Making Time for Making Dinner.
I have a secret fantasy that I’m able to pull off home cooked meals five nights a week. But somehow, putting together a meal has proved as challenging as anything I have ever faced at work. The one night I do cook, I end up making the same basic meals time and again. I want dinner to be a family time, especially since all of our kids are in grade school and not as dependant as they used to be, but right now I spend the evening in the kitchen while my family waits patiently in other rooms. How can I make time-to-make-dinner time less overwhelming?
Getting dinner together every night is a problem that every working mom faces. Kudos to you for thinking of this as the next phase and throwing yourself into it. But since you have just started, you need to ditch the idea that all of sudden you are going to be able to cook dinner every night. Start by planning a couple of meals for the week. And family leftover night still counts as a home cooked meal. As to your goal, don’t worry: practice makes perfect and as you cook more frequently it will go faster. However, life is not perfect and you need to understand that ordering in or picking up a pizza on the way home (or having your husband do one of those) will, and should, always be a component of the weekday meal plan.
Do What the Chefs Do. When restaurants put menus together, they try to plan for multiple meals that use the same ingredients. You should do the same. Make meatloaf the same week that you make tacos. Or, make Cobb salads the same week you make chicken sandwiches. And think it terms of combinations. You have salad fixings and left over taco meat: taco salads. You got leftover meatloaf: pseudo-hamburgers (just pop some veggies on the broiler for a side et viola).
Do What the Chefs Do, part deux. The key to ensuring dinner does not become boring is not in the basic ingredients but in the spices. Let’s say that you make a meatloaf once a month. It is a hardy meal that provides leftovers. The first time, make it normally (please, use ketchup, not just tomato sauce). The next month, add a liberal amount of Tarragon; same basic meal with a unique flavor. Next time, add Curry powder. Stop spinning your wheels about finding new recipes and start spinning your spice rack to make new twists on existing recipes.
Do What Chefs Do, Part Tois: Delegate (find sous-chefs). Enlist members of the family to help cut down your time. Many kids get home from school before their parents. Leave a list of the ingredients that can be pulled out before you get home. This is actually one of the most time-consuming parts of preparing a meal so the benefits will be great. Depending on their ages, you can (eventually) teach them to prepare some of these items like rinsing the lettuce, chopping the onions, forming the meatballs, etc.
07.30.08
Crock Pot Meals... they are fantastic time savers AND family savers. COok your main course in the cock pot during the day, and in the evening toss together a nice salad, and sit down and enjoy time with your family.
07.10.08
I use Dinners In A Flash dot com. I choose whatever I want to cook for the week, either one of their menus, (you can change their menus) or make my own menu from their recipes. The site makes my grocery list. I tried the frozen food places and my family didn't like the food. Plus, in the same time it takes to reheat something I can cook something fresh that tastes better.
06.24.08
Dream Dinners is a godsend for busy families who enjoy great food. Not only can I choose the amount of food to make per entree, but I can modify the amount of ingredients used to suit my family's tastes [light on the horseradish for Daddy]. I've been using the 'studio kitchen' for 3 1/2 years and we are eating both a larger range of food and more healthfully.
06.18.08
Once a month we have a girls cooking night. We each bring the fixings for one meal that can be frozen and by the end of the night we have four or five meals that can be frozen and pulled out when we need a meal in a pinch.
04.22.08
My neighbors and I have just started a cooking club. It's basically Dream Dinners but we do it ourselves in one of our kitchens. We are still working out how often, but so far we've done it once and created 4 "meals"s. My household has two working parents, the other members include a single mom, two full time students, one full time Mom, and another two working parent family. We are all different and face the same challenge when we get home and our families are looking at us wondering "What's for dinner and how long?"
03.28.08
Martha Stewarts empire puts out a monthly cald 'Everyday Food' that is fantastic. The recipes are easy (no crazy Gourmet-make-you-crazy-looking-for-all-the-ingredients dishes)and they're yummy. Nearly every recipe I've done (and I've been subscribing for 2 years now) is a hit with my family. Additionally, the recipes are seasonal so you're using produce that's locally available. Give it a shot - I think it's a lifesaver.
03.26.08
My sous chef is Sous Kitchen! It's like having a sous chef - I can throw together amazingly delicious dinners in no time and my family loves them. I take one out of my freezer a few times a week and cook it the next day. Sometimes I go to the store and make the food my own way but lately things are so busy that I'm having it delivered. I'm pretty picky about what I eat and what I cook for my family so I tried a couple different meal assembly places. Sous Kitchen was the only one that got it right. The ingredients are great, the food is great, and now the craziness of dinner time is great!
03.25.08
I've found that Dream Dinners is a great way for me to 'cook' healthy, perfectly portioned meals. The cost is about the same I'd pay getting all the ingredients at the store (okay, maybe just a BIT more). You go once a month, pick your menu, and assemble your fresh ingredients. Then you go home and freeze them, transferring 3-4 into your fridge each week. They don't taste like leftovers, because you actually cook them. But it takes about 20 minutes and no hassle. Add a vegetable and you're set! It has saved me - my husband travels all of the time, and this way I'm never wasting ingredients!