get down to cook. Like all things, plan your cooking as well. Set a day to do your shopping and stick to it no matter what. It’s just like taking time out for a TV series you like. You have to want to cook. It will probably take you a couple of hours to cook chicken breast with salad, so start at 7 if you want to have dinner at 9.

• Have the must-haves

That being said, you cannot step out every time to get a few things you need, which is why you need some things in advance. Sticking to the schedule is not possible all the time, which is why you should make a list of the kitchen essentials and keep a stock that lasts a considerable time. Having to buy something that can be stored can put you off and make you want to order pizza instead. You can store peas, spinach leaves, olives, sweet corn, etc. in your freezer. You can also store some meat but not for too long.

• Keep a list

Planning is important but it can be useless if you forget about it. Nor do we remember everything at once, Therefore, the best thing is to keep a list with you in which you can add stuff whenever it occurs to you. Keep it handy. And before you head out on your shopping day, check the list and modify it according to everything you might need over the next week or few days. Consider every meal so that you don’t have to compromise on your favorite Chinese meal on, say, Wednesday night.

• Consider cooking one-pot dishes

A lot of the dishes we like can be cooked in just a single piece of utensil. Soup and stew are great examples. You can add all the essential ingredients that contain protein, healthy fats, carbs, etc. without having to cook something else or an add-on with another utensil. Also, target big batches because you do not want to go over the process over and over again. Check out dishes that last some time like stew.

• Make the lot at one go

Preparing big batches at once is a good idea even if you’re just cooking for yourself. And the dish you’re cooking does not have to be an entire meal in itself. For example, rice cooked in the afternoon can also be used in the evening for lunch the next day. For that matter some meat you prepared for dinner can be used for your salad the next day.