In Part 1, I shared tips to stock up on healthy convenience foods and to get a head start on food preparation. In this post, I give you the lowdown on some time-saving tools and gadgets.
Digital Food Scale
This tool saves me from washing multiple measuring cups. Instead of using several cups to serve up a proper portion, I simply put my bowl or plate onto the scale and scoop my cottage cheese, berries, yogurt, cereal or whatever until the scale signals the amount I want in grams or ounces. I zero the scale and add the second food. Then the third and so forth. Now I have nothing to wash except the dish I eat from.
Kitchen Shears
Cut herbs and pizza and even dice chicken with more ease and in less time than the same tasks done with a knife. Choose shears that come apart for quick, easy washing.
Rice Cooker
I used to think that a rice cooker was nothing more than a silly user of precious counter space. But now, it’s one of my favorite appliances. Why? It’s because a rice cooker cooks so much more than rice. I use it for wheat berries, quinoa, steel cut oats, barley and more. Plus, I can turn it on and walk away to do other chores. When the grain is fully cooked, the rice cooker turns itself off and keeps the contents warm.
Food Processor
Slice, shred and grate in minutes. Use a food processor to bulk up portions of casseroles, spaghetti sauce and lasagna with sliced and chopped veggies on the ready. Try diced cauliflower in macaroni and cheese and carrots and mushrooms in spaghetti sauce. A full-sized or mini food processor will help you prepare interesting salads quickly too. Shred cabbage for this yummy coleslaw lickety-split.
Vegetable Peeler
Remove the skin of an apple or potato much faster with a vegetable peeler than a knife. You’ll lose less flesh too. Pick one with a swivel blade for maximum comfort and safety.
You can still eat right when time is tight. Use some of the timesaving strategies in this post and in Part 1 to help you reach your healthful eating goals. Perhaps the most important time-saving strategy, however, is to plan ahead.
Cheers to happy, healthy eating!
Jill Weisenberger, MS, RDN, CDE, FAND has worked as both a nutrition counselor and a diabetes educator in the hospital and research settings, and now in private practice in Newport News, VA. Jill is the author of Diabetes Weight Loss – Week by Week and two upcoming books, The Overworked Person’s Guide to Better Nutrition and 21 Things You Need to Know about Diabetes and Your Heart. She is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the American Association of Diabetes Educators and the American Diabetes Association. Follow Jill on Twitter @NutritionJill and find more at www.JillWeisenberger.com.
