This is the seventh article in the Get Started Eating Every Three Hours series that outlines how to start eating every three hours and the benefits of such a diet.

Not long after I first started my diet of eating every three hours, I nearly gave up because it seemed most of my time was spent cooking for the next meal. In order to successfully maintain such a diet I needed to look past the next meal and start thinking ahead to the coming days.

When eating every three hours there is always another meal around the corner, so it makes sense to minimize the amount of time spent in the kitchen. Get in the habit of cooking several days worth of food at one time whenever possible.

Choose which day(s) to cook

As with the day you chose to do your bulk shopping, select a day where you will set time aside to cook the food you will be eating during the week. Depending on the type of food and storage options available, you may not be able to cook for the entire week. In those instances you may have to schedule another cooking day mid-week.

I usually do my cooking on Sunday. This is the least busy day in my schedule and it seems logical to stock up on cooked food as close to the work-week as possible.

Come up with a process

To make this chore painless as possible, come up with a cooking process that works well for you. Here is how I go about cooking my chicken:

I then wash the pans and do the same thing for any red meat I have planned for the week; normally I don’t eat much red meat so there is not much to cook.

From there, I move on to vegetables. I usually buy Birds Eye frozen veggies that allow you to steam them right in the bag using the microwave. In my personalized food log, I get three servings of veggies out of each bag. I cook a total of three or four bags. After each bag is done I’ll dump the contents onto a platter, divide into three smaller piles (my portions), then I place each portion into a vacuum seal bag and seal them up.

If I have a whole turkey breast, I’ll slice it up into 4oz portions and vacuum seal those too.

I also eat a lot of fish, but I purchase the salmon precooked and divided into 4oz portions. If I didn’t have that convenience I would take the time to cook my salmon on my designated cooking day.

All of this may seem like a lot of work, and in the beginning it certainly is. Once you get into the routine and develop your own process, this should take no more than 90 minutes. It will save you hours of time during the coming week having this food already prepared.

Do you have any tips-and-tricks to save cooking time?

This is the second article in the Get Started Eating Every Three Hours series that outlines how to start eating every three hours and the benefits of such a diet.

In the previous article, I talked about the benefits of eating healthy food every three hours. Now we’ll take a look at some of the handy kitchen items needed to ease your passage into a healthy lifestyle. Many of you will already have most of these items, while others with a sparse kitchen may not.

To eat every three hours effectively you must store prepared foods, quickly create meals, and easily transport your meals; all while minimizing your kitchen chores such as dishes. The following are the items I have personally found useful.

Vacuum Sealer

The vacuum sealer is quite possibly the best kitchen invention since the refrigerator. Not only is this product good for storing raw foods, it is great for storing cooked foods; which is how I recommend using the product.

When preparing yourself five or six meals a day, you must cook food in advance. This is especially true during the work-week. The vacuum sealer provides the means to cook your food in advance (more on that in another article) and safely store the meals for the coming week. 

Vacuum sealers come in a variety of models. I personally have experience with the FoodSaver V2040, and highly recommend it since it has put up with months of abuse in my busy kitchen. There are many other vacuum sealers on the market and some are less expensive than the FoodSaver. There are models from Rival, Oliso, Toastess, and Kenmore®. I cannot personally recommend those products because I have not used them, but they may work fine. Keep in mind that you get what you pay for!

Kitchen Scale

In order to eat healthy, you must face the fact that you will be counting calories, among other things. With some foods, calories will only be given for a specific weight regardless of how much food is provided in the package. This is where a good kitchen scale is essential.

When shopping for a kitchen scale, make sure you get something that is digital. Avoid products that use spring-loading to determine weight as they are always inaccurate. For me, the most useful kitchen scales offer display read-outs in either ounces or grams. Some nutrition labels offer portions in grams, and others in ounces. Having a kitchen scale that can display both saves some conversion headaches.

In my opinion, a kitchen scale is not an optional appliance when you are regulating your diet. Buy one right away!

Plastic Containers

Unless you like to return home every three hours when it comes time to eat again, you will need some method of taking a meal or two with you while out on the go. Plastic containers are the obvious choice when transporting food.

There are many brands of plastic containers available. The best bang-for-your-buck will be a container set that will include different sizes. If there is a specific plastic container not included in the larger set, you can often purchase them separately.

When shopping around, I encourage you to play with the containers in the store. Do the lids seal on properly to the container without easily popping off? Can you squeeze the container a little and have the lid not come off? Can you hold it upside down? It really is a buzz-kill to have a meal container pop open in the car or in your bag.

Some brands have locking lids. These are great, but they are also more expensive. Having one or two of these is good for the times when you need to take a liquid with you, such as milk or soft items like applesauce. The locking containers with a rubber seal are required to keep liquids in their container. Put fluids in any non-locking type container and there will be leaks.

Make sure your containers are microwave and dishwasher safe. Not all of my meals need to be heated up, but it is very nice to toss the container in a microwave and eat directly from the plastic dish. Classy!

Feed Bag

When going to work or running errands around town, you may have to take up to three meals with you. Depending on how you separate food in your plastic containers, you may have eight or nine containers coming along for the ride.

Find or buy a “feed bag” dedicated to the job of transporting your food containers. I use a cheap backpack, but any type of bag with handles will work fine. Some people like to use leftover plastic sacks from the grocery store. However, a bag with multiple pockets is nice because you can carry extra stuff like plastic utensils, napkins, toothbrush, and mints. Always having these extras with your containers avoids you eating like a dog from your plastic dish in public places.

Miscellaneous 

There are several miscellaneous items necessary to eat every three hours that are useful.

You should be stocked up on plastic forks, spoons, and paper plates. Eating five or six times a day will leave you constantly washing dishes. Make use of the disposable alternatives. Save the pretty plates for guests.

I find that most food will not spoil during the day if sealed in a plastic container. If you are paranoid about such things or carrying something that you must keep cold, cold-packs may be necessary. Simply keep a couple of these in your freezer and toss one into your feed bag on your way out the door to keep your food cool. Good for the summer months!

I will discuss bulk cooking in a later article, but having more than one frying pan allows you to cook large quantities of food at once when preparing for the coming week. Not a requirement, but having an extra large pan does save cooking time.

I’m sure there are items I left out, but this list comprehensive enough to get anyone started eating healthy food. What else do you think would be handy for the Eat Every Three diet?