The idea of cooking healthy meals can seem overwhelming, but taking steps to be prepared can eliminate some of the stress and save time.

Organize your kitchen.

• Make the most of your small NYC kitchen. Think about what you use most in the kitchen and keep that in easy reach.

Stock-up on the essentials 

• Keep healthy staples on hand (i.e., olive oil, rice, beans, frozen vegetables)
• Look for sales at the grocery store and stock up on these items.

Have a plan

• Look at your schedule for the week and see how much time you and your family will have to prepare dinner each night. Plan your meals and make a shopping list of the items you will need.
• If you have free time on the weekends, try to prepare meals in advance.
• Make twice as much food as you usually prepare and freeze it for later. Soups and stews freeze well and are great to heat-up on a rainy night when you don't feel like cooking.

Have fun! 

• Involve your family in the cooking process. Check out Lynn Fredricks' tips for making cooking time family time.
• Try a new recipe. Look online for new food ideas, or a new way to prepare an old standby, like chicken.
• Have a theme night with foods from another culture, or have a "favorites party" where each family member chooses a dish.

Don't let dishes pile up

• If the kitchen is messy, cleaning, then cooking, and cleaning again is a lot of work. Clean your kitchen as you're preparing the meal. This way cleaning up won't be so daunting at the end of the meal.