4 Fast & Easy Healthy Cooking Hacks

“What’s for dinner?” Rarely does such a simple question inspire such dread, especially if you’re too busy to cook and just have a million to-do’s on your plate other than, well, food.

Mealtime can result in a lot of stress, which is compounded if you’re thinking on an empty stomach. All of a sudden, you’re scrambling for options, and maybe not thinking all that clearly in the moment about your SmartPoints Budget.

The secret to solving this daily dilemma? A little pre-planning and preparation can go a long way. With your own collection of quick, tasty, nutritious meal ideas at the ready, you’ll always have a go-to plan when you’re short on time—one that makes the most of ZeroPoint foods, keeping you firmly on track toward your weight-loss goals.

As your Weekly explains, these four quick meal hacks can help you plan and prep before hunger strikes, keeping you firmly in control of your nutritional decision-making.

Just be sure to rely on foods you genuinely want to eat, and not things you don’t care for or leave you uninspired. Don’t like broccoli? Try some steamed squash instead. Can’t stand the sight of another skinless chicken breast? Get adventurous with a salmon steak. This is your meal plan, and you should enjoy it!

1. Keep a stock of ready-to-go ingredients in your kitchen. This way, you can throw together the main components of a meal whenever you need them. Think canned beans, frozen fish, or pre-cut veggies. Other ready-to-go ingredients include eggs, ready-to-eat chicken strips, tinned veggies for soups, bags of stir-fry vegetables or veggie “noodles.”

Don’t be afraid of using pre-cooked food options to help you save time; pick up cooked brown rice or quinoa, pizza bases, and vacuum-packed cooked vegetables at the market. And be sure your cabinets stay filled with the herbs, spices, sauces, and oils you love to bring the ingredients together.

In addition, remember that you can poach, steam, bake, or grill fish straight from the freezer, and many veggies, like asparagus, bell peppers, broccoli, corn, snap peas, and zucchini, all cook in less than five minutes in the microwave.

2. Make batch cooking a weekly habit. Prep meals — or components of them — at the same time each week. That way, you’ll always have meals to turn to in an instant. Refrigerate or freeze batch cooking. Chilis, soups, and stews freeze perfectly and will be a delicious welcome on nights when you don’t have time to cook.

You can also consider roasting a chicken, turkey breast, or a beef or pork roast when you have time and use the leftovers for soups, sandwiches, tacos, or stir-fries later in the week.

3. Make a little more than you need. Whenever you’re cooking throughout the week, make a little more so you have leftovers. Put them away in the fridge, and they become a quick meal option for the next day.

4. Try new tools. Lean on time-saving kitchen tools like hand held blenders, large bowls for easy mixing, pan liners or non-stick frying pans and food processor attachments for easy grating and chopping.

Need some inspiration? Use the WW app to search for quick and no cook recipes, or type in an ingredient you want to use — like “eggs” or “chicken breast,” for example — and find recipe ideas to suit you. To find recipes in the app, scroll down to “explore all recipes,” click on that and you can scroll through our various recipe collections.