If you’re reading this, you probably spend too much time cooking. Your diet is probably a bit worse than it should be as well. Or maybe you just find yourself ordering in or popping out to a restaurant way too often. All of these issues will be addressed in this post. I know how tempting it is to waste money and eat junk food. That’s the default of every human. It’s your job now to overcome those natural desires. Let’s get going!
Slow Cooker
A slower cooker is basically an electrically heated bowl wherein you cook, serve and even store your leftovers. It’s very simple. It’s so simple it’s basically just a matter of combining ingredients.
If you go on Amazon, there are tons of slow cooker recipes out there. Some of these recipes tell you to add ingredients, then stir, then wait, then stir, then add more ingredients and they go on and on like this. That’s too much work. Instead, find recipes where you throw everything in, set the temperature, set the timer and that’s it. After a few hours, you come back to your kitchen, where your favorite dish is waiting to be dished onto your plate.
Slow cookers are pretty fantastic. And they aren’t too expensive. Even if you enjoy cooking, one of these pots will still save you when you’re short on time or too ill to prepare a backbreaking meal.
The cool thing is that you can make an entire meal in just one pot. That may sound gross but it isn’t. You can bake casseroles, chicken parmesan, enchiladas, the list is endless. If you want more textures, you can add a side dish if you’d please or simply open a bag of chips. Pretty easy. All in, these meals can be had in less than 10 minutes of your time.
Blender
Blending is a fantastic way to get an entire breakfast. Before you walk out the door, fill your blender with your desired ingredients. This morning, I used frozen bananas, blueberries and raspberries. I added an equal helping of spinach and arugula. Then I poured in almond milk and gave it all a splash of lime. Every ingredient was healthy and it tastes really good! Sometimes I add almond butter or peanut butter if I want the protein and fat.
A blender is the perfect tool for preparing cheap and easy recipes at home. By utilizing a blender each day, it’ll save you from having to spend thousands a year at the local coffee shop. Plus, those smoothies are usually full of added sugar just so they taste good. But remember, if it tastes too good to be true, it probably is.
Meal Replacement Beverages
Want to make things super easy on yourself? Consider making meal replacement beverages part of your life. These drinks include everything your body needs to function well – without tons of extra salts, sugars, fats.
The most famous meal replacement beverage comes out of Silicon Valley in California. About five years ago, a computer scientist challenged the idea of ever having to eat again. He wanted to be able to work for hours and hours without having to stop for food. Eating was too inefficient, he thought.
One crowdfunding campaign later, Soylent was born. Soylent is a complete meal replacement beverage. It looks like cappuccino and smells like gingerbread. Yet it is healthy enough to drink every day and function well. Unfortunately, Soylent isn’t yet available here in the UK. It’s only available in the US and Canada via the Soylent website. But there are plans to expand. If you’d like to try Soylent, you can go to Amazon. There are a few resellers. It’s expensive but you’ll get an idea what the buzz is all about.
There are still other meal replacement beverages on the market. Soylent is just the most famous example. Furthermore, it is a bit of work, but you can make your own Soylent. Google, ‘DIY Soylent’ to find out more. There’s an entire site dedicated to making your own brew.
Use Whole Foods
What I do most often is I cook simple meals with whole foods. I use ingredients like kale, spinach, chicken breasts, ground turkey, peanuts, seasonings, tilapia, shrimp, beans… basically anything I can recognize. This keeps me healthy. It’s also pretty cheap because whole foods are generally less expensive than processed foods. That’s because processed foods take a lot of work in order to get it to the customer. You have to pay for the labor. There are exceptions to this rule. Things like crisps are cheap. But they offer little nutritional value so they really are worthless other than for their flavor.
How much time do you spend cooking?
You probably spend more time than you think. I used to cook elaborate meals. Until I started timing myself as well as the dishes. I realized I would spend well over an hour (sometimes up to 3!) each night tending to food. It was such an epic waste of time. To stop myself from cooking, I made myself a note demanding that I stop with these big meals. I’m glad I did. I have more free time and more time to make money. What’s better than that??
Bio:
Will Lipovsky is a personal finance freelance writer and internet marketer. His most embarrassing moment has been saying to a Microsoft executive, “I’ll just Google it.” You can get in touch with Will at FirstQuarterFinance.com.