Meals Made Easy ...
Quick Mealtime Solutions to Reduce Your Time in the Kitchen
When you are busy juggling work, family life, and taking online courses, you don't have to fall prey to the pitfalls of eating out or greasy fast food.
You can still provide your family with home-cooked meals and save money in the process. The following short-cuts can be the answer to your dinnertime crisis.
Solution #1: Meal Planning + Menu Rotation = A Week of Great Dinners
Do you find yourself wondering "What's for dinner?" and when the answer is "I have no clue!" you end up hitting your favorite restaurant? When a busy schedule causes you to do this night after night, you can blow your food budget - fast.
A simple solution is meal planning. Taking a few minutes to plan out a menu for the week can save you time and money.
An even better solution is meal planning with a rotating menu! Pick seven meals that are family favorites and map them out for the week. Then the following week all you have to do is repeat. You simplify shopping by reusing the same grocery list and you can save money by stocking up when those items are on sale.
Are you thinking this won't work because your family craves variety? You can still jazz things up a bit by being creative.
If the menu for Monday is marinated chicken, pick a new marinade each week. Make Tuesday enchilada night and alternate between chicken and beef. You can stick with the same menu for a month or two and then pick seven new favorites.
With a rotating menu, no one will ask "What's for dinner?" because the entire family will already know.
Solution #2: Fix it and Forget it: Your Crock-Pot to the Rescue!
Some of the easiest meals to prepare yourself are the ones where all ingredients get thrown together. Casseroles are popular because you can whip them up ahead of time and simply stick them in the oven just before it's time to eat.
If you are looking for great tried and true casserole recipes, check out AllRecipes.com. Here you will find reviewed recipes complete with step-by-step instructions, nutritional information, and the ability to make a customized shopping list.
If casseroles aren't the craze in your house, how about the slow cooker meals? Remember that crock-pot you received as a wedding gift that's sitting in the back of your cupboard collecting dust? Well, now's the time to put that baby to use! The beauty of a crock-pot is that dinner can be cooking all day long while everyone's off at school and busy at work.
Are you worried that your mornings are already too rushed to get the ingredients together? Purchase pre-cut veggies and meats from your grocery store. It is a little more expensive, but your meal will still be cheaper than take-out.
When you think crock-pot cooking is beef stew the only recipe that comes to mind? Check out "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook" by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann and you'll be amazed by all of the delicious meals you can make with your slow cooker. Who knew that forgotten wedding gift could be so useful (well, besides the person who so thoughtfully gave it to you!)?
Solution #3: Cook Now, Eat Later.
Cooking all of your meals from scratch night after night will get old really fast when you have a busy schedule. A popular solution is to cook up certain ingredients in bulk and store for later use.
Are you making the sauce for tonight's spaghetti dinner? Double the recipe and it can be stored in the freezer for next week's lasagna.
Does tonight's menu call for grilled chicken? Cook up a few extra pieces to use in a salad for tomorrow's lunch.
Doubling recipes now is easy and saves you time with prep-work and clean-up later. Once you've gotten good at doubling recipes for later use, you can try tackling, bulk cooking. See Jennia Hart's "Principles of Bulk Cooking" to understand the basics.
Websites such CookoftheMonth.com and 30-DayGourmet.com offer resources with step-by-step instructions to cook a month's worth of meals at once.
This method does take a considerable amount of planning and preparation, but spending a day or two stocking your freezer can be a great value. When you consider the time and money you save throughout the month by buying in bulk and cooking all at once, freezer cooking can be a great asset.
Solution #4: Meal Assembly Franchises - Let Someone Else Do The Hard Stuff!
How would you like to prepare a few weeks' worth of home-style meals all at once with someone else doing most of the prep work? Does this sound too good to be true? Well, it's not!
Meal assembly franchises such as Let's Dish, Dream Dinners, Super Suppers, Pass Your Plate, The Dinner Company, and Dinner by Design are popping up all over the country and with good reason. Busy adults are realizing that for a reasonable price they can feed their families with very little time spent shopping, cooking and cleaning up.
All you have to do is sign up online for your meal-prep session and select from their menu. After that, it is just a matter of showing up and assembling your meals from the prepared ingredients. Since everything is freezer-friendly you can have home-style meals ready by following a few simple cooking instructions.
Do you want to simplify things even more? For an additional fee your meals can be assembled for you and you can just swing by and pick them up.
One last bit of advice is to ask about splitting the meals as you prepare them. Most of the franchises state that their meals serve 6, but these are 6 adult servings. If your family consists of two adults and a few children you may be able to get by with splitting the meals which saves you even more time and money.
