Fast, faster - healthy

Even if the working day is long and the time for cooking is often short: with these tips and tricks, you'll always have something healthy on the table.

Many parents are familiar with this: when you finally arrive home, the hungry children are already waiting for you and the question: «What's for dinner?» Your partner is still stuck in a traffic jam, so after a stressful day at the office you have to conjure up something quick and healthy that everyone will enjoy and that will fill them up. Not an easy task - but the following tips and tricks will make it easier and more relaxed.
To satisfy the first hunger pangs, it is advisable to prepare a small snack in the form of raw vegetables with a quark dip or apple slices. If you then feel like it, help dad with the cooking. This requires a little patience at the beginning, but is fun and leads to a quicker result. On the one hand, the children are kept busy and on the other, cooking becomes routine as soon as parents and children are a well-coordinated team and the young chefs are familiar with the individual steps in the kitchen.

Well prepared is half cooked

Speed and healthy cooking can be optimally combined. What does it take? Planning and preparation. Weekly shopping and flexible meal planning can prevent you from ending up with an empty fridge in the evening.
This planning can take place as a weekly ritual with the whole family. The wishes of all family members should be taken into account, as this promotes a shared eating culture. If you want to save time, you can order your groceries online. The fresh products are delivered to your home within 24 hours.
Good preparation also includes pre-cooking and using a dish several times. A salad dressing can easily be prepared as a weekly ration, as can a tomato sauce that tastes good with spaghetti, rice or in a lasagne. Soups, stews, casseroles and gratins are dishes that are easy to prepare in large quantities and store in portions in the fridge. It is also helpful to always have a ration of fruit and vegetables in the freezer at home. Within the first six months after shock freezing, frozen vegetables and fruit usually still have the same or even a higher vitamin content than fresh vegetables and fruit compared to fresh produce that has been stored for longer.

If a ready meal, then spice it up healthily

In principle, daily cooking with fresh, unprocessed products is recommended. However, if this is not always possible, convenience products are an alternative in exceptional cases. The choice of such products is huge, which does not make the decision in favour of or against a product any easier.
It makes sense to choose convenience products that only cover part of the main meal, for example ready-made spaetzle as a convenience product with fresh salad and fried egg. This allows you to personalise the rest of the meal yourself. As soon as a complete meal consists of a ready meal, it is possible that this meal is very high in fat and therefore calories and the proportion of vegetables is low.
Another option is to spice up the flavour of ready meals with simple changes and make the dish healthier at the same time. For example, a ready-made pizza can be topped with healthy pepperoni, mushrooms and spinach. You can add grated courgette to a ready-made risotto and flavour it with parmesan.
Picture: istock

What does healthy mean?

A healthy diet for children means first and foremost: balanced, varied and colourful. According to the Swiss Society for Nutrition, children should eat five handfuls of fruit and vegetables a day. A balanced and varied diet ensures that the child is provided with sufficient nutrients. Children should eat regularly, as this promotes performance and concentration.

The most important thing is for parents to set an example: eat together, take your time, don't miss out on fruit and vegetables yourself and savour them with all your senses. Your child will learn to do this and thus acquire the best prerequisites for a healthy and enjoyable diet.

Quick and good - the tips:

Three ideas for quick meals
(Time required: less than 30 minutes)

  • Omeletten mit Apfelmus 
  • Flammkuchen mit Gemüse
  • Toast Hawaii mit Salat

Drei Rezepte zum Vorbereiten

  • Chili con Carne
  • Kartoffelstockgratin
  • Gemüselasagne

Diese Lebensmittel sollten Sie auf Vorrat zu Hause haben

  • Tiefkühlgemüse (Erbsli, Spinat usw.)
  • Gefrorene Beeren
  • Tomatensauce
  • Stärkebeilagen wie: Teigwaren, Reis, Kartoffeln, Hülsenfrüchte
  • Eier
  • Nüsse

The author

Vera Kessens ist BSc Ernährungsberaterin SVDE bei Betty Bossi AG
Vera Kessens is a BSc Nutrition Consultant SVDE at Betty Bossi AG

Read more about nutrition:

  • 10 tips on how to make vegetables palatable to children
  • How to prevent arguments at the family table