This nutritionist shares a genius weekday cooking hack that could change your life

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We live in a world where convenience is king and if you’re already a fan of our Easy Weekday Meals recipes, you’ll know that we aim to offer you fabulously quick and simple-to-make food for those chaotic and busy work days that leave little time to plan and cook elaborate dinners. 

In short: we’re always on the lookout to make your lives easier! 

ALSO READ: 8 Easy-to-make cheat recipes that save you time and money

So when we discovered this time-saving hack from renowned British nutritionist, Amelia Freer – we knew we had to share it with you! Amelia was the very first guest on the new Deliciously Ella podcast. Ella Mills is arguably one of the UK’s biggest influencers in the plant-based space and has just started her own podcast. 

HEALTHY EATING ON A BUDGET: Healthy eating certainly can be expensive, depending on the ingredients you choose. There are vast amounts of “healthy” products available now. Some of them are truly delicious and nutritious. A lot of them are revolting and pure gimmicks. None of them are necessary nor are they going to enhance your health. They are merely available as options. Some healthier snacks, drinks or some quick solutions for example. It is easy to walk around a healthfood shop or supermarket and get seduced by all of the many products but they are NOT necessary to buy or consume (I used to be fooled in the early days of my nutrition training and waste my money on all sorts of powders and organic bits and bobs thinking they were “good” for me). However, there are lots of natural, healthy staples that are very cost-effective and are worth purchasing to begin a foundation of healthy eating. Things like rolled oats, dried legumes, frozen fruit & vegetables, tinned or frozen oily fish (especially sardines) and seasonal or root vegetables are often some of the cheapest ingredients in the shops or markets, and can be used in infinite combinations to create a wide range of cheap and tasty dishes. Asian shops often sell nuts and seeds or things like tahini in bulk sizes for very reasonable prices. Getting to know your local stores is a great idea, so you know where & when the bargains are to be had.??If any of you have any handy tips on eating well on a budget, please do share below.??This lentil, beetroot and hazelnut salad with a ginger dressing is a firm favourite of mine from my first book Eat. Nourish. Glow. The recipe is now up on my website, link as always in my bio ?? by @aliallenphoto

A post shared by Amelia Freer (@ameliafreer) on Aug 8, 2018 at 12:16am PDT

In the episode with Amelia, they discuss the ever-changing world of health and wellness but it’s the nutritionist’s genius cooking prep hack that got our attention.

She says, “I always have loads of pre-chopped onions in my freezer,  which is so great because when you get home from work and you just want to cook up something quickly, you can just add them frozen to the pan instead of that faffing of chopping, which I know is what puts loads of people off cooking from scratch”. 

Why did we never think of this?! Chopping onions is often seen as one of those laboriously tedious and annoying steps in the cooking process – so if you’re averse to chopping them every time you cook a meal, why not have a big batch pre-chopped (you can do it over the weekend) and keep them in the freezer for those Easy Weekday Meal moments! 

Do you have any genius hacks you’d like to share? Tell us in the comments section below or email us!