If you are reading this now, chances are you spend so much time juggling work and kids, which makes it difficult to get a hold of your cooking schedule, but do you know that you can feed your family the easy way without compromising on the quality of your meals?
After reading this guide, you won’t have to worry about these issues anymore because we will discuss some very effective cooking hacks for busy parents.
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Cooking Hacks for Busy Parents
Do Meal Planning During the Weekend?
Before the working days start, it will be much better and easier to take some time to think about what you will cook for the week. This can take as little as 15 minutes because you will be more focused and relaxed, and if you have a good plan of what you will cook during the week, it can save you a lot of time and reduce your stress during work days. Write your meal plan on paper and stick it somewhere in the kitchen.
Take Stock
The first tip was to plan your meals during the weekend, but do you know exactly what you have in your cupboards or pantries? If, after preparing your meal plan, you find out some ingredients are missing, it can make you more stressed. So, one simple cooking hack you should practice is to take stock and plan your meals accordingly. This can also help you prepare for shopping and know what you need at home.
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Keep it Simple During Weekdays
Trying new recipes, cooking what you crave or changing your menu is always fun and tempting. While this is excellent, weekdays are not the best time to try new things and cook elaborate meals because of your busy schedules. So leave new recipes and experimental cookings to the weekends.
Central Shopping List
As a busy parent, it can be frustrating to run out of essential food items in your home because someone used the last one and didn’t mention it; the best thing to do to avoid this is to have a centralised shopping list that all members of your household can add things to, so you know exactly what you need to shop for.
This list can also contain non-food items like toiletries. Place the list in a good location where all family members can see it, and then take a picture when you are going shopping.
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Meal Prep in Bulk
After preparing a meal plan, Whenever you are less busy, you can chop and prepare ingredients for upcoming meals on the plan. Since you have already prepared ingredients for a meal and have used so many kitchen utensils already, why not just prepare some more and save yourself the time and energy it will take to do it later, especially on days when you are dashing home to make dinner after a long day at work.
Cook Double Portions and Freeze the Extra Portion
When you have the time, especially during the weekend, cook more food than you need, double the quantities and freeze the leftovers. You will have homemade meals available in your freezer any time of the day. This can be a great relief when you are too tired to cook; you can just let your food de-froze, reheat it and have a great meal.
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Embrace Frozen Vegetables
Many people think that frozen vegetables aren’t as good as fresh vegetables. Even when they have leftovers, they sometimes do not use them, and the vegetables go to waste. However, if you are looking for cooking hacks for busy parents, you must change that notion; frozen vegetables are just as good and nutritious as fried ones; they save money and time and can add some extra flavour and nutrients to your diet.
Recycle Plastic Takeaway Packs
To store foods and foodstuff in your fridge, you can either get packs for storing food or simply recycle plastic takeaway packs to save costs. This can give you the perfect containers for freezing your food instead of disposing them and buying new containers.
Get Time-saving Kitchen Appliances and Cooking Tools
So many kitchen tools and appliances aid your cooking, but not all of them are created equal. Some can help you save time when used appropriately. For example, you can cook certain things using a pressure cooker, wash dishes with a dishwasher, etc.
Have Your Kids Help You
Another fun and effective cooking hack for busy parents is getting your kids to help you out when cooking. You can take the opportunity to teach them some vital cooking skills and give them a chance to take proper care of themselves in the future.
However, while the kids will benefit later from this, you will enjoy numerous benefits now, from a faster cooking process to a fun cooking experience and less energy spent while cooking. Still, do not leave your children unsupervised in the kitchen and teach them how to practise kitchen safety.
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Final Thoughts
As a busy parent, you might think cooking a healthy meal for your family is almost impossible or can be highly stressful and time-consuming. Still, luckily, in this guide, you have learned many excellent tips to help you feed your family healthy meals and save time, money, and your sanity.
If you follow these cooking hacks for busy parents, you will never feel pressured to cook or feel stressed out after cooking again. Instead, you will be able to work in a more organised manner, which will ease your stress and make it worthwhile.
