Today I’m posing more questions than answers. Sorry about that. The good news is, DH and I are getting active again!
We are bicycling nearly every day and counting calories on MyFitnessPal in preparation for a two day bike trip coming up in July. After a week of eating more healthfully and exercising I have never felt better. Unfortunately, even though I have a lot more energy and have been able to accomplish more during the week, I still don’t seem to have enough time.
I downloaded a time management software plan and by the time I scheduled my work (8-5, with some evenings and weekends), extracurricular activities like biking with DH, various meetings, and then tried to squeeze in my home herbal studies, sewing, shopping, and meal planning, it just would not fit.
I’ve had to make some hard choices. I recently stopped participating in a raw milk herdshare. Cheesemaking just did not make it onto the list, even the edited version. And spending two hours every week driving out to the farm to get milk really ate into my time budget. Healthy eating? Let’s just say that a certain unnamed sub shop has provided dinner more than once, even though I cringe at the thought of what was probably in the deli meat. I’m fine with eating raw fruits and vegetables and scrambled eggs for dinner,but DH demands something more.
So I begin my quest for quick recipes that use real food. I’m not even talking sprouting, soaking, baking. I mean something fast that we can throw together and feel good about.
Here are the standard suggestions that people give for saving time in the kitchen:
- cook once a week/month and freeze your meals. I tried this for awhile, only to discover that I really dislike most frozen foods. Plus, there’s the defrosting time . . . which sort of defeats the purpose of cooking ahead.
- pre-cut your veggies and do all your prep work on the weekend. It really doesn’t take much time to cut vegetables, and they get all dried out. Plus, and this goes for the first tip too, what happens when you don’t have time on the weekends? That’s when I do all my laundry and cleaning and gardening and projects!
- make up a batch of rice and refrigerate the rest for use over the next couple of days. I thought about this one, but then I wondered, how long it could stay in the refrigerator? A quick internet search turned up concerns about salmonella when reheating rice. Ick! I really need to investigate this food safety thing further.
- cook meats ahead of time and use them for several meals. This one I actually might do. The trick will be coming up with meal ideas that don’t involve just eating the whole hunk of meat, that treat the meat as a condiment and not the bulk of the food.
- meal planning. This I do, but I’ve discovered that I greatly underestimate the time that dishes will take. Since I’d rather not eat just before bed, I need to find some more recipes that really are quick. But that don’t use boxes and cans.
So, friends, I’m on the hunt for fast recipes and meal ideas. I’ll share what I learn, and if you have any suggestions, share them in the comments below!
This post shared at Kitchen Tip Tuesday
I’m horrible at planning. I’m horrible at making ahead and freezing. I have started writing what’s in the big freezer on the front of the door in dry marker and that helps.
I love to cook and my kids are grown so I don’t need to fill the freezer. I use it to hide cookies and pies.
I get up in the morning, read a few blogs, read something that tickles my tastebuds and I head for the store. Not very economical at all.
My CSA drives my cooking these days. I want to use it ALL! I am pretty good at estimating the amount of time a recipe will take. I save the more time consuming ones for weekends. I use Pepperplate.com to do my planning and recipe storage (MyRecipes was driving me INSANE with all the popups and other ads). I try to keep it under an hour unless it will feed us for more than a day or there is extended baking time with less prep up front. I have been loving using beans and greens for meals and even DH was fine without the meat. I actually really enjoy the planning and cooking process so I don’t really look at it as one of the todo’s. If I do, I order a pizza. 😉
Stir Fry! anything and everything. (and don’t worry about putting it on rice or noodles unless you happen to have some left over from yesterday)
I often have meat do double duty. If we have pork chops, chicken or beef on the grill one night, I make sure I have extra for a stir fry of some sort for the next day. Then it is just a matter of cutting the meat in small pieces and setting aside while a couple of veggies get sauteed. Usually it is onions, peppers, and maybe broccoli. I found the french method of cooking rice far easier than even my rice cooker. Bring a few cups of water to a boil, throw in the amt. of rice you need (usually 1 cup of dry rice for us will be enough for any meal with some leftovers), then simmer for maybe 15 min. I test it for doneness, then drain.
I also have not learned the secret to cooking only enough for 2 people…too many years with a large family to feed has left me with large meal syndrome. I have to learn to cut way back when making a pot of soup or a pan of pasta. We do not need 1# of pasta in a dish anymore! I still make enough for leftovers, though. Who wants to go to all the trouble of making say, lasagna, and not have leftovers?
And never underestimate the huge supper salad….meat, veggies, hard boiled eggs, etc…we do that a lot in the summer.
One word – crockpot. It’s saved my dinner more times than I care to think. You put it on in the morning, and dinner is ready when you are.
There are 1000’s of recipes out on the interweb. Have fun.
Unfortunately DH doesn’t like the way things turn out in the crockpot. When we’re gone for 11 hours even with the auto switch off it ends up overcooked.
I echo the stir fry suggestions, I will many times use frozen veggies when I don’t feel like cutting them. Some one suggested canning soups and stews. I thought that was a good idea. The grill is a great friend in the summer. A few other recipes came to mind. I will try to link them up. Maybe one or two of them will work for you! http://simplymadehome.blogspot.com/2012/04/cheesey-beef-pasta-skillet.html
http://simplymadehome.blogspot.com/2012/06/pop-corn-chicken.html
http://simplymadehome.blogspot.com/2012/05/taco-potatoes.html
http://simplymadehome.blogspot.com/2012/05/honey-mustard-chicken.html
http://simplymadehome.blogspot.com/2012/05/2-recipes-endless-possibilities.html
Good luck!