Never enough time to eat anything other than a three-minute microwave meal? Fear not, we have rounded up some fantastic hacks to save you time and money, all while eating the food you love.

Making a batch of roasted veggies is one of the quickest ways to make sure you're getting your five-a-day, without spending ages slaving over the cooker. Simply cut various different vegetables (such as zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, onion and eggplant) to the same size and put them in a baking tray with a little olive oil. Once cooked, you can store in plastic boxes and serve with meat, fish, salad, rice or pasta.

If you’re a smoothie fan or a NutriBullet addict, bagging up your smoothie/juice ingredients can save you a lot of time. Whatever fruit and/or herbs you like in your drink, just pop it in a freezer bag so it’s ready to whizz up with some water – it stays so much colder too.

The key to quick cooking and a relaxing mealtime is to prep in advance. Get your ingredients out in the morning and prep as much as you can to allow for more time in the evening.

Frozen bags of summer berries are available at most supermarkets, but in those you’ll often just find blackberries, strawberries and raspberries. Try freezing some of the more seasonal berries such as boysenberries and tayberries to keep them for longer. It’s also incredibly handy to freeze cranberries, just in time for a homemade batch of Christmas cranberry sauce (cheaper too).

A new technique for a meat lover's breakfast: bacon in the microwave. Fold the bacon slices in between some kitchen paper and pop it in for about two minutes per slice. The kitchen paper absorbs all the fatty juices from the bacon (better than being stuck to a pan) and, voilà, you throw away the paper, leaving you with some crispy bacon with minimal mess.

We all know those extra 10 minutes in bed are much more appealing than slaving over the hob and making breakfast. To save you some time, make some breakfast burritos on a Sunday night (fill them with whatever you like), wrap them in plastic wrap and just pop them in the freezer ready for the week. Try to remember to get one out the night before you want to eat it, otherwise you’ll need to allow more time to defrost it in the morning.

Grilling cheese on toast means you have to watch constantly in case it burns. Instead, make a melted cheese sandwich using a thin slice of cheese between slim pieces of bread and cook in a wide-slot toaster.

Busy lives can often lead to a lot of wasted food. Avoid waste by freezing and utilizing the fresh food you have. If you've got some grapes slowly softening in your fruit bowl, just pop them in the freezer. They’re a perfect snack in the heat – really healthy too – and they’re also great for popping in your drink as a replacement for ice. Just put them into a freezer bag overnight and they’ll be good to go.

If you’re short on time in the mornings and still fancy a nutritious breakfast, scrambling your eggs in the microwave is the answer. Add two eggs to a microwavable cup with salt, pepper and a dash of milk before zapping for a minute and a half, pausing to stir halfway.

Alternatively, if you're looking for a slightly healthier breakfast, try poaching eggs in the microwave instead. Simply fill a bowl with boiling water, a little salt and vinegar and crack the egg in. Heat for about 60 seconds and you should have the perfect runny yolk. Eggcellent!

Cooked pasta can turn to mush (unless it’s frozen after being cooked al dente) but tightly-wrapped fresh pasta freezes well for up to two months, so it's certainly worth keeping some in the freezer for nights when you have a little less time.

When you've got some spare time at the weekend, whizz up your own pesto (just whisk up some pine nuts, basil, garlic and parmesan cheese), then pour it into an ice tray so you’ve always got some on hand to add to your pasta. Jars of pesto don’t usually last long in the fridge once opened, so these cubes are a quick and easy addition to a simple pasta dish.

Stop your peeled potatoes going brown by covering them with cold water and putting them in the fridge until you’re ready to cook.

Here’s a handy hack for freezing fresh herbs and chill – chop then pop into ice cube trays with olive oil or melted butter. Freeze overnight, remove the cubes and put in a sealed plastic bag ready for cooking when required. Hardier herbs can withstand being plucked from the stem and kept in jars in the freezer.

During winter, soup is the go-to option for lunches. If you enjoy making your own soup, try making a big batch over the weekend, serving it up into smaller, lunch-size portions so they’re ready to take out on a daily basis.

Cut your fingers finely slicing garlic? Don't want to spend time cleaning the crusher? Separate garlic cloves then shake them energetically inside two metal or enamel bowls held together. The skin just comes away.

First fluff up the leaves so they’re not flat then gently but firmly insert a drinking straw into the bottom of the fruit and push up to remove the hull (center part) and leaves.

This one is essential for coffee lovers in the summer. Brew some fresh coffee (as strong as you like it) and just pour it into an ice tray. Once the coffee cubes are frozen, you can blend them with some milk to make an iced latte, mix them with vodka and coffee liqueur for an espresso martini (yum), or simply just make yourself a nice cold black coffee for the summer.

If you’re weaning your baby with fresh fruit and vegetables but don’t have the time (or energy) to cook from scratch every day, simply make a batch of puree and add it to ice cube trays – freezing preserves the nutrients. Take out and slowly heat in a pan then allow to cool before using.

Can’t get through fresh herbs before they start to go off? Chop them up, add to ice cube trays then pour over water, oil, melted butter or stock until the herbs are covered, then freeze. Don’t forget to label the trays.

There's no better investment for people with no time than a slow cooker. Make stews, soups, sauces and casseroles simply by putting the ingredients into the pot and letting it simmer away while you're out of the house. By the time you get home, the food will be ready to go. Genius!

And if you're entertaining or cooking ahead, then it pays to make two dishes at once. Simply create an aluminum foil ‘wall’ down the middle of the cooker then place a liner in each section before adding the ingredients for two separate meals.

Making doubles of things will save you a lot of time in the long-run. Once your meals are cooked, you can store in the fridge or freeze them for another day.

An egg slicer can cut through mushrooms and strawberries as quickly and easily as hard-boiled eggs.

You can use a muffin tray for pretty much anything. Crack eggs into each section to bake a huge batch of them in a much quicker time.

Or you can buy some ready-made pastry and make little canapes for while your guests are mingling. Put a bit of pastry in each section and fill with anything you like – smoked salmon and cream cheese is always an easy option.

Fill up your muffin tin with lemons/limes and water, and just put it in the freezer for fruity ice. These are great for adding to your drinks in the summer, especially for parties when you don’t want to spend time chopping up fruit all night.

We all know how temperamental avocados can be, and guacamole isn’t much different. If you’re prepping a batch for your lunch, add a thin layer of water on top or spray it with a little cooking oil to keep it looking green and fresh.

If you’re making a dish that involves cutting a lot of cherry tomatoes, place them in between two plates, and slice through the gap to cut them all in half. Just be careful not to squeeze the plates too hard, as you probably won’t want to get tomato juice all over yourself.