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Preparing and Making Meals can be such a task! And if you’re lucky enough to plan out and get all the prep work done for a meal, that’s only half the battle! Cause then you have to make it!
There is something about having a healthy delicious dinner on the table when my husband gets home that makes me feel awesome! It’s like look, not only did I keep 3 little humans alive all day, but I managed to make something good for all of us to eat!
But there are so many things that are unpredictable with kids. Especially small kids! And why is it that the evening hits and they flip out? Maybe it’s just my kids?
But having dinner together as a family is important to me. So here are some of the things I have found that have helped me make dinner every night. (Well okay, most nights!)
Meal Plan
Half the struggle of making dinner, is deciding WHAT to make for dinner! So do yourself a favor and sit down and write down what your family likes to eat.
I like to categorize my menu items, like pasta, breakfast for dinner, chicken, things on the bbq, and so on. Then I assign one night a week to that category. I know Thursday nights are crazy for us, so that’s a crockpot meal. And on Mondays we do breakfast foods. I love to BBQ so Saturdays gets assigned BBQ.
After you have assigned each day a different category start filling in your calendar for the month. If you prefer to do it by week that works too. But plan it out before you ever make a grocery list.
Now that you know what you will be making, based on what works for your family, you can start making a grocery list! By meal planning you won’t waste money buying things you won’t use, or that end up just going bad. Only buy what is on your list! And then stick to your meal plan!
Prepare Ahead
I know that around 4, life gets crazy! My kids want all my attention, and it can be really difficult to prepare and make meals!
So to make things easier on myself I prepare a lot ahead of time. I buy ground beef in bulk and brown and freeze it. This make so many meals lots simpler because the meat is already cooked!
Thanks to my amazing Instant Pot I do the same thing with chicken. I stick it in the Instant Pot for 5 minutes, and when it’s done I shred it with a hand mixer and throw it in the freezer.
And a few times a year I buy and cook a ham, chop up the leftovers and freeze them as well. It’s so convenient to have frozen meats chopped or shredded and ready to put into a meal. This makes it so manageable to make dinner with kids around!
For meals that go in the oven, I frequently prepare them ahead of time (usually during nap time). And then put them in the fridge until it’s time to cook them.
This makes it so easy to have a meal on the table when dinner rolls around! If my main dish is covered, I can usually get a few sides figured out pretty easily!
Buy in Bulk
Buying in bulk has so many benefits! Find a local Costco or Sams Club. Or check out your grocery store to see if they offer a case lot sale.
We typically stock up twice at year at the bi-annual case lot sales here in Utah. The prices are usually better than at Costco, and they have a great selection.
We have a cold storage in our basement under our front porch. All of our food is stored down there in handy can rotators to make sure we use the oldest food first.
Buying in bulk not only saves you money, but it’s so nice to have any canned foods you use on hand. I have mine low enough that my kids can run downstairs and grab whatever I need when I’m making dinner! And when I decide last minute to double a recipe, I know I have extra supplies downstairs!
Double or Triple Recipes
Doubling or tripling your recipes will save you some serious time! If you are going through all the effort to make something, make more and save for later!!
I have a few recipes that I know make a ton of food. More than my family would ever eat before it went bad, or we got sick of it.
Or I have recipes that are super easy to double or triple. When I have the opportunity to easily make more food than I need, I take it!
Some recipes freeze better before they cook. Others I cook and freeze to just pull out later. Either way, it makes for a super easy dinner if all the prep work is done before that day.
Just keep in mind if you’re freezing meals that you need to allow yourself a little more time in the oven to cook from frozen!
Have a Simple Backup
When all else fails, and my planned dinner isn’t going to work out, I make sure to always have an easy backup. This can be as simple as ham and eggs, grilled cheese sandwiches, sausage egg mcmuffins, or chicken quesadillas!
I usually have all the ingredients for them on hand and there is little prep involved.
Even if it is something simple, I prefer to have dinner on the table! Although my husband’s favorite meal is cereal, so he doesn’t mind when dinner falls through the cracks!
I hope some of these tips can help you tame the beast of meal prep for your family! Feeling that accomplished feeling of having dinner on the table will surely help you feel like you did it all! Let me know what tips helped you the most by commenting below. Best of luck in at meal times!
Check out the other posts in this series How to do it all (without doing it all):
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