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Half Baked Harvest’s Tieghan Gerard Shares 3 Tips for Eating Well in 2025

The food blogger and cookbook author believes that healthy food can feel indulgent.

Cara O’Bleness

Tieghan Gerard
Tieghan Gerard / Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images

Kickstart your New Year alongside SI Swimsuit with 31 Days of Wellness! This January, SI Swimsuit will unlock exclusive offerings with SI Swimsuit models, wellness experts, fitness gurus and others, who will guide you through 31 days of rejuvenating workouts, recipes, self-care rituals and more.

While many people look to eat more healthily in the New Year, others are more concerned with sticking to a budget or prioritizing cooking at home rather than dining out. While we’d never tell you how or what to eat, getting a few tips and tricks under your belt will certainly help you to achieve your food-related goals in 2025.

SI Swimsuit recently chatted with Tieghan Gerard, known for her popular Half Baked Harvest food blog and cookbooks, to learn exactly how we can achieve all of the above and more. Find her top tips below.

Tieghan Gerard
Tieghan Gerard / Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images

Plan your meals for three days out of the week

When it comes to meal prep, Gerard notes that the practice can be quite intimidating, and often leads to food waste. Instead of prepping a week’s worth of meals on a Sunday, she suggests mapping out what you plan to eat for three days of the coming week while keeping the recipes straightforward and simple. Healthy and delicious sheet pan recipes, chilis, protein bowls and homemade protein bars are just a few examples of Half Baked Harvest recipes that fit the bill.

 “I always say it’s super easy to eat healthy, especially if you can just shop the perimeter of the grocery store, find yourself some really good cuts of meat,” Gerard explains. “I think it can be really, really easy if you do a little bit of prep on the weekend, that is super, super helpful, just planning what you’re going to eat.”

Stick to your budget

Utilizing your leftovers and eliminating waste are two great ways to remain on a budget while eating well in the New Year, according to Gerard. She is big on leftovers, and suggests getting more out of your weekly budget by making dishes that can be repurposed into additional meals throughout the week. For example, she loves cooking a large piece of salmon to then turn into various bowls throughout the week.

“Pick up a whole rotisserie chicken and really try to use all the different parts of it,” Gerard recommends. “Throw the shredded meat in a soup, throw the chicken breast over rice. I think it’s about utilizing everything that you have and not trying to let things go to waste.”

Preparing meals with seasonal ingredients is also a great way to eat healthily while sticking to a budget during the winter, according to Gerard. In addition to winter produce and cuts of meat like pot roast, she recommends having seasonal spices like turmeric, cayenne and cinnamon on hand in your pantry.

Don’t shy away from making healthy swaps

Gerard’s recipes are created with whole, real foods in mind, and she doesn’t shy away from using butter, cheese and high-quality meats in her meals. While everyone’s definition of “healthy eating” is different, Gerard believes that healthy meals can feel indulgent, and prioritizes high-protein dishes without added sugars or processed ingredients.

In order to keep your healthy eating goals realistic in the New Year, she suggests not being overly strict. Gerard is all for making healthy swaps where possible, too, like using sweet potatoes in a mashed potato recipe.

 “I top my chili with high-protein Greek yogurt,” she adds. “It’s about making swaps that feel really comfortable to you that aren’t sacrificing flavor. So, maybe that is Greek yogurt for sour cream.”

Half Baked Harvest recipes to try in January

Stay tuned to SI Swimsuit’s 31 Days of Wellness to continue to learn how to take charge in the year ahead!

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Cara O’Bleness
CARA O’BLENESS

Cara O’Bleness is a writer and editor on the Lifestyle and Trending News team for SI Swimsuit. Prior to joining SI Swimsuit in 2022, she worked as a writer and editor across a number of content verticals, including food, lifestyle, health and wellness, and small business and entrepreneurship. In her free time, O’Bleness loves reading, spending time with her family and making her way through Michigan’s many microbreweries. She is a graduate of Michigan State University’s School of Journalism.

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