Live Healthier with Simple Kitchen Hacks
Even though we are on the other side of a pandemic (hopefully!) which should have taught us to slow down, it seems like our lives are back to being as busy as ever. Whatever stage of life you’re in, there seems to be so much to do and so little time- students with school and activities, college graduates pursuing career and working long hours, parents trying to balance work, kids activities, home life or even seniors who just want to relax and limit long hours of work in the kitchen.
In all of these stages, the one common theme I hear most often is, “I just don’t have enough time to cook.” Is that an excuse to stick to old habits like stopping for fast food or eating ice cream for dinner because it’ s easier? Maybe. But the bottom line is, eventually unhealthy food choices catch up to you and negatively impact your health. If your health is compromised, none of the other things we want to pursue will matter.
This is even more important if you have CF. You can’t control a lot of what affects our health (pollution, radiation exposure, for example), but you do have control over what foods you put into your body and flooding your body with nutrients offers amazing protective benefits for your body.
That being said, with the spring holidays like Easter and Passover coming up, I thought this would be a good time to talk about some shortcuts, or “kitchen hacks” that can help you save time and make healthy eating a little simpler and doable in your busy life.
Go Semi-Homemade
Clearly, I am very pro-cooking, but sometimes taking shortcuts can turn a potential fast food or take-out night into a total kitchen win. For example:
● Grab a rotisserie chicken and incorporate it into soups or chilis so you can reap the benefits of high-quality protein without spending extra time cooking it. Shred the chicken and stuff into lettuce leaves or tortillas with some salsa and a squeeze of lime for lunch.
● Keep your favorite frozen pizza dough on hand and when you need a quick meal, just add your favorite jarred sauce and vegetable toppings plus a sprinkle of flavorful cheese to make it a meal!
● Buy pre-chopped produce, especially those hard-to-manage vegetables (ahem, butternut squash) that are more time-intensive to prepare. Toss with a tablespoon of olive oil and roast for a side dish or added to salads during the week.
Cook Once, Eat Twice
Batch cooking is an efficient way to keep up with your healthy eating goals no matter what time of year. It essentially means cooking more than what you need in the moment so you can take advantage of having all of your cooking tools and gadgets out (read: it’s way more efficient!). Not to be confused with leftovers, batch cooking usually refers to one component so you can repurpose it later. For instance:
● Need rice or quinoa for your Monday night meal? Make a large batch so you can easily incorporate it in salads and grain bowls for lunches or easy dinners all week long.
● Making hard-boiled eggs? It takes the same amount of time to make six as it does to make two. Enjoy as a snack, crumble into salads, or mash with some avocado for your toast.
● Baking sweet potatoes? Make a few more than you need and you’ll have the base for an easy, customizable lunch bowl ready to go.You can also purée or mash the flesh for baked goods and use in place of pumpkin in a recipe. I like to make a bunch of sweet potatoes on the weekend and use them for quesadillas on Monday (mashed on a tortilla with black beans, vegan cheese, and spinach) and stuffed with a mixture of sauteed kale, crispy roasted curry chickpeas and a dollop of turmeric coconut yogurt on Wednesday- that’s 2 meals with minimal effort.
Sheet Pan and One Pot Meals
Raise your hand if your least favorite part of cooking is the clean up. I feel you! Make it easier on yourself by searching for one-dish meals to seriously cut down on time spent doing the dishes. Here are a few to get you started:
● Create baking pockets by lining foil with parchment then crimping for perfectly roasted fish that stays juicy, never dry.
● Roasting your favorite protein with seasonal produce is a tasty no-fuss way to incorporate a few servings of vegetables into a meal
● Still haven’t learned how to use your Instant Pot? Now would be a good time! You can get frozen proteins to the table fast with this safe and simple pressure cooker. A simple 12-minute recipe: frozen protein like chicken breast + favorite jarred tomato sauce + a jar of olives = yummy cacciatore that will have everyone running to the table for dinner. If you use plant-based protein, like dried chickpeas, just soak the dried beans overnight and drain them. Then be sure they are covered with fluid (jarred sauce + some broth) before cooking in Instant Pot. Serve with that extra rice or quinoa you made on Monday.
Watch for a video later this week with another of my favorite kitchen hacks.
