The Weekend Chef
By: Aleks Nearing
Looking for an easy way to ensure your family eats healthy home-cooked meals during the week? With work, kids’ activities, chores, and other obligations, it can be hard to avoid a take-out container or frozen pizza. Weekends are my time to cook up a storm and prepare for the busy week ahead.
Here are some tips that will help you become a weekend chef.
Plan Ahead. When the weekend rolls around, we spend a significant amount of time planning our meals for the following week. Get your entire family involved in picking a menu and some favorite dishes to make sure there’s something to please everyone. This is also a good time to teach your little ones how to plan a healthy, balanced meal filled with all the colors of the rainbow.
Practice multi-purpose cooking. I often use my main course meat in a variety of meals throughout the week. For example, you can shred rotisserie chicken and include it in chicken soup on Monday, a dinner salad on Tuesday, and quesadillas on Wednesday. Pulled BBQ pork can be used in a stew one evening and in tacos the next. Not a meat eater? A large batch of cooked beans can be used as a starter for a chili, in meatless tacos or bean salads.
Cook large batches of your favorite meals and freeze smaller portions. Many people tire of routine leftovers and try to avoid cooking large servings to avoid the leftover dilemma. However, if you cook a larger batch of a certain meal, you can easily freeze a single-serve portion that can later be defrosted for dinner or lunch. This will add variety to your meals or just help you save on those lunches out at work.
Try not to think of cooking and planning as a chore. My daughter helps me plan the grocery list and I look forward to spending time in the kitchen with her. She is usually involved her in sorting produce, picking her favorite dishes and chopping soft vegetables like cucumbers or mushrooms with a plastic knife. Have your child fill small containers with fresh cut carrots, celery or bell peppers over the weekend so you can quickly pop them into your lunch bag during the week.
With a little planning, even busy families can still manage to serve delicious healthy meals without relying on takeout or frozen meals. All it takes is some planning accompanied with some fun creative weekend cooking!
For more tips for busy working moms visit Aleks’ site: www.busyworkingmama.com