1. Good planning and organizing is the key
I make my meal plan weekly – 5 to 6 dinners a week. It not only helps check “revisit” my inventory, check what I already have in my refrigerator or pantry, shop what I need but also it helps me more organize (I have ton of labelled storage bins and containers to help my planning quicker and cooking easier), so that I don’t waste food and time and scramble through the cooking.
Why 5-6 dinners? There are chances that a night or two are filled in by leftovers, a date night, kids’ after-school activities or some kind of fun family event, also for lunches…
How about breakfast? Thanks to the school’s providing breakfast, it saves me time and my brain cells needed for planning! When it comes to breakfast, I do stock up essentials (thanks to the labelled bins and containers) so that I can whip up a simple breakfast on the fly. On weekends and school breaks, I will plan 2 – 3 breakfasts.
I rotate my meal plans! I organize my recipes based on the weekly meal plan in a binder (you can find many binders coming with dividers, labels and tabs). I put the recipes for the week in the front pages and leaves the rest recipes behind the dividers. (Remember to have extra binders to save your favorite recipes by category if you like me – a recipe lover.)
Other tip – It’s Everyone’s meal plan. Make it visible!
I write the meal plan down on a whiteboard (or an acrylic magnetic board will work too) that has a space for notes and activities. Everyone can see. My kids often share with me their ideas or what they will have for lunch at school, so that I won’t repeat the same at home for dinner. Having the mela plan on a whiteboard has helped me to do quick and easy cooking when my kids have after school activities or vice versa when I have more time to show off my new recipe. Another bonus point is it reminds me to pull meat or chicken out of the freezer so it can thaw in time.
The end result: I spend less for a week of homemade healthy meals than at a restaurant for a single meal. Plus, more time with family.
2. Try an all-in-one cooking approach
I use the Instant Pot, slow cooker and steamer a lot.
One-pot meals like beef stew are always my top choice on a busy workday or the day before my business trip. If you like me have a demanding work schedule on certain days in a month, you will like one-pot meals. The instant pot or slower cooker comes with recipes, all-in-one (including air fryer) and easy to carry (party-ready) very handy.
Benefits: Entirely hands-off! Save me several hours for an elaborate meal without sacrificing flavor. Not to mention less pots and pans to clean and it’s so easy to reheat it, just press a button! The Instant Pot has become one of my favorite kitchen appliances for this.
I also like to “multitask” my oven. In our previous home, we had a freestanding range with 2 ovens, it’s easy to manage small meals in a smaller oven. Now in our current home, the freestanding range comes with 1 big oven, so being creative on using the oven to cook multiple dishes at the same time becomes a task.
Cooking something on the burner and something in the oven or cooking everything in the oven, it cuts your cooking time in half. If you do one thing at a time, it will take significantly more time.
3. Stock up – Use the freezer and Pantry
I always try to have some frozen items in my freezer at all times: frozen veggies, burger patties, shrimps, fish filets, chicken drumsticks, etc. I also love to prep the meals on weekends and freeze them for the week: fried rice, homemade soup, homemade meatballs in sauce, etc.
The benefits of doing this: I don’t have to worry about fresh items spoiling before the cooking time, we can still have the ingredients we like when they are out of season and easier and quicker as they are prepared already.
4. Keep it simple and make improvement along the way
Keep each dish 5 Ingredients or Less! It’s easy to shop and easy to prepare. (So that your working partner can carry out when you are busy at work or traveling.)
A delicious meal doesn’t have to be anything mind blowing. In fact, the simpler and easier, tastier it may turn out to be! (Your partner has no excuse for not doing it)
Because of simplicity, you can easily make improvement along the way. Don’t have carrots? Use potatoes. No honey? Substitute with syrup. There are a million and one ways to make a dish and just because the recipe you found needs a certain ingredient that you don’t have and can’t find, you can use an ingredient substitution guide or omit the ingredient entirely. It will help finish up your inventory or supplies you have on hands and also save you a trip to the supermarket.
In fact, many recipes I share on this site are my reinvented recipes with substitutes.
5. Share the Cooking Duties
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work! Get your family involved in the cooking!
Always remember this: You don’t have to slave away in the kitchens just because you’re the mom. You can get the whole family in the kitchen and help you with planning and preparing meals for the rest of the week. (My older son enjoys cooking breakfast on weekends.)
Not only does this help build their confidence in the kitchen and independence in living, it will also teach them valuable life skills such as organizing and planning (or how not to burn the kitchen down?!) If your children are younger, you can also involve them with some age-appropriate activities such as rolling cookie dough.