With all of the knowledge available regarding the ill effects of fast-foods on one’s health, no Mom can feel great about bringing home greasy take-out every night. What is a working Mom to do? Forty hours a week at the workplace, daily commutes – not to mention your children’s schedules – leaves hardly any time for cooking. There are some simple steps that anyone can take, however, to recapture the family magic of a sit down dinner: eating food out of styrofoam containers will never replace the sound of silverware clinking against ceramic plates. Just imagine!
Plan. Getting dinner out on the table every night is not going to happen by itself. The first and most important step to shortcuts in the kitchen is to diligently plan your grocery lists and take care of business at the store. Meandering your way through every aisle is a great way to waste your time. Knowing what you want and quickly retreiving it from the store will save you countless hours. If possible, go to the grocery store either later at night or earlier in the morning. The worst time to go to the grocery store is between 3-7. Avoiding these “rush hours” will also help save you time.
Minimize your dishes. One of the most frustrating aspects of cooking is that however long you cook, your clean up time is likely to be twice as long. A great way to beat the odds and get some good food out on your table is to make sure that you use the least amount of pots and utensils. Also, cooking food in pots and pans that you prepared other foods in can make your food more flavorable, so don’t shy away from it. A mom should always look to conserve energy!
Crock pots are one of the oldest tricks for busy women to keep the family eating well. Crock pots allow you to chop up a bunch of vegetables, add some spices and stock, throw it all in the pot, and leave. Best of all, this will be cheap. Crock pots also allow you to plan ahead with your meals, as they can be refrigerated or frozen. Recipes for crock pots are plentiful, and there is nothing quite like coming home to a house smelling of hearty chili. If you have time during the weekend, perhaps make a few stews and chilis and freeze them. That way, if you do not have time in the morning to prepare everything, you can just pull the soup out of the freezer.
Teach your kids how to cook. Not only will you be doing your kids a favor (they will be able to cook for themselves in the future), you will also get to spend time with them. Be careful however to make this kind of thing fun. Having a cranky kid who feels like they got duped into a chore will certainly not make your life any easier. Find out what they like to do, teach them how to do it (especially when using knives), and make sure they know how much you appreciate the help!
Buy semi-prepared foods. One of the easiest shortcuts in the kitchen is to buy, for example, cooked chicken breasts for your meals. Instead of buying frozen chicken, which requires thawing, cooking, and clean up, buying pre-cooked chicken allows you to slice it and perhaps throw it in the pan with some stirfry sauce and cut vegetables. Many stores also sell pre-cooked rice that only needs a few minutes in the microwave, its cheap, and once again, no clean up!
We hope you have found some of this tips helpful. As the old saying goes, a family that eats together, stays together. For more information, check out the following resources.
- Mom’s Buzz – this personal blog comes from a skillfull busy mom with tons of real life experience.
- Meal Makeover Moms – these Moms mean business, and make it their business to help you out.
Jake Malone is a freelance writer who has partnered with Article Writing Services to bring high quality content to blogs and small businesses, like Online Cooking Schools. You can find his writing throughout the web, including on Top Mommy Blogs.org.
