If you think you do not have time to cook, think again. Use these ideas and you can whip up dinner in no time.
Plan your meals in advance.
Nothing has people reaching for drawing the menu faster than a lack of planning. If you've tried to plan dinner after 5, the odds that you give up on cooking most days. Be sure to schedule at least five meals each week before you go to the grocery store for the week, then you have the ingredients on hand. (Print grocery coupons here.) If you have enough food to make several different types of meals, you will be less inclined to eat out.
Each morning, decide what you want to make for dinner that night. You may want to put some meat to defrost in the refrigerator. You must also ensure you have all the ingredients. Revision recipe and find out when you have to start making dinner to get it done on time.
Come up with a system for dinner recipes.
It is easy to make a quick dinner when you have a system that works. Keep it simple. Your meals can be protein, carbohydrate, plus veggie. This formula can cover a wide range of choices - baked chicken, cheese noodles and broccoli, grilled steak with peppers and onions served with tortillas, sautéed ground beef with Asian vegetables served with rice. The possibilities are endless!
Save time with frozen vegetables.
Everybody needs more vegetables and serving frozen vegetables are an easy way to get more into your family's diet. You want to stock your freezer with some veggies. You can change the flavor with spices, margarine mixed with lemon juice or even Italian dressing. A few minutes in the microwave or on stovetop with a vegetable steamer and you will get vegetables into your meal.
Boil some ingredients in advance.
Ground beef can be used in many different recipes, from spaghetti to tacos. It takes as much time to brown two pounds of beef, as it does to brown a half pound. On a weekend, brown and freeze several pounds of ground beef or ground turkey. This way, next time you cook a recipe that calls for ground beef you just have to reheat it. You can do the same with chicken pieces.
Keep alternatives already.
Even the most well-designed menu can come undone from time to time. When meetings run late or family cook does not feel good that a couple of frozen meals on hand. Frozen lasagna, skillet meals and other packaged foods are okay once in a while. You can improve the nutrition of these processed meals by adding more vegetables and serving the health side dishes.
For the special occasion meals, when you need to gourmet fare, consider a service that delivers prepared meals or gourmet ENTREES to your home (eg home or Bistro Omaha Steaks). This option can be expensive if you use it much, but both companies to issue online coupons and promotions from time to time. Check here for current Home Bistro coupons, and here for Omaha Steaks coupons.
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