There are 24 hours in a day, but how much time do you spend in the kitchen preparing meals? Daily commitments such as work, taking care of kids, studies, and taking care of yourself don’t leave you much time for preparing meals every night. A lot of people say they don’t have the time to eat healthy and need to just eat on the go with their busy schedule and that’s why they fail. Saving time in the kitchen needs to be a priority for the person who is determined to fit in making healthy, homemade meals with a busy schedule. To make it easier for you, we’ve put together some healthy cooking time saving tips so that you are set up for success!

1. Get multiple pans going on the stove at once: one for meat and one for veggies.

2. Cut up your veggies or fruit and put them in containers at the beginning of the week. That way you have fruit/veggies on hand all week to add to dishes, snack on, etc!

3. Cook chicken at the beginning of the week and store in container in fridge. That way it will be quick and easy to add chicken to recipes, salads, etc.

4. Make double of the recipe and freeze half of it for later.

5. Organized shopping and cooking. A detailed list gets you in the store, looking for what you need and cuts impulse buying and aimless wandering. Print the list ahead of time and post it in the kitchen.  When an ingredient is running low, check it on the list immediately. When putting together a weekly menu keep the list at hand and make sure to include any ingredients not currently “in stock.”

6. Have everyone pitch in. More help means less time spent overall but don’t limit the kids’ efforts to just doing the dishes. It’s an opportunity for the next generation to learn, and it gets them excited to try new things when they have helped make it. Involve the kids in getting all of the ingredients rounded up, even finding things at the grocery store. Let them ask lots of questions, and even experiment a little (within reason). As they get older let them help with some of the prep tasks – measuring dry ingredients, stirring, even chopping.

7. Coordinate a meal-swap with friends from your gym/area. Get 5 or so couples (about 10 people) and agree that on a given day each week, you’ll do a meal swap. So instead of making a batch of Chili that you’re stuck eating for 10 meals, you farm out most of those meals, and in exchange, get other meals. You’ve just minimized your time in the kitchen, and have some SERIOUS return on investment.

8. 5 minute meals. Keep a list of three “go-to″ meals on your fridge – quick and easy fixings made with ingredients you always have on hand. This way, when you’re home late, hungry and tired, you’ll have no excuse not to make a healthy, nourishing meal.

9. Leftovers are your friend. Get in the habit of doubling or tripling recipes. Leftovers don’t necessarily need to be for supper the next night, they also make great lunches and even breakfasts.

10. Plan ahead. Those who fail to plan, plan to fail. Having a sense of what you are going to cook over the next week will help you save time and be more efficient in the grocery store. You don’t need to have everything mapped out to the last detail, but having some idea of what you will eat each day can be extraordinarily helpful.

Do you have a time-saving tip that helps you get healthy food on the table — even when you’re in a hurry? I’d love to hear it, and I’m sure our readers would too.