The thought of using a pressure cooker never crossed my mind until I bought the cookbook, The Passionate Vegetarian. However, when I read how much a pressure cooker shortens the cooking times for various foods, I quickly became convinced that I needed to buy one. I haven’t been disappointed. My pressure cooker cuts the cooking times for pre-soaked beans, rice, potatoes and many vegetables by up to 70%.

» Read more: Pressure Cooking Drastically Shortens Cooking Times

One of my best time saving strategies is planning my meals ahead of time. This is a time saver all on its own, but it’s even easier when my meal plan is kept on the computer. When I type my meal plans, I can also easily modify my plan when necessary by cutting and pasting dishes from one day to the other. When I plan my meals for the week, I also add up the points/calories for each meal so that I can use the information to easily track my daily intake throughout the week and insure that my meals are not too calorie laden. I also keep a “notes” section at the top of the page to summarize when I need to cook different things and to remind myself of important information about the meal such as longer cook times, etc.

» Read more: Planning Meals and Creating Grocery Lists on the Computer