Despite growing health awareness, diet-related diseases are increasing. One of the greatest obstacles to eating healthy is the time needed for food preparation and the convenience of fast food. The question is how can we improve our diet by making tasty quick healthy meals more convenient and less time consuming to prepare? Below are my 20 favourite and most used tips and hacks that help me meal prep more efficiently with little waste.

• Coat a measuring cup or spoon with hot water or a little cooking oil spray before measuring sticky substances like honey, rice malt or maple syrups. The heat or oil will help them slide right off and into a mixing bowl without leaving any behind and your fingers having to get involved.

• Bring crystallized honey back to life by placing the container in some hot water for 5 to 10 minutes.

• Cut cherry tomatoes in halves in a large batch by placing tomatoes in between two lids (e.g. plastic container lids) or plates. Gently slice horizontally through the tomatoes while pressing down on the top lid.

• When boiling eggs, add some vinegar or baking soda to the water. These ingredients help to make it easier to peel the eggs once cooked.

• Make it easier to peel garlic by whacking it hard or squashing it down with the wide edge of a knife. Once it’s smashed, the skin just falls off.

• Use a spoon rather than a peeler to remove the skin from fresh ginger. Just scrape a teaspoon over the skin and it will fall off easily.

• Make your bacon crispy by laying each piece flat on a baking tray, cook for 10 minutes in the oven at 180 degrees

• Add vinegar to your pan when poaching eggs this will help the egg to stay together for you to enjoy restaurant brought eggs.

• When a powder dries up and becomes hard, such as brown sugar, or pre-workout, put a piece of bread in the container this will absorb any moisture making the product soft again.

• Boil beetroot with the skin on. Once it is cooked the skin will full off.

• Pop all fruit and vegetable waste into resealable sandwich bags and freeze to use in your smoothies later

• Make lemons and limes easier to squeeze and get more juice by rolling them on your bench first.

• Use an egg slice to cut strawberries or Mushrooms

• Portion of your meat before freezing it

You can chop almost all vegetables in advance and store them in Tupperware or plastic sealed bags in your fridge. Here are some of the best choices, with their shelf life so you can prepare in advance and keep up to two weeks in the fridge

• Cabbage– shred and keep in the fridge for up to 7 days

• Onions– will keep up to 5-7 days in the fridge

• Carrots– will keep up to 2 weeks in the fridge. They will be even fresher if you store them in cold water in the fridge. You have to change the water daily.

• Bell peppers– will keep up to 3 days in the fridge.

• Zucchini– chopped or cut in spaghetti will keep up to 3 days in the fridge

• Celery -will keep up to 2 weeks in the fridge

• Cucumber – will keep up to 2 days in the fridge

• Tomatoes – will keep up to 3 days in the fridge

• Mushrooms – will keep up to 2 days in the refrigerator

• Baby spinach – kept in a plastic bag and washed just before use will keep up to 3 days in the fridge

• Broccoli – will keep up to 5 days in the fridge

• Cauliflower – will keep up to 7 days in the fridge

• Kale – will keep up to 7 days in the fridge

• Green onion – will keep up to 7 days in the fridge

I hope this guide helps you out in the kitchen and makes the whole experience easier! Have Fun Thanks Heather