When life gets busy, it often feels easier to opt to grab a cheap takeaway or throw a pre-made pizza in the oven. But, the reality is that this isn’t healthy, and while it’s okay to eat like this every so often, grabbing a meal that’s quick and convenient, in the long-term eating too much junk could damage your health. So, it’s important to understand what it takes to eat well – consuming healthy, wholesome, nutrient-rich foods – even when life gets a little hectic. 

The question is, of course: how can you go about doing that? The fact is that when life feels overwhelming, the idea of needing to prepare and cook homemade foods on top of dealing with everything else that you’re currently dealing with, can feel like far too much to handle. But the fact is, with some smart steps and some mindful planning, you can make the process of eating well, even when life is crazy busy, a little easier to achieve. 

Wondering how you can go about doing so? Below is a guide to a few handy tips that should make preparing healthy food and eating well a little easier to manage – read on for everything that you need to know. 

Batch cook in advance 

A great alternative to store bought ready meals is preparing your own grab and go meals. Believe it or not, it’s cheap and fairly easy to batch cook a range of dishes, portion them up, and freeze them down, ready for you to microwave as and when you need them. 

All you’ll need to do is set aside a few hours on a weekend – or any other time that you’re free – to spend cooking a selection of dishes that you can then easily portion up and freeze for those nights when you just don’t have the time to cook from scratch. Great dishes to batch cook include Lasagna (meat or vegetarian), curries, stews, or chili. 

Create a list of quick and easy recipes 

It’s also a good idea to build a list of recipes that are quick and easy to prepare and cook. So, these should be dishes that you can put together fairly easily on nights where you just don’t have the energy or the time to cook anything too complex or that has too many steps to process. 

There are some really great quick 15-minute and 30-minute recipes that you can find online. As well as lots of recipes that can just be thrown into a slow cooker or instant pot and will look after themselves, such as this homemade vegetable broth instant pot recipe. The key is to make a list of all the easiest to make dishes that are ideal for those days where time really is of the essence. 

Invest in the right cooking devices 

For easier cooking, it’s vital that you invest in the right cooking devices and food tech. A great item to have access to is a slow cooker or instant pot, as there are lots of ultra easy dishes that can be cooked in these and only require you to measure the ingredients, chuck them in the pot, and turn it on to low, and then a few hours later you should have a ready made dinner waiting for you. It’s that easy. 

Another really great buy is a multi-cooker that air frys, steams, pressure cooks, and slow cooks. For creating various dishes cooked in different ways, a multi-cooker (that also slow cooks) can be a really great buy. Especially if you are willing to try out lots of different dishes and recipes and take full advantage of the varying tools that the machine offers. 

Choose healthy options 

If you do have to pick up something pre-made or something that’s easy to prepare and cook, make sure to choose healthy options where possible. Instead of opting for something unhealthy, like a greasy pizza, for instance. Most stores have lots of low calorie and low fat ready meals or quick-to-cook food that you should be able to grab, should you want to opt for something that’s low in fat and less unhealthy. 

Sign up to a recipe box 

Another great way to make healthy eating easier when you have limited time available to you is to consider signing up to a recipe box. Most recipe boxes are delivered straight to your door on a regular basis, contain all the ingredients you need for each dish all measured out perfectly, and come with an easy-to-read recipe card. The dishes are diverse and varied and are usually super quick and easy to make. 

There you have it, a few simple and easy ways to make eating well, even when life is hectic, a little easier to manage.