Be prepared!

When I was young, I went to Girl Guides whose motto "Be prepared" has helped me in so many areas of my life. With people's lives getting increasingly busy, never has this motto been more relevant.

For people who really don't think they have enough time to prepare healthy meals, I recommend using the time that you do have in the kitchen to get organised. For me, this means using dinner preparation time to think ahead and prepare foods that I can use the next morning to make healthy packed lunches for the family.

In practice this means, boiling up lentils or quinoa, roasting extra vegetables, cooking an extra portion of fish or hard-boiling some eggs, whilst I am cooking supper. The way I see it, if I am already standing by the hob, I may as well set up a couple of extra pans!

Aim to cook enough to last for a few days and by preparing another item each evening you can ensure that you have a constant supply of prepared foods. Just make sure you know how long each one has been in the fridge - 3 days is fine for most foods.

In the morning, I can quickly chuck quinoa, some tinned chickpeas or an egg, some roast veg, add some freshly chopped veg like cherry toms, peppers and cucumber. A dollop of humus and a sprinkle of seeds and you have a healthy packed lunch for work or school.