Quick And Easy Home Cooking — Mmmm Good!
(easy ways to make fixing meals at home doable)
OK — There’s no way around it. Just accept the fact that tomorrow your family will eat three meals — again. People have been doing it since Adam and Eve started munching fruit in the garden of Eden. Burying your head in the sand and not thinking about it will not make it go away. I know that even the thought of making a meal at home strikes terror in some of your hearts and the only reason the rest of you aren’t feeling terror is because you are probably so tired you can’t feel terror or any other emotion. But with going out to eat being one of the top 3 causes of credit card debt and child obesity and diabetes on the rise, I think we need to start reconsidering cooking at home. With a little preparation, it’s easy to prepare quick and easy meals at home.
Here are a few suggestions to help you get started:
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One of the biggest reasons people hate cooking at home is their dirty kitchen. Take the time to clean and organize the kitchen. If you need to get some help, then do, even if that help means hiring someone to help you get it organized. In the long run, it will pay for itself (probably after the first one or two weeks cooking at home).
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Once your kitchen is clean and organized, keep it that way. When your kitchen is clean it should only take you about 15-20 minutes to clean up after each meal. For the $40 or more you would have paid plus all of the time you would have spent going out to eat, keeping it clean and organized is time well spent.
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The evening or day before you go shopping for groceries, clean out the fridge and check your pantry. Remember that once it has been organized, if you do minor cleaning and organizing weekly, it won’t take much time. Plan a leftover night that evening (and use up that leftover roast), too. This will help reveal what you have too much or too little of, what you need to use or buy and empty the fridge so you have room for the new groceries.
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4. Make a week’s worth of menus. Sit down with grocery ads, your recipe file and your favorite cookbook (hopefully that is Dining On A Dime
). This is a good time to throw in one or two of those new recipes from magazines that you have wanted to try. If you get stumped or you need help to get you started, flip through your cookbooks or recipe files. You will be surprised how much this will help motivate you.-
In a notebook, write a weeks worth of menus. You only have to do this for 3 weeks, because at the end of that time you will have 21 menus. You now have almost months worth of menus for quick and easy meals (since most people will go out at least once a week to eat and have a leftover night once a week this helps to fill in the days for the rest of the month). You can then just use these same menus over and over.
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Don’t restrict yourself by saying that you have to have fried chicken on Monday, roast on Tuesday, etc. Instead, list the menus in categories like elaborate (for the days you have more time) and quick menus (for those "nothing has gone right today, so what can I fix when I am blurry eyed and have only 5 minutes" days). I usually make about 3-4 menus in each category.
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Be flexible. If you get to the grocery store and they have some thing unbelievable on sale then adapt your menus to save money on groceries.
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5. Plan what you are going to have for dinner the night before or first thing in the morning.
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6. Make sure you have all the ingredients on hand and take out anything that needs to be defrosted from the freezer.
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7. Prepare as much as you can the night before or first thing in the morning to make it quick and easy when you need it. Clean carrot sticks and veggies and make Jello, pudding or desserts. Fry hamburger for a recipe or even make a whole casserole so all you have to do is pop it into the oven. It is much easier and less stressful to do as much as possible ahead of time than to try and do it at 5 o’clock — the busiest time of day (when everyone is tired, fussy and needs your attention). Besides, it is easier to concentrate on fixing 2 or 3 items ahead of time instead of trying to take care of 5 or 6 things all at the last minute.
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8. Give yourself a break. You will be saving a great deal by eating at home, so use some convenience foods like bagged lettuce or sliced and buttered French bread. Line your pans with aluminum foil and don’t feel guilty about using disposable pans or paper plates. We are funny creatures. We don’t feel guilty spending money to go out to eat (where people throw away the trash for you), but feel awful about buying much less expensive disposable pans and paper plates. Go figure.
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9. Don’t forget the meal is not finished until the kitchen is clean and left ready for the next meal.
If you need help making quick and easy home cooked meals that your family will love, check out the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. The print book version is on sale this week for up to 50% off! Go check it out now!
Photo By: cosmic_bandita
About the expensive conveniences. I used to diligently stay away from the steam in bag vegetables, but then I realized that making the crazy decision of running out for fast food or picking up something from the deli was much more expensive and not nearly as healthy. So don’t overlook those. I also will carefully serve right from the bag rather than “waste” dirtying another dish.
I agree, I love the steam in bag veggies and also the ones with rice. I always keep an eye out for coupons for these and then when our Kroger store has them on sale for 10 for $1 I stock up. I usually find .40 cent off coupons and Kroger doubles so I end up spending .20 cents a bag and I just can’t feel guilty about that;-)
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I always am reminded that something cooked at home, however easy and convenient, is probably cheaper and more nutritious than fast food
Our family has actually found we eat a lot more vegetables with the steam bags. I get them very inexpensively with coupons as well.
My boss gave me this inexpensive and very stretchable meal. Take a red rice mix, throw in some sausage, chicken, a little ham, or keilbasa, whatever you have, add some more regular white rice, and this stretches really far, with super leftovers. I watch the mixes, as they have lots of sodium, but once in a while is fine, quick and makes a big batch.
