In case you haven't seen my social media channels lately, I'm cooking dinner every night. And then I show it off for everyone to drool over. The thing I've noticed is that a lot of people say things like "I wish I was motivated enough to do this!" or "I wish I had the time and energy." Well, don't be fooled; I wasn't always this way. In fact, I only started this in August. Now that I have my own house with my own kitchen, and my own space to store my cookware and groceries, I have the freedom to cook healthy dinners. It's really paid off because my body feels so much better and much healthier. Plus these meals are delicious.
|1| Meal Planning
I actually have a spiral bound notebook that I use for planning out all of my meals for the next week or 2. I just write everything in pencil so that I can change it around on a day to day basis if I absolutely have to. I no longer have to think "what should I make tonight" because now I just open my notebook and there's the answer!
|2| An Organized Grocery List
If you do have a meal planner set up it makes it a lot easier to create your grocery list each week. I just go through the recipes for the upcoming week's meals and write down all of the ingredients I need to get. Then by the time I go to the grocery store I know EXACTLY what I need.
A Veggie Cutter and Pepper Tool |
|3| Invest in the Tools You Need
It will take a month or two to figure out all the pots, pans, and utensils that you really need to get the job done for certain recipes but keep a running list and little by little purchase those items. I invested in turners, spoons, cutting tools, etc. which all make the whole process quicker.
|4| Clean as you Go or Right After
Sometimes you have a lull in the midst of the chaos. You have a few minutes to wait for something to finish cooking before you start on the next step of the recipe. I take advantage of this time to wipe any part of the counter I won't be using anymore and to start washing some dishes that I'm done with. This helps a lot because right after I eat even though I'm getting lazy, I have to clean up but at least it's just a smaller amount.
|5| Take Shortcuts
Some recipes require that you make EVERYTHING. Literally they want you to make your own breadcrumbs and it's time consuming and such a small part of the recipe. Another thing is rice. I usually have 2 other parts to each meal that I'm monitoring in the oven and on the stove so cooking rice on another burner is just one more thing for me to worry about. Lately, I started using Veetee DINE IN Microwaveable Rice in my meals and it's made a huge difference.
Veetee Rice is super convenient because all you have to do is microwave it. They did all the work for you. It has a 12 month shelf life too so you can stock up for future recipes. There are so many different varieties to try including Wholegrain Brown, Long Grain, Basmati & Wild, Thai Jasmine, Golden Vegetable, Basmati, Chicken Flavor, and Thai Lime & Herb.
Veetee Rice is delicious and they use superior technology to give consistently great taste and texture to the end product. The transparent trays offer freshness, modernity, and purity. Veetee Rice is a favorite of mine because of it's naturalness and quality. All the flavors are so delicious!!!
Right now, Veetee Rice is new in the USA but it's already an extremely popular brand in the UK. You can find a retailer nearest you here.
And one lucky winner is going to get rice from Veetee!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I keep saying I am going to make a meal plan, but after 20 something years of marriage and with kids on their way to college soon, I should just come to terms with the fact that I'm a wing it kind of girl, huh? Maybe when they all move out! ;)
ReplyDeleteHey it's never too late to start lol!
DeleteI am trying to get back into cooking again but it definitely helps that Jesse is such a good cook. I have also started to try to get back into the routine of putting clean dishes away as soon as they are clean so that I can load dirty dishes into the dishwasher every night rather than leaving them in the sink. And I am definitely with you on not making everything from scratch, like rice. When a recipe calls for rice, I usually use minute rice or something. One recipe I have been using lately calls for making your own alfredo sauce but I don't have time for that, so I just buy the jar. It saves time and money.
ReplyDeletehttp://dogmomchic.blogspot.com/
The dishwasher loading every night will make a huge difference. And dude i've seen some of the stuff ur man cooks! Lucky girl!
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