Using Time Wisely

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3 Quick Meals for Busy Weeks

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Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Fitting in meals around shopping trips, school obligations, and soccer games is a game in itself.

On these busy nights, I plan quick meals to feed my family. Sometimes finding 30 minutes to cook is tough, but with 10 minutes of preparation in the morning or afternoon, I can serve my family a healthy supper at the busy dinner hour.

To give you a peek into our household, here are three quick meals I make on busy weeks.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Afternoon Prep

Since frozen meatballs only need about 3-4 hours to simmer, I start preparing this meal after lunch.

Taking about 5 minutes, I place the frozen meatballs in the crock pot, add a jar of spaghetti sauce, and sprinkle in the spices – oregano, basil, and parsley. I then stir the ingredients, turn the crock pot setting to low, and leave it until dinner time.

Dinner Prep

Within 15 minutes, I can boil the water and make the spaghetti noodles. While the pasta is cooking, I fix a bowl of salad and make the garlic bread.

For the garlic bread, I butter the bread, sprinkle with garlic powder, and toast in the toaster oven. Buttering the bread before toasting keeps the bread soft, so my children will eat the entire slice. 🙂

Marinated Grilled Chicken

Morning or Afternoon Prep

During my morning or afternoon routine, I defrost 3-4 chicken breasts for about 10 minutes in the microwave. When complete, I slice the chicken breasts in half (horizontally) which makes 6-8 thin chicken breasts.

I add a bottle of teriyaki marinade to a gallon-size Ziploc bag and add the chicken. After closing the bag, I place it in a bowl (to catch any leaks) and put it in the refrigerator.

Dinner Prep

When the grill master (my husband, Paul) preheats the grill, I start the stuffing on the stove top and the vegetables in the microwave. While the food is grilling and cooking, we set the table. Within 20 minutes, dinner is ready, and we sit down to eat.

Smoked Sausage with Sides

Morning Prep

Transfer the smoked sausage link(s) from the freezer to the refrigerator.

Dinner Prep

Start the pasta (parmesan linguine, mac and cheese, or alfredo rotini) and the frozen vegetables cooking. Then I slice the defrosted sausages and cook in a skillet on the stove top over medium-heat. Within 15 minutes, dinner is complete and ready to be devoured.

By feeding my family using quick meals like spaghetti and meatballs, marinated grilled chicken, and smoked sausage with sides, I can serve my family dinner on busy nights while using time wisely.

A little preparation in the morning or afternoon eases the time constraints at the dinner hour. With a few quick meals, you, too, can survive busy nights while using time wisely. Happy cooking!

Question: What is a quick meal enjoyed by your family?

Using Time Wisely: 3 Time-Saving Dinner Strategies

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Marinca Kasiske-Enders)

Among homework assignments, sports schedules, and family outings, squeezing in a nutritious dinner is challenging. By the time we complete homework, snag a few minutes of reading, and look at the clock, the time has come to start dinner.

Going to the kitchen and staring into the pantry, I come up with nothing. So, I go to the freezer and the refrigerator with the same result. Returning to the pantry, I open the door and expect a meal’s ingredients to magically congregate on the second shelf.

With my hopes dashed, I have wasted time and energy seeking for a solution to my “what’s for dinner?” quest. If I find no inspiration, then our family will also waste spend money at a restaurant.

In using time wisely, I find using a menu plan, my crock pot, and my freezer wonderful time-saving dinner strategies. These 3 time-saving tips help bridge the gap between “what’s for dinner?” and “supper’s ready.”

Menu Planning

Photograph Credit: Stock.xchng (Maxime Perron Caissy)

Finding a tool that works for your family and schedule is the key to your success. Though I use a monthly plan, I only fill in a few days to a week at a time. Seeing the full month allows me to plan our meals around busy seasons and entertainment events.

Are you overwhelmed at the sound of menu planning? It’s okay! As you gain knowledge, the fear of the unknown will subside. Allow me to walk beside you via links to this three-step process:

1. Discovering your type of plan

2. Starting with the food in your house

3. Finding creative inspiration

Crock Pot Options

Photograph Credit: Flickr (Tanya Gordon)

Knowing that the day will be long, I love coming home to the smell of our family’s favorite pork chop dinner slowing cooking in my crock pot. A little work in the morning (or previous night) makes dinner time delightful.

If you seek crock pot inspiration, look no further than Stephanie O’Dea’s website: A Year of Slow Cooking. For one year, Stephanie made at least one dish each day in her crock pot. Her recipes range from entrées to desserts. Whatever your occasion, your crock pot can save the day.

Freezer Cooking

Photograph Credit: Flickr (Alexandra Munier)

Making meals ahead of time saves you money, energy, and time. Coming home, popping a complete dinner in the oven, and snuggling with your little ones is a blessing.

On days when we arrive home near supper time, I get bombarded by my children, who need attention. Before I can place my purse down, I hear a barrage of questions, requests, and excitement.

Addressing these issues and having to prepare dinner overwhelms me. But with dinner ready, I can enlist help and get dinner warming while spending time with my family.

If you enjoy freezer cooking, The Money Saving Mom’s Guide to Freezer Cooking by Crystal Paine is a great  resource. In addition to her free downloadable e-book, Crystal documents her monthly freezer cooking days on her website, moneysavingmom.com.

By incorporating menu planning, crock pot options, and freezer cooking in your schedule, you can turn the “what’s for dinner?” anxiety into “supper’s ready.” Implementing these time-saving strategies will save you money, energy and time as you continue using time wisely. Happy planning!

