Healthy food preparation according to Nicola Vachová's bikini

Questions about food preparation and food itself is our daily bread. Countless times we have received questions like:

How do I cook when I'm on the road and don't have the opportunity to prepare hot meals several times a day?

Doesn't it matter that I eat cold food out of boxes?

Isn't it wrong to have eggs for breakfast every day?

And so we could go on forever. I often find that many people look for the science in preparing or boxing food, making the journey more complicated than it really is. They then grope for what is actually right and feel the need to find new and new diets, methods, ways, etc. So I decided to write down a few of our routines regarding food preparation, as well as how to pack for travel.

I would first start with the helpers in our kitchen where all the food preparation happens. There are really many ways to prepare healthy, tasty meals and so the advice in this article is only inspirational. These are appliances that are really easy to use and can be cooked in by a layman or a fitness novice who has no experience in food preparation. Our favourite and most used appliance at the moment is the hot air fryer, in which we are able to prepare a complete meal (meat, side dish, grilled vegetables). Fryers have been on the appliance market for some time now and it is no news that they are mainly used to prepare healthy meals without unnecessary added fat. A deep fryer can prepare very tasty, browned on the outside but still juicy meat, fish, potatoes, sweet potatoes, the aforementioned grilled vegetables, but also muffins, etc. If you crave rice, there is no other option than the rice cooker, which can also be used for steaming vegetables (a vegetable attachment is usually included).

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Another great helper for easy food preparation that has been a staple in our home for a long time is the slow cooker. Like the deep fryer, it's been on the market for a long time and it's not just from us that I've heard praise for this appliance many times. For me, the slow cooker makes by far the best shredded beef, when you put it in for a few hours and it really is incredibly tender. If I were to go on a week's holiday, had a business trip coming up, or just a weekend of relaxing at the cottage, I would definitely pack one of these two kitchen helpers with me. Food preparation is easy, quick, very tasty and the appliances can be used to prepare large quantities at a time. Plus, the slow cooker can hold the temperature of the food once cooked, so it's possible to have hot food all day long.

We would have cooked, but now how to pack food to take with us for the whole day or for several days in advance? Whenever we have a trip with an overnight stay (and we don't want to deviate from our routine and meal plan), it's always a good idea to find out in advance if there will be an opportunity to cook. If so, it's easy - either we improvise and use the kitchen and appliances we have available or we bring our favourite appliance that we cook in at home. In case the kitchen is not available and it is 1-2 days, it is not a problem to bring food in boxes and store it in the fridge (if neither is available, there is always the option to ask the staff at the accommodation/hotel to store the food in their kitchen).

For overnight trips it's easy, on the day of departure or the day before we prepare our food for the day, which we then gradually eat as we are used to. It's a good idea to choose meals that are convenient for us to travel with and that we won't mind eating so much even when it's cold. This is exactly what oatcakes (pancakes, if you prefer) do, as they taste great cold and are the ideal snack for the car. And above all, the rule applies here too - if you want it, anything goes. It's entirely up to us how we eat out. Food is not a science, it's just that we often make it more complicated than necessary.

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