I used to have a pantry full of canned vegetables, but since my divorce and the only income being my SSD, we had to really cut costs. Since we live out in the country, we have to have a small dumpster, and it is only emptied every two weeks. Those cans can add up quickly, and since my young son and I never finish a can of veggies, I decided to try out the frozen ones. With my coupons, we are paying less for a 1 pound bag of frozen veggies than we did for most the canned veggies we were buying. And since we only use what we need and put it back in freezer, we have reduced our trash quite a bit. Now I only buy frozen veggies, the only exception being the tomato products. And we are also eating healthier as we can control what is in them.
About a year ago my husband bought me a family size steamer machine.
It has two pots at the bottom for potatoes or rice and one for vegetables. On top of that it has a shallow plate for fish or chicken.
This has not only cut down on left overs since it has room for the meat for only two servings and the steamed vegetables and herbs are eaten but the rice does two meals.
But it has cut down on the weight of both of us. Less fats and sauces and smaller portions of the fish and meats. Less clean up at the end of the meal and less prep time.
So it is a win win situation.
He also bought me a really good meat slicer. I can cook hams and roasts and cut it thick for the original meal and then shave the left overs for sandwiches in his lunch. I hardly ever buy deli meats anymore, I slice it then freeze it in 2 sandwich portions and pull 2 packs out in the morning for making his lunch for each day.
I also use it for making coleslaw and slicing onions for onion rings. Saves a lot of money for us as I roast onions about 4 times a week and if I had to buy the onion rings for each meal instead of buying the vidalia ones by the bag it would be a killer for the budget.
So when you are looking to save money on food try looking for gadgets that will help when they are sale. It might seem to be a lot but the savings in money and time are great.
I’ve tried the steam in bag vegetables, and I don’t like them for 3 reasons:
They have less in them than the regular frozen vegetables, but they don’t have as much in them, and they’re priced higher per pound.
When I cook the regular frozen vegetables which I buy in 1 pound or larger bags, I can cook as much or as little as I need. I use microwave safe cookware that goes in the dishwasher or be hand washed.
I can also cook them as little or as much as I want. I find that the ones in the steamer bags are too hard if I follow directions, but they’re chewy when I cook them more.
I like Birds Eye “classic” vegetables because they don’t add any salt, but I’ve found many store brands that are good, too.
I make my own steamer bags using storage or freezer baggies or even microwave safe dishes. Put in your own blend of veggies and seasonings and/or sauces. For the dishes just cover with plastic wrap and don’t vent.
frozen meatballs.
Ingredients
4egg
4small small onions, grated
1 cup (250 mL) dry breadcrumbs
4tsp (18 mL) Worcestershire sauce
4 tsp(18 mL) Dijon mustard
1 tsp (5 mL) salt
1 tsp (5 mL) pepper
4 lb (1.8 kg) lean ground beef
Preparation:
In bowl, beat eggs; mix in onions, crumbs, Worcestershire, mustard, salt and pepper. Mix in beef. Shape by level tablespoonfuls (15 mL) into about 150 balls.
Place 1/2 inch (1 cm) apart on 4 large foil-lined rimmed baking sheets; bake, 2 sheets at a time, in top and bottom thirds of 450°F (230°C) oven, rotating and switching pans halfway through, until no longer pink inside, about 10 minutes.
Let cool for 30 minutes; refrigerate until cold. Freeze in single layer until solid. Transfer to 4 resealable freezer bags; press out air and seal. (Make-ahead: Freeze for up to 1 month.)
Makes about 150 pieces, enough for 4 meals of 4 servings each.
I make the balls about 1/2 the size they use here. Easier to eat and if you want to use them for appetizers they are the rule of one bite per appetizer.
here is one recipe on using the meat balls.
Meatball Cacciatore
Ingredients
1 1tsp tsp(5 mL) (5 mL) vegetable oil
4 4cups cups(1 L) (1 L) sliced mushroommushrooms
1 1small onion, chopped
2 2cloves garlic, minced
1/2 1/2tsp tsp(2 mL) (2 mL) dried Italian herb seasoning
1 1can (28 oz/796 mL) can (28 oz/796 mL)diced tomatoes
2 2tbsp tbsp(25 mL) (25 mL) tomato paste
1/4 1/4Freezer Meatballs Recipe, frozen
Preparation:
In saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat; fry mushrooms, onion, garlic and herb seasoning until mushrooms are golden brown, about 10 minutes.
Stir in tomatoes and tomato paste; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened and sauce can mound on spoon, about 20 minutes.
Add meatballs; simmer, stirring often, until hot, about 20 minutes.
I thought all frozen vegetables were in “Steamer” bags! You poke them with a fork a couple times and nuke them in the bag.
In Canada they are not.
The regular bags are made of plastic that is not microwave safe.
The ones that you poke are marked steamer bags.
very unhealthy to just poke the others.