Question: What are your time-saving strategies for getting dinner on the table?

10 Ways to Cut the Expense of Eating Out – Part 2 of 5

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In this series of 5 posts, I am sharing 10 ways to cut the expense of eating out. How nice it is to have the privilege of taking the family to a restaurant to be served without preparing or cleaning up. On busy days away from home, I am thankful for this choice.

In part 1, we covered option 1 and option 2. Today, let’s consider Kids eat free and lunch vs. dinner suggestions to help us feed our families without over-extending our food budgets.

OPTION 3:      Take advantage of KIDS EAT FREE nights.

Many restaurants offer periods of time where kids eat free. Many times the establishment will advertise on a marquee, through print material, or on their website. Here are some ways to find when kids eat free:

  • Ask other parents.
  • Check www.mykidseatfree.com. You can search by state and then by city to find the promotions. This site is great to use when you are planning your vacation. You can plan a busy day when a favorite restaurant has a kids eat free promotion.
  • Consult your local newspaper.
  • Subscribe to online newsletters, mobile/text, or e-mail notifications to your favorite restaurants.
  • Visit the restaurant’s website.

In our area of the southeast, the following restaurants participate in kids eat free promotions:

  • Atlanta Bread Company – every day from 4:00-7:00 p.m.
  • Chick-fil-A – Wednesdays
  • Denny’s – Tuesday and Saturdays from 4:00 – 10:00 p.m.
  • Firehouse Subs – Sundays and Wednesdays
  • IHOP – everyday from 4:00-7:00 p.m.
  • Moe’s Southwest Grill – Tuesdays after 4:00 p.m.
  • Steak and Shake – Saturdays and Sundays

Most of the businesses have restrictions on these promotions (i.e. one free kid’s meal with the purchase of an adult meal). As businesses change their marketing strategies, these promotions can change quickly. If I am not sure if the promotion is still continuing, I will call ahead and ask before planning our evening out.

 

OPTION 4:      Consider eating out for lunch rather than dinner.

Some restaurants have a lunch menu that is less expensive than the dinner equivalent. If we have the option of eating out at lunch or dinner, our family considers the lunch option. Sometimes time constraints will not permit an hour lunch, but other times (like on the weekend), the lunch option works perfectly with our schedule. Our family enjoys the hibachi-style eating at a local Japanese restaurant. The lunch menu price is $8 to $10 per adult, but the dinner menu ranges from $12-$15. Thankfully, this restaurant offers the lunch menu on Sundays. A special treat for our family is visiting this Japanese restaurant, where we also use a coupon (buy one entrée and 2 drinks, and get one entrée free), for lunch on Sunday after worshipping together.

When we can combine savings options, like using a coupon and eating during the lunch hours, our family may be able to eat out an additional day during the week. I love to maximize my savings. Though we are always looking for ways to get the most of our hard earned dollars, we also give freely. We may not pay for the second entrée when using a coupon, but we tip on the total amount the bill should have been. Our server, if attentively and friendly, will enjoy waiting on our family of five since the tip is worth the extra effort.

As you spend time your family this season and may need to eat on the run, I hope you will find these options helpful as you stretch your dollars.

Waiting or Working?

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When my hubby arrived home and played with the kids, I took the opportunity to work on dinner alone. I put the pot on the stove and had some time to wait for the water to boil. During this time, I would have sat down to rest, if needed. But on this day, I needed to get my kitchen in order. Here is what I was able to accomplish while making dinner:

  1. Unloaded the dishwasher,
  2. Reloaded the dishwasher,
  3. Wiped down the counters,
  4. Finished my menu plan for the week, and
  5. Wrote out my grocery list.

At the end of the 25-30 minutes, I had a clean kitchen, menu plan, grocery list, and dinner made. After dinner, I was able to play with the kids while hubby graciously cleaned up the kitchen. Using the little chunks of time during the day to accomplish small tasks adds up to extra time spent doing what I enjoy – playing with my kids. What can you accomplish while waiting for water to boil?

Organizing Dinner with Friends – Part 1

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If your family is like ours, then you enjoy entertaining friends for dinner. My children often beg to have their friends over to play. To accommodate their desire to play and our wish for an enjoyable evening, we invite friends with children over for dinner. To save me time, energy, and money, I follow a six-step checklist that helps me in planning our evenings of entertainment. Here are the first 2 steps in my 6-step checklist:

STEP 1:  Choose a date that works with my schedule.

Since our children stay up late and are so wound up after spending 2-3 hours with their friends, we usually entertain on Friday evening. They can then stay up past their bedtime to settle down, and they can sleep later on Saturday morning. Also, our house is often in disarray due to all the toys getting rearranged. We need Saturday morning to get our house back in order.

STEP 2:  Choose my menu.

I tend to choose the menu before inviting our friends. Almost always, our friends ask what they can bring to help with the meal. By already having the menu planned, I can suggest one of the side items. If I did not have my menu planned, then I would need to spend time and energy calling or e-mailing to get that information to them. To simplify the process, I choose to plan the menu before sending invitations. Here is a sample menu:

  • Baked ham
  • Mashed potatoes and gravy or scalloped potatoes
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Corn
  • Applesauce
  • Bread
  • Chocolate cupcakes with icing

Entertaining can be lots of fun. By having a list to execute, I have found excitement in planning while avoiding the anxiety of possibly forgetting something. Next Tuesday I will continue this explanation with steps 3 and 4 of my entertainment checklist.