Meal preparation can be a daunting task for some people but with the right tools, it is so easy to prepare healthy meals within 20 – 45 mins. I am just going to list the easy ideas here and if interested in more information you can email me at isabella@foodbrookes.com.

1. Plan your budget for food – this can be a weekly budget for food to eat at home and also at work. Depending on your working schedule, at times it will be easier and economical to bring food from home, which will imply you will need to cook a little bit extra to take to work. The weekly budget will then translate to a monthly budget which will help you to work out where you have losses in terms of food waste or saving your pennies.
2. Plan your menus and shopping list – Do your weekly menus and also shopping so that some of the ingredients can be used for more than one day or cook meals for more than one day. This will help you take advantage of food deals, eat freshly prepared meals, and reduce food waste.
3. Invest time in planning for healthy meals – This could be checking for various recipes available for different diets and population groups.
4. Check the nutrient content of your meals – Use different strategies of checking the level of the nutrient in your ingredients (use the traffic light system on the packaging) or in the recipe (you can use online software available for free online). The is very important in knowing how much of the macro- or micro-nutrients you are consuming to curb malnutrition (over-or under-nutrition).
5. Use a variety of food preparation techniques – Prepare your food using different food preparation methods to balance out the loss of nutrients due to food preparation. Minimally processed foods are the best. If you prepare smoothie drinks, adding a bit of ice would reduce the damage of vitamin C due to heat during blending. Use non-stick saucepans to reduce the amount of oil used during cooking.

These are very easy tips but very effective in eating healthy foods and managing weight. By following these tips you make sure that the money for food has been budgeted for and put aside, there is always food to eat even during your busy days at work when going out to look for food can be difficult, you are using recipes which have been tried and tested by the suppliers and that nutrients are preserved during food preparation. This will help with your health and wellbeing at work as well.