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Five Favorite Fast Meals (continued)

Those are my favorite time-saver meals. Now take advantage of these time-saver tips and you'll find yourself with new time on your hands.

• Plan meals. Yes, I know you hear about meal planning all the time, but that's because it's definitely the key to successful healthy eating. For example, let's focus on dinner. If you sit down for less than 20 minutes you can plan dinners and make a grocery list for the week. The health benefits of getting more of the nutrients you need will be worth those 20 minutes.
• Make use of leftovers. If you bake a chicken use the leftover chicken to make chicken soup or chicken salad. Don't throw away leftovers! Get creative. If you make pork tenderloin for dinner, transform it into pork tacos the next night.
• Eat more one-pot meals. One-pot meals can be convienient and healthy time savers because you can load up on high-fiber veggies, throw everything in the pot and walk away.
• Try crock-pot cooking which is another of my favorite time savers. Add your ingredients in the morning and come home to a cooked meal and a great-smelling house. dLife's Recipe Finder has lots of great crock pot (a.k.a. slow cooker) recipes.
• Do batch cooking and prep ahead of time. Batch cooking involves cooking a few meals at once and freezing them for a later date. There are various websites available for batch cooking tips and recipes. Prepping ahead of time can be great for chopped veggies such as onions, peppers, and other veggies that can be added to various dishes during the week.