My DIL gave me a quilted bag for christmas. When I finally asked what it was found out it is a root vegetable bag for the micro wave. I gave it to my son since I never do root vegetables in the micro wave.
he loves it.
does anyone use them or has anyone heard of them?
I have heard of them but have never used one because I am not sure what the point of using one is or how it helps cook them. I rub a little butter or shortening on my potatoes and wrap them in a piece of wax paper to cook in the microwave and they turn out nice so I’m not sure what a bag would do different.
You do have to be careful because if you don’t use 100% cotton for the bag and the batting it will catch on fire. Some have used oven mitts and tea cozy which are made out of 100% cotton.
I still like my potatoes best nuked in the microwave for 2 mins. or so then I put them in foil and finish baking them in the oven at about 375 – 400 degrees. This only takes about 20 mins because they are already partial cooked and then you get the quickness of a microwave but the good flavor and texture of being baked in the oven.
I am a huge fan of the Dining On A Dime cookbook. I also love fixing ahead for meals. The other day my grandaughter chopped up a big bag of Romane lettuce, red, yellow and green peppers, and I boiled some chicken breasts and chopped the chicken and put in a bag. While boiling chicken i cooked a pound of ground beef with Rotel and taco flavoring. Put on a pot of lentils w/more ground beef, and mixed up two doz. corn muffins. Today I used the chicken and peppers for chicken tetrizini cooked a pot of navy beans in the pressure cooker. I have the whole week covered and the rest of the time for whatever I need. The taco meat makes GREAT taco salad. Also made the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies from the Hillbilly website. Great!!! I can’t tell you how much easier life is when all the cooking is done in a day.
Here’s my favorite cooking hint; cooking for the freezer. Last week, when cottage cheese was on clearance, I made lasagna–not just one, but six pans (I’d purchased the noodles and tomato sauce on sale in past months). Now I have 5 more meals (pans of lasagna) that I can defrost and bake at a moment’s notice when I’m gone all day or just don’t feel like cooking.
I cook “extra for the freezer” almost every time I cook; right now I have at least 30 meals in the freezer. These include tater tot casserole, several different kinds of meatballs, salsbury steak hamburgers (I’ll just add some onions, broth, and cream soup to make gravy), breakfast casserole, etc.
I stock up on the basic ingredients for our favorites (like bread crumbs, tater tots, veggies, etc.) when they’re on sale; they’re non-perishables so they can be kept until the more expensive ingredients (like cottage cheese) are on sale, or until I’m ready to spend some extra time preparing the meals.
Cooking 2, 3 or more “extras” takes little extra time, and means cleaning up only once! I have my own home business and my husband has his own business, too. Our daughter is a senior in high school and son is a sophomore in college. On any given evening I can have one person for supper, or 8 (if both kids are here and bring friends).
If the thought of multiplying ingredients by 6 or 7 intimidates you, challenge yourself to start by making just 1 or 2 extra casseroles next time.
When I started doing this several years ago I splurged and bought about 10 glass pans w/tight fitting lids. They’re the perfect size for casseroles for our family; I can adjust the amount of ingredients I put in to serve just the three of us at home, or pack it to the top to feed 6 or more. The pans go from freezer, to microwave (to defrost) to oven, and they stack in the freezer.
I also freeze many things in ziplock bags (which our local grocery store has on sale every few months; last time I got them, by using coupons, for 25 cents/box). I fill the bags but just take out the number of meatballs or meat patties we need for a particular meal, depending on how many people will be eating.
It is much easier to pass up fast food or take out when you know it will take only minutes to go to the freezer, choose a meal, and prepare it!
I enjoyed today’s edition as usual. I just wanted to add that when I get out menus and grocery store ads to make my grocery list, I also have my coupon box so that I can match sales with coupons for extra savings and also get new ideas for meals.
I recently compiled two months worth of menus for my family. I had been creating weekly menus for a long time and started saving them. When I had a bunch, I sat down at the computer and entered all of them, then I organized them into two months of meals. My plan is to rotate one month after another so that we don’t eat the same stuff too often. We just finished up the first month, and I have already noticed a big difference in stress levels being lower and grocery bills going down. Even if it didn’t save money, its just nice to know what to cook for dinner without having to think about it! We are flexible with it, because sometimes it just doesn’t work to make what I planned on the menu, but we just switch things around or if there’s a new recipe to try, I just do that and add it to the list of possibilities for next time I do organizing.
Good article! practical! Thank you.
I’m going to print this whole article out and put it in my kitchen!!
grandma .. my brother and sis in law used to have one of those tiny meat/cheese slicers when their kids were little .. they used to save alot using it .. i asked her (recently) if she still had it .. she said she hasnt seen it since my brother died (which was in 2006) but since its only her and the youngest son at home (and he’s practically out on his own now, he’s 21) .. she doesnt need it ..
but those slicers are awesome .. on of my friends, she used to buy a small package of the turkey that was in the case near the deli dept .. and ask them to slice up the meat .. same with the cheese too .. it was cheaper than buying the meats/cheese in the deli cases (for xxx amt per pound) ..
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