What's for dinner? When you have 15 minutes to make dinner and get it on the table because you just got home from soccer practice, what do you do about dinner?
You plan ahead!
One of the easiest ways to have quick meals on hand is to make a double recipe (lasagna, spaghetti, chicken enchiladas, hamburgers, etc...) and freeze it in a freezer bag. Make sure you label the bags with the date.
This sounds pretty obvious, but it is so simple and anyone can do it. Most people just don't.
That way when you get home from soccer practice and it is going on 7:00, you can pull out a meal, heat it up quickly along with some vegetables that are pre-cut and washed and you are done.
I always keep the fresh bags of salad on hand to make a quick salad, or frozen vegetables on hand to heat up. They are quick and easy and will balance your meal. (You have to eat your veggies, especially if you have children...)
My crockpot is my favorite dinner savior. It is easy, doesn't waste a lot of electricity or give off a lot of heat (especially nice in the summer), and you put it together in the morning and it is done by dinnertime. Get great crockpot recipes online by typing in "crockpot recipes" into Google. One easy example is taking a pork shoulder roast, adding a bottle of BBQ and cooking it on high for 6 hours. You will have wonderful pulled pork sandwiches when it is done by putting the meat on sandwich rolls.
Another option for quick and easy meals are the new franchises that are opening up all over. One example is Dream Dinners. You go in and assemble a group of meals.
In my area in California, for the month of July, you can assemble Garden Tarragon Chicken for $21.99. This is a 6 person serving. The 3 person serving is $11.47.
Stir Fry Chicken with Cashews is $27.99 for a 6 person serving or $14.62 for a 3 person serving.
Maple Glazed Pork Chops are $21.99 for a 6 person serving or $11.47 for a 3 person serving.
Steak Gorgonzola is $31.00 for a 6 person serving and there isn't an option for a 3 person serving. In this case, if you have 3 people to feed, you have two meals for $31.00. Not too bad considering you would be paying about $60-80 if you went out to dinner and ordered this.
The nice thing about this option is that you have wonderful meals that are sitting in your freezer, just waiting to be heated up and served. This is especially nice if you have a guests over for dinner.
Make a grocery list after you decide what you are going to have for dinner each night for the week. That way you go to the grocery store once. I always keep "staples" on hand just in case a recipe doesn't work out. For example, if you pre-cook the spaghetti noodles, all you have to do in a time-saving pinch is to thaw out noodles and warm up the spaghetti sauce. You can also make your own pizza up (using a Boboli crust or similar) and freeze that so your own pizza is a healthier option that some of the store-bought frozen pizzas.
I also make chicken tacos using a roasted chicken already cooked from the grocery store. That roasted chicken can also be used to make quick chicken salad sandwiches and to dress up chicken soup. I like to add fresh ingredients of my own to make it semi-homemade.
I prefer making pancakes from scratch, but measuring all of the ingredients takes some time. To save time I make up a bigger batch of the dry ingredients so I always have that on hand and can whip up pancakes quicker. Another tip for moist pancakes is adding a mashed banana. I also add cinnamon, ground flaxseed and a little protein powder to make it healthier. Sometimes we have this for dinner.
If you plan ahead, making dinner can be a lot easier!
Happy Planning!
