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Health & Fitness

My Sneaky Way to Cut Your Kitchen Time in Half

I’ve got a quick little tip for you today that will easily shorten your kitchen time by more than 50%!

Impossible, you say? Not true – here’s the trick. Just like shopping in bulk at Costco saves you time and money, so does cooking in bulk.

You can cook once and eat for a week!

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I usually do my bulk cooking on Sundays, because that’s a day that I have a little extra time. Everybody has a “Sunday” in their week, so choose a day and time where you’re going to have about an hour to dedicate to this – even if it’s a Thursday at 10pm!

Think of your meals as a puzzle made of 3 pieces (ok, so it’s a really easy puzzle.) One piece is the veggies and this is the biggest chunk. One piece is a whole grain. And the last piece is a lean protein.

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Voila! You’ve  laid the foundation for healthy meals for an entire week.

Which whole grains to choose? Try: brown rice, quinoa, bulgar, farro, barley or wild rice.

For lean proteins, try: any kind of beans, salmon, sardines, turkey or chicken, tuna, tofu, eggs, or lean pork or beef.

Veggies – pick whatever tickles your fancy. For those of you that have the time on Sundays, you can grab your fresh produce for the week at the Leucadia Farmer's Market!

Cook up each of these 3 components in quantity. Girl, I’m talking big vats of grains and veggies and a large amount of lean protein. Remember this is for all week.

Choose cooking methods that don’t add a lot of oil – baking, grilling and steaming are best.

Now that you have your foundation cooked, get creative with combining your 3 ingredients into new and different dishes throughout the week.

Here are some of my go-to options:

  • Add them to some low-sodium broth with some pureed white beans to make a creamy, nutritious soup
  • Make a quick stir-fry by adding them to a pan with some sesame oil, tamari, and ginger
  • Stick them in a whole grain wrap and make a tidy little lunch. Or get crazy and wrap them in some Nori (seaweed). I swear it’s REALLY good!
  • Make a healthy one-dish bowl by layering the 3 components and adding a fun sauce. Try tahini-garlic, pesto, chimichurri, peanut, or whatever else turns you on.
  • Add them to eggs for an amazing breakfast omelette
  • And of course, throw them in some greens for a hearty salad.
Give it a shot and let me know how it goes!

Sara Christensen is a private weight loss coach  based in San Diego. She works with women to create bodies and lives that they love.
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