7 Kitchen Tips for Feeding a Busy Family

We’ve all been there: you are coming off a busy day at work and have fifteen, maybe twenty, minutes to prepare a tasty dinner for your family. Or worse yet, we get home five minutes past dinnertime and have nothing prepared. What do we do? And how do we make sure our kitchen is optimized for this scenario? If you’re short on time but need to make regular meals for your family, this is for you.  We have put together a few suggestions for ensuring that meal time is easier and less work in your already busy day. 

Make a Shopping List, and Keep It Visible

One of the things that make meal preparation so time-consuming is having to make frequent and unplanned trips to the store to buy ingredients. Avoid this by taking a few minutes each week to decide what you’ll need. Write it down, and tack it up somewhere you can see it, such as the fridge. You should add to the list as soon as you realize something is missing. No milk? No worries. Just jot it down, so you don’t forget it on your next trip to the supermarket. A magnetic pad and pen are always on the refrigerator when you need it.

Using Versatile Appliances

Slow cookers are amazing. You just toss in some ingredients (maybe rice, vegetables, chicken, and some basic spices like salt and pepper), turn it on, go about your business, come back, and voila — your delicious, homemade meal is ready to serve! It takes just a few minutes to toss in the ingredients, and you don’t have to monitor them as they cook. There are hundreds of recipes available for crockpot meals. Plus, your entire home will smell delicious when you walk in the door. We also love an electric skillet because you don’t have to use a stovetop and can keep everything in one pan for easy cleanup. This is especially helpful if you live in an apartment or college dorm.

Always Keep Key Ingredients in Stock

Choose three or four quick meals that you know your family enjoys, and make sure you always have the necessary ingredients to prepare them. Say your family loves macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, chicken and vegetables, and grilled cheese sandwiches. Then you should always make sure to have cheese, bread, macaroni, chicken, and vegetables in your kitchen. Knowing which easy-to-prepare meals your family loves will make your shopping, and cooking, a lot easier. It also helps if two or more of these meals use similar ingredients, and if the ingredients can keep for a long time.

Choose a Cooking Day

An easy way to save time in the kitchen every day is to choose one or two “cooking” days a week and prepare all of your family’s meals on those days. Choose a day when you’re usually less busy, maybe it’s Sunday evenings when you’re thinking about the week ahead, or Friday afternoons when you get out of work earlier and want to unwind. Choosing a day when the rest of your family is also likely to be around and available may also increase the likelihood that others will help you out in the kitchen, making the entire cooking process both easier and more fun. 

Buy Microwave-friendly Cookware

A microwave is a must-have for feeding a busy family, and so is having the right cookware to use it. After choosing the cooking day that works best for you, select a few meals that you can easily reheat (for example, lasagna or a casserole), and spend a few hours cooking for the week. Ideally, you could label everything, store it in the fridge, and just heat up and serve when you’re ready to eat. If you like cooking at your leisure, you still get to enjoy the process of cooking when you have the time, save time during your busy days, and your family gets a home-cooked meal.

Always Have Ready-to-Eat Goodies in Stock

Make sure you always have some quick snacks ready to serve. Some great suggestions are packaged snacks that don’t spoil easily, such as chips and salsa, or cheese and crackers. Fresh fruit is healthy and can be frozen to be used in smoothies later.

Keep Your Favorite Takeout Menus in a Drawer

One of the absolute must-haves for feeding a busy family is a readily accessible drawer with takeout options! With a busy schedule, some things are bound to fall through the cracks you’ll run out of your staple ingredients, or you might have forgotten to update that list on your fridge. Or maybe you had an unexpected visitor earlier in the week and ran out of ready-made meals in your Tupperware containers. If you have menus from a few favorite restaurants readily available, you can turn an otherwise unfortunate scenario into a blessing. After all, who doesn’t enjoy ordering from their favorite place occasionally?

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