Sometimes it can be tempting to just call the nearest pizza place and order in. While this is good for a movie night once a month, it is unhealthy to let this become a habit. If you are a working mom, turn meal planning into something interactive and fun. This way, you are actually hitting two birds with one stone. You get help with the menu and you do away with the frustration of scrunched up faces when you serve something your family doesn't like.
Set a day of the week for meal planning and grocery shopping. Younger kids would probably find being allowed to say what they want to eat on certain days as a treat. Planning ahead will not only allow you to save by buying only what you need, it will also allow you to organize your meal preparations, and you get things done in half the time.
Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
Getting things done ahead will save you a lot of time. Check your work schedule and identify which days you have more free time. Use these days to prepare for multiple meals. You can cook some meals through and just store while others can be half-done then finished on the day the meal is to be had.
Still, you can use this time to do all the chopping and the slicing you need for the other dishes you have planned for the week. Do you need chopped carrots for a stew and grated ones for carrot soup? Prepare them all at one time, storing the chopped ones in the refrigerator for later. If you take this route, make sure that you have plastic containers in a variety of sizes on hand to use for storing your food or prepared ingredients.
Make Technology Work for You
On days when you simply do not have the time or the energy to get it all done, make your kitchen equipment work for you. Your best bet would be to have a Crock Pot on hand. When used correctly, a Crock Pot can be a safe and convenient way to prepare healthy, wholesome, home-cooked meals that will stay warm and be ready for you and your family when it is time to eat.
Since Crock Pots use slow cooking technology at lower temperatures, it will allow you to simply prepare the food in the morning and leave it in the Crock Pot, ready for you by dinner time. Once the cooking is done, it will automatically reset itself to just keep your food warm until you are ready to eat.
There are recipes for chicken, beef and vegetable dishes and even desserts that can be cooked in a Crock Pot. You can incorporate ‘Crock Pot' days in your meal planning and let your family choose their ‘Crock Pot' meal for the day. Eating healthy never sounded so easy!
