Preparing your own meals can be time-consuming, and many of us live our lives on the go, so cooking is not always the first thing we do when we get home.
We had a chat with the owner of the Gourmet Guide, Jenny Handley on how to cook a healthy meal if you do not like cooking or have no time to cook.
Handley said to change the way you eat, you need to first change the way you think about eating. That by keeping it simple and tweaking your choices, you can keep it healthy.
Below she shares her ethos and an example of a weekly eating plan.
Fruits and vegetables. Picture: Supplied
Tips
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Portion sizes should be moderate, as a rule of thumb think that the palm of your hand is what the size of your protein portion should be.
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Fresh is best, fruit and vegetables are more nutritious when eaten raw.
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Avoid processed foods wherever possible.
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Include more vegetables than fruit (five servings a day), and include sufficient fibre in your diet.
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A mid-morning snack of fruit or nuts can prevent you from getting hungry and diving into junk foods.
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Choose to drink water or herbal teas rather than alcohol or fruit drinks.
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Buy the best ingredients you can afford, preferably from your local, organic market.
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Add fresh herbs, spices, olive oils, and lemon juice rather than bottled dressings, for flavour.
Weekly eating plan
Muesli with fresh berries and yoghurt. Picture: Supplied
Monday (Meat-free)
Breakfast – muesli, fresh berries and natural yoghurt with a handful of almonds.
Lunch – Two slices of whole wheat bread topped with chunky cottage cheese, sliced avocado, fresh tomato, and rocket.
Supper – Lentil bobotie served with rice (can use cauliflower rice) and a cucumber and tomato salad.
Vegetable smoothie. Picture: Supplied
Tuesday
Breakfast – Smoothie made of three green vegetables, apple juice (fresh apple juice or 100%, honey and ginger.
Lunch – Leftover bobotie in a whole wheat wrap.
Supper – Rotisserie chicken with a Greek salad, steamed broccoli, and sweet potato chips.
Scrambled egg on whole-wheat toast. Picture: Supplied
Wednesday
Breakfast – Scrambled egg on whole-wheat toast.
Lunch – Chicken and baby spinach salad made from last night’s rotisserie chicken.
Supper – Smoked mackerel with steamed greens dressed in olive oil, lemon and herb dressing.
Mushrooms fried in a little olive oil served on whole-wheat toast. Picture: Supplied
Thursday
Breakfast – Mushrooms fried in a little olive oil, served on whole-wheat toast, topped with grated Parmesan cheese.
Lunch – Chicken mayo (homemade) sandwich.
Supper – Grilled steak with a baked potato, with a crunchy bulgur wheat salad.
Green salad topped with sliced steak. Picture: Supplied
Friday
Breakfast – Smoothie made of three green vegetables, some fruit and a touch of turmeric.
Lunch – Green salad topped with sliced steak (leftover from the night before), topped with nuts.
Supper – Pizza (you can choose a cauliflower base) topped with tomato, cheese, and a treat ingredient.
A whole wheat wrap filled with your choice of meat. Picture: Supplied
Saturday
Breakfast – Muesli, fresh berries, almonds, and natural yoghurt.
Lunch – Whole wheat wrap filled with your choice of meat, fish or poultry plus lots of chopped vegetables.
Supper – Grilled fish with a couscous and tomato salad, with roasted sweet potato.
Shakshuka. Picture: Supplied
Sunday
Breakfast – Shakshuka (delicious, spicy tomato sauce in which you cook eggs) on whole-wheat toast.
Lunch – Braaied meat, fish or poultry with a selection of healthy salads (leftovers of which can be taken to work on Monday).
Supper – Stir-fry using protein from the leftover braai, on courgette noodles with ginger, garlic and lime dressing.