Fast Cooking - 4 Golden Keys How to Plan Your Meals If You Have to Cook in a H

[Rafael Chow]

The fact that our hectic schedule is trying its best to keep us away
from preparing our own healthy meals at home does not mean we should
not try. We simply need to be one step ahead and think of new ways how
to cook faster. For preparing your own food is worth the effort:
Firstly, it will save you a lot of money. And secondly, it will be
much better for you and your family's health than living on ready-made
meals which are often packed with unhealthy additives but only little
nutrients, or take-aways, many which are high in calories.
Use the four golden keys below when planning your meals to ensure they
are quick to make when you don't have much time.
1.    Keep your meals simple 2.   
Choose fast cooking foods 3.    Choose foods that
require little preparation 4.    Use prepared foods
Key #1: Keep your meals simple
Choosing a big variety of ingredients can be enticing but also time-
consuming in preparation. The more different foods you work with, the
more complex your meal and the longer it will take. If you don't have
much time, rather stick to a few key ingredients. Choose pasta, rice
or potatoes. Settle for one or two vegetables or a simple salad and
one protein-rich food (meat, fish, eggs or legumes). If you vary the
veggie groups and the types of starchy carbohydrates and protein-rich
foods from day to day, you will surely get all nutrients you need.
Key #2: Choose fast cooking foods
Some foods cook faster, others take longer. The secret of cooking fast
is to pick the fast cooking ones rather when you don't have much time.
Pasta is certainly the fastest starchy food, only beaten by couscous
which is done in a few minutes. Save time by pre-boiling the water
with the kettle. As for vegetables, anything that is rather soft, like
mushrooms, marrows, tomatoes or leek will be done quickly. Fruits and
salads don't require cooking at all. In the meat world, sausages,
mince balls and fish are quick foods, and so are filets and goulash.
In other words, anything that is small.
Key #3: Choose foods that require little preparation
If you don't have much time, look out for fruits or vegetables that
don't need to be peeled and don't contain pips or seeds you need to
remove. Marrows, tomatoes and mushrooms are excellent examples.
Bananas are certainly quick to peel, and berries don't even need to be
cut. Salad requires very little preparation too, especially if you buy
the pre-packed ones that are usually quite clean and neat. You may
want to buy foods that are already peeled and cut into handy pieces
but these will usually be a bit more expensive. Besides these factors,
you should also pick the size of your foods wisely. It is less work to
peel a few large fruits or veggies than many small ones.
Key #4: Use prepared foods
Not everything that is canned and deep-frozen is bad. There are many
canned or deep-frozen vegetables and fruits that are a great resource
if you cook in a hurry, since these foods just need to be warmed.
These foods can enrich your diet by providing you with something that
you could not otherwise get because it's out of season right now. You
should though make certain that they are not processed and relatively
free of additives. To spice up your meals quickly and easily, use
ground spices instead of fresh ones. They might not taste that
strongly but they will certainly do the job.
You should try to make sure that you still sometimes eat these other
foods that take longer to prepare to ensure your diet is balanced. But
when being in a hurry, applying these four keys will surely save you a
lot of time when cooking. The results will be worth the effort: You
can be more relaxed because your food preparation is working smoothly,
you save money by not buying take-aways, and your family eats much
healthier. What more could you want?

Over 200 Low Calorie Recipes for the HCG Phase - http://www.hcgrecipes.tk/

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