I love eating healthily and nourishing my body and I often get asked, but HOW do you manage to eat healthily? Where do you find the time? And like most things in life it’s all in the prep! I certainly don’t have oodles of time. With a job, my studies (I’m currently studying a Nutrition Diploma) and two young children (one of whom has a sporting fixtures calendar of an elite athlete!!) I tend to find myself rushing out the door almost as soon as I get in, which is why I rely on a set of healthy food hacks that make eating well easy. I wanted to share them with you in the hope that you may find one that suits your lifestyle because I have a feeling that life is just going to keep increasing its speed and we could do with all the help we can get!

FREEZE

In my books, the freezer is underrated. It is vital for us as a family to stay healthy and happy and reach our wellness goals. The whole family tends to have a smoothie most days and so I have learned that to make this 100 times easier you have to chop the fruit and vegetables and pop them into a paper bag (we love If You Care Paper Snack and Sandwich Bags because nothing sticks to them yet they are uncoated, they are not treated with petroleum-based paraffin wax, soy or any other type of wax) so that you have one smoothie blend per bag. You then pop it in your freezer and when it comes to smoothie time all you need to do is tip the contents of the bag into the blender, add milk and blend! Perfect. No mess. No fuss. We also freeze any meals we haven’t managed to consume totally to reduce waste. Your future you will thank you for it. And when it is fruit picking season, I am lucky to live in the countryside and be surrounded by blackberries, and we also grow peas, strawberries and lots more on our veg patch. I am a fiend at making sure I pick the goods when they are just ripe and if it’s not consumed on the spot (one of the joys of a veggie patch) then into the freezer it goes. TOP TIP: When freezing berries or peas, wash them, dry them and then lay them out on a tray covered in parchment paper to stop them from sticking to each other when they freeze. Once frozen you can pop them all in a bag so that they take up less freezer space.

BATCH 

Batch cooking is SUCH a great way to make life easier. I tend to batch cook on the weekends, making things like pasta sauces, stews and soups, which I then store in the freezer. I feel so smug when I get caught short and have nothing to eat in the fridge but then remember that I have a delicious and healthy pasta sauce in the freezer that I can whip out and cook up for the kids. You can also make things like energy balls in batches and store them for ages so that you always have a healthy snack to hand.

ORGANISE

OK. So I have to admit that when it comes to fridge and cupboard organisation – I learned everything I know from Madeleine Shaw. Just take a look at her instagram reels and you will see how Maddy turns organisation into an art form – I’d happily live in her fridge it’s so clean and pretty! First, wash all the drawers in your fridge – these will be used for fruits and vegetables. Then wash the fruits and veg in apple cider vinegar and water in the sink. Allow them to dry on a teatowel before storing them in the fridge. Maddy even sometimes chops veg so that it is ready to go and stores it in glass jars. I LOVE this idea as it really does save so much time when it comes to making meals. Being organised about breakfast is an amazing way to set yourself up for a healthy day. Why not make overnight oats so that you don’t reach for a sugary bowl of cereal? Or you could whip up a smoothie from one of the frozen smoothie prep bags in the freezer. It really is all in the prep when it comes to making eating healthy easy.

Best of the rest: Tips to get your kids to eat healthy (without a ton of effort!)

1. Swap sugar for coconut sugar and use half the amount.
2. Add fruits and vegetables to cake mixtures (sweet potato brownies anyone?)
3. Blend veggies into a tomato sauce and you have a really healthy pizza or pasta topping whenever you need it.

words by Sadie Reid