Highlights:

• My ‘lazy guide’ to eating well while spending hours in the kitchen
• How I save on groceries (#4 has been a game changer for me)
• How to make easy meals exciting

I was out with friends and someone asked, “What’s something you figured out in the last year that made life better?”

I immediately answered, “Food!”

I’ve learned a lot from dieticians since they have all the mealtime hacks - and below are my favs.

Confession: I hate cooking. I love eating well.

These things don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

With the cost of groceries (and restaurants, and Uber Eats) going up, figuring this out has given me more money for other things - investing, vacations, and books!

Let’s dig in…

1. Cook once, eat for days (the smart way)

My toxic trait is that I don’t like cooking, but I also hate eating the same things more than a couple days in a row.

This tip made eating well on the fly easier:

Cook a ‘base ingredient’, and then remix it into different meals.

For example, I’ll roast a big batch of sheet pan veggies (like bell peppers, zucchini, onions, and sweet potatoes) and use them throughout the week. You can:

• Toss them into rice bowls
• Add them to wraps or quesadillas
• Serve them with eggs for a quick breakfast-for-dinner
• Stir them into pasta with some olive oil and cheese

I do the same thing with protein. I’ll cook a batch of chicken breasts at once and then use them in 2 or 3 different dinners.

(Hat tip to Pam Fullenweider for getting me into this!)

2. The secret is sauce

Sauce is life.

This makes Tip 1 even better, because you can eat the same basic ingredients (and not get bored) just by switching up the sauce.

Rice bowl with veggies and chicken? Add tzatziki one day, teriyaki the next, and maybe spicy mayo after that. Same ingredients, totally different vibe.

Sauces are an easy way to keep meals interesting without buying a ton of extra stuff.

Plus, they take just minutes to make - or keep a few store-bought ones on hand.

3. Start with salad

I’ve gotten friends hooked on the #startwithsalad method I learned from Leah Van Dolder.

Basically, just eat a big salad before every meal.

Filling up on salad first means I don’t eat as much from my main - so I can keep those ‘base ingredients’ for future meals. Less cooking, win!

Assembling a salad is way faster than actually making a meal.

If I'm really gung-ho, I’ll even pre-chop a bunch of veggies in advance so it literally takes just minutes to throw them in a bowl.

Bottom line: salad is healthy, cheap, and quick to make.

4. Buy veggies that last

I’ve thrown out way too many boxes of sad scummy lettuce that have gone bad. Not anymore!

I order veggies online from a local collective farm market, and these stay fresh way longer. (Plus they’re usually less expensive than the regular grocery!)

Here’s what made the difference:

They often deliver veg with the roots and dirt still attached. Which at first I thought was weird, but now I realize it’s GENIUS.

A head of lettuce with the root ball easily lasts a week, sometimes even more.

I almost never end up with soggy inedible vegetables anymore.

I save because they’re cheaper to buy, and I don’t lose money because of food waste.

5. Buy ‘convenience’ food

And I’m not talking about frozen taquitos.

I mean things that are partially prepared so you don’t have to cook from scratch:

• Marinated meat
• Rotisserie chicken
• Frozen fruits and vegetables
• Precut veggies

Listen, I used to winge at buying pre-chopped veggies.

It cost a bit more, and it used to make me feel guilty.

But I realized that when push comes to shove, if I’m hungry I’ll end up using Uber Eats…

And THAT makes the couple bucks I would’ve spent on those veggies look like a screaming deal.

Take grocery store rotisserie chicken.

You can make so much with it: quesadillas, wraps, sandwiches, fried rice, or pasta.

This might cost a bit more than cooking it yourself, but the convenience factor is *chef’s kiss*.

These tips made my life richer

All these tips helped me get to the ‘sweet spot’ where I can eat well without spending all my free time cooking - while eating healthier to boot.

Sure, you can save even more by cooking everything from scratch. And if that’s you, amazing! I’m just not that person.

Truth is, our time is limited and we can’t do everything.

I’m all for shortcuts that give me my time back.

That’s one reason I love Passiv - the automated calculations and one-click buys are a huge timesaver.

Want to give it a try? Click here!