As a wife and mother of two teenage boys,
Just making sure dinner is on the table after a long day is enough to cause anyone anxiety. Some days, dinner is the bane of my existence. I hate it. The fact is, if I only had to worry about me, I could care less if I eat cereal or popcorn after a long day. Thankfully I have learned over the years that planning our meals in advance can take a lot of stress out of my family’s day. For example, we use the slow cooker on days we cannot all sit down to dinner at the same time. We also use the Instant Pot, which is a huge time saver! On days when I need dinner on the table in 15 minutes, I plan for something easy like tacos
Save Money By Planning
Saving money is always on our minds, so we shop a lot at Aldi. I can fill my cart with groceries for about $100, which includes some meat and produce! Although we cannot get everything we need at Aldi, we put a sizeable dent in our grocery shopping at that store. We try products and see how they compare to other “brand name” products in the supermarket. Haven’t tried Aldi? I think you would be surprised at the quality of their products! At this point, we have it down to a science. The best part about it: a lower monthly food budget.
Lunch is another story. We have always packed lunches for our kids and ourselves, which is a huge money saver but requires a ton of planning and organization. I like to have variety and often we make extra food for dinner in order to have a lunch to pack that doesn’t involve sandwiches. Our oldest started college last fall, so with one less lunch to pack, our mornings go relatively smoothly. I was never a pack-a-lunch-the-night-before kind of gal because I wouldn’t want a peanut butter sandwich that was made 15 hours before I am going to eat it. Yuck. And of course, the lunch has to be healthy. I try for a protein, fruit, dairy, and a snack (usually something salty, so not always healthy).
Instant Pot
Let’s go back to the Instant Pot, or pressure cooker. Talk about a time-saving tool in the kitchen! Let’s face it, we all have days when we forget to pull the meat out of the freezer for dinner. The internet is full of ideas and recipes for meals from frozen. Thank the Good Lord. Now I am not saying there aren’t days when I say the heck with it, we’re ordering pizza. But for the most part, we eat dinner at home. Sometimes it’s breakfast-for-dinner. Sometimes it’s not healthy. Life goes on…
I will tell you this, my kids love almost everything I have made in the Instant Pot, probably because everything is tender AND flavorful! One thing we do at the beginning of the week is to make a pot of brown rice. The Instant Pot makes excellent rice, and I doubt I will ever go back to making it on the stove top. It comes out perfect every time! An added bonus: it reheats well in the microwave, and can be piping hot and on the table in 2 minutes flat. Another winner: hard-boiled eggs. Make them by the dozen and you are ready to make tuna salad, add it to your tossed salad, or eat them for breakfast. The eggs are so easy to peel, and again, come out perfectly.
Family Involvement
I like to get everyone involved in what they might want for dinner for the week, even though it is usually met with blank stares and “I don’t know” answers, but hey, they can never complain about not having a say. As luck should have it, my man is a good cook and doesn’t mind doing it, which is awesome. We divide and conquer; if I cook, he cleans up and vice versa. We also put our kids to work, so the person cleaning up always has a handsome assistant!
The point is, with a little preparation, we can simplify our lives. It isn’t always easy, and let’s face it, it isn’t always fun, but it can save us time, money, and a whole lot of stress. Simply knowing that dinner will be on the table every night has done wonders for my inner peace.
Until next time,
April
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