Preparing home cooked meals for your family can help you to save a significant amount of money every month versus going out to eat lunch and dinner every other day. Finding the time needed to cook can prove to be tricky, however.
It seems that along with the cost of gasoline, the cost of living is skyrocketing in an alarm manner. Because of this, we are all looking for good methods of curbing our budgets. Preparing home cooked meals versus going out to eat every day is a great method of cutting down your expenses. While you can definitely save a significant amount of money by prepare meals at home, you might find that it is taking away a significant amount of family time or time that would have otherwise been devoted to fun activities.
However, home cooked food doesn’t need to be a time consuming process. With organization, planning, and a little bit of know-how, you can whip up great tasting, healthy meals for your family in no time at all.
1Organize Your Kitchen To Save You Time
Think about the layout of your kitchen right now. Is everything that you would need to prepare a home cooked meal in a logical location within your kitchen?
Cooking oils, seasonings, and baking supplies should be located next to your stove so that you can quickly reach for them when you are cooking.
2Plan Your Home Cooked Meals Ahead Of Time
Another great organizational tip is to plan your family’s meals for at least one week at a time – perhaps taking a Saturday afternoon to jot down your weekly menu and make your shopping list based on what you will be cooking that week. This will help you to avoid the frustration of trying to figure out what home cooked meal you’ll be preparing when you get home from work. Having all of the ingredients on hand can also help you to ensure that there are no last-minute rush trips to the grocery store.
An hour or two of organization can help to save you a significant amount of time during the week when you are simply too tired or busy to try and work out what you’ll be cooking for dinner.
3Double Up
Try to plan menu items that use the same basic ingredients so that you can double up on your prep one evening. For example, if you are making a beef stew tonight and you are planning for chicken pot pies tomorrow night be sure to chop and store extra veggies for use tomorrow night. These two dishes will use the same basic veggies: onions, carrots, potatoes, and peas. You can drastically cut down on tomorrow night’s prep time by having your veggies ready to go.
4Plan on Extras You Can Store
Are there are few home cooked foods that your family tends to prefer or request? Items like chicken nuggets and meatballs can cost you 200% more than if you were to make your own and freeze the extras. Seek out a few recipes for making chicken nuggets or strips and devote a weekend evening to making them; store any extras in freezer bags marked with the prep date on them.
Having these extra meals frozen in the house will help you to quickly get dinner on the table on a night where you are running late or are simply too tired to spend more time cooking.
One of the added bonuses to making your own chicken nuggets and meatballs is that you can sneak vegetables into them during prep and get every member of your family eating veggies they would otherwise avoid.
5Start With The Basics
Look for a few basic recipes for home cooked meals and build on them in order to meet your personal preferences, just like you would do with a basic chicken nugget recipe.
Make double quantities of a chicken ala king recipe and use half of it to make chicken pot pies tomorrow night by adding a few diced carrots and using a basic pastry recipe.
6Keeping It Clean
Your kitchen should be kept clean. Not just for hygienic reasons but also so that you don’t find yourself with the need to scrub your one and only pasta pot five minutes before you need to use it. It is the rare person who actually enjoys cleaning so try to clean up as you go in order to avoid having to do a huge cleanup job at the start or end of preparing every home cooked meal.
• Empty your dishwasher when the dishes have been cleaned, don’t let them sit in there for an extended period of time.
• To ensure that dishes come out of the dishwater clean give them a quick rinse under the tap.
• Use a sponge to quickly wipe down and disinfect counter tops and other work surfaces to avoid stuck on food.
By cleaning dishes as they are ready to be cleaned you will ensure that you always have the items that you need when you need them. A clean countertop will help you to ensure that you always have the space that you need while cooking dinner for your family.
7Invest In A Slow Cooker
If you weren’t lucky enough to get a slow cooker as a wedding or housewarming gift, consider buying one for yourself. Basic models are available for under $25 with higher end models available for as much as $120. The amount of money that you spend on your new slow cooker is entirely up to you; however, a good recommendation is to purchase a model that is just one up from the basic model. Having a timer on your slow cooker can help you to ensure that your home cooked food is never overcooked and is, instead, always cooked to perfection.
Preparation for many slow cooker recipes can be done the night before by simply chopping the veggies and meat, adding your seasonings and placing it all into the fridge overnight. In the morning while you’re getting ready to start your day simply pop it all into the crockpot, set the temperature and cooking time, and that’s it! When you get home at the end of the day your delicious meal will be ready and waiting for you.
8Ideas For Home Cooked Meals
Use online recipe databases for sources of easy prep recipes; and don’t forget to ask friends and family members for their recommendations on home cooked meal recipes. Don’t be afraid to cut a few frugal corners here and there by using ready-prepped items that can save you a lot of time – like pre-made pie crusts. Cooking for your family should never be an unpleasant chore so try to let your creativity loose in the kitchen once in a while.
What Do You Think
What are some of your favorite sources for home cooked meal recipes? What is your absolute favorite comfort food? Do you have any great time-saving cooking tips to share?
