Learn to Cook for the Week Ahead and Save Both Time and Money

Okay, so you’ve worked hard to get your home organized and you’ve developed some strong skills to use at the office as well.  You might be thinking you have it all covered at home since your pantry is organized immaculately and everything in your kitchen has its place.  It doesn’t change the fact that you’re still busy working all day and driving kids to practice, running errands or taking care of your household in the evenings.  Another thing you can learn to do to simplify your life is to plan your meals and cook in advance.

Meal planning and bulk cooking are both wonderful techniques you can utilize and modify to fit your families needs. The idea behind this is simple. The principle is that you cook and or prepare your meals ahead of time and then preserve them by either freezing refrigerating them. It can also help stretch your food budget dollar further, since you can cook one large meal and get two or three other meals from it with the proper planning.

Start by writing down a list of your favorite meals and plan on preparing a grocery list that will coincide with your menu. Since you’re learning to cook in bulk, your shopping list will have to change accordingly so you’re sure to have enough ingredients on hand when the time comes to do the cooking.

The most important tool in meal planning and bulk cooking is your freezer. Freezer bags are a great space saver if you have a small freezer.  You can fit many in the same space of a few storage containers.  Be sure to incorporate lots of quick and easy meals that your family can warm up and serve themselves in the event you’re not able to be at home for dinner or you just need to grab something that’s quick.

You’ll also learn to love your slow cooker.  Experiment with different recipes and variations on your favorites.  They also make easy work of cooking whole chickens or roasts which can be frozen or refrigerated for later use very easily.

You’re only limited by your own imagination when cooking in bulk for the week ahead.  Factor in the time you save by not having to do a lot of after dinner cleanup or dishes, and you’ll be glad you took the time to master this important organizational skill.

How Does Supermom Get It All Done?

Supermoms -we’ve all met other moms who seem to have it all together. Do you ever wonder how they do it? Well, the trick isn’t a trick… they just do it. How they do it is another question. It always seems that we can never get caught up, and things just get piled up, despite our best intentions. The key is to get organized and develop new good habits.

Changing habits won’t happen overnight. It’s a gradual process and takes time. So, first you need to organize your time, but once you are organized you will save a lot of time in the long run. Plan to tackle one thing at a time. Don’t try to do it all at once, because you’ll get overwhelmed and give up. Start with the easiest job, so you have a sense of accomplishment that will roll over to the next project. Once things are organized, set up daily maintenance for each area of the house.

Start with clutter. Get rid of things that have been piling up, like junk mail, paper and other things you just don’t need. Then take a look at each room and see what belongs and what doesn’t. If it doesn’t belong in that room, put it in a box to be sorted and placed in the right place later. You can even have a box for each person in the family and put things in it from each room as you go through the house. Then they can put all their things away.

Many of us have clothes and toys that haven’t seen the light of day in ages, so by going through them and either having a garage sale or giving them to charity, you can cut back on the amount of stuff that needs done. The less you have to put away, the more time you have to spend on fun things.

Organize your shopping trips. Making a shopping list is a start, and many people forget to make one. They either come out with a lot more things than they wanted, thus blowing the budget, or forget one important item and have to go back again later, wasting time. Many people have even started using a grocery store’s website to pre-order their groceries and some even offer a delivery service.

Another great way to help save time is to cook meals ahead of time. There are many recipe books that are designed for freezer meals. You cook several meals at once, freezing them to be reheated later. This saves time and if you buy the ingredients in bulk, can save you a lot of money. Slow cookers are also a great way to help save time. You throw the ingredients in earlier in the day, let it cook all day and then dinner is ready with very little work.

Dividing up the housework is another way to help get everything done. Even young children can help do some things, with guidance. The earlier they learn to help, the easier it will be later. Make a chores chart and remind everyone that this will help make time for the family to do the fun things they want to do.

It may seem daunting at first, but just like anything worthwhile, it will take time to reorganize your house into a smooth running home that everyone can enjoy. If you think organizing your home is an impossible task, here’s the simple solution you’ve been looking for! Home Organization For Busy Moms provides you the step-by-step techniques to finally get your home organized and keep it that way.

If you think meal planning is an impossible task, here’s the simple solution you’ve been looking for! Meal Planning For Busy Moms provides you the step-by-step techniques to save time and money by meal planning. Another great resource brought to you by The Household Helper.

New Years Resolution: Meal Planning

Being a mom is a rewarding job, but it’s also a difficult one. Between all of the cleaning, homework help, laundry, and motherly advice, we have to find time to cook meals that are both nutritious and appealing to the kids. If we don’t have a game plan, it’s next to impossible.

That’s one reason that meal planning is often overlooked in favor of convenience foods. While kids often like frozen pizzas and microwavable items, they are usually low on nutritional value. If we plan meals in advance, we can reduce the amount of convenience foods our families eat and increase the amounts of important vitamins and minerals they get. So why not make meal planning one of your New Year’s resolutions?

How Do I Go About Planning Meals?

Meal planning does take a certain amount of time and thought, but it makes things much easier when it is time to cook. When you plan ahead you know that you’ll have all of the ingredients you need, and you can plan simple meals for days when you know you won’t have much time. Here’s how to do it:

1. Start your meal plan the day after you plan to go to the grocery store. You don’t have to go by calendar weeks, but planning for 7 days at a time makes it easier to keep up with.

2. Decide what you are going to fix for breakfast, lunch, and supper each day. Be sure to include at least one of everyone’s favorite foods each week. You could make a separate list of favorites for easy reference.

3. Don’t forget to add in some variety every now and then. Trying new things is good for us.

4. Make sure that each meal is nutritionally balanced. If you’re not a nutritional expert, get a food pyramid chart to refer to for the proper number of servings per day of each food group. You may not be able to hit a perfect balance every day, but you should be able to come reasonably close.

5. Once you’ve planned the meals for the week, make a grocery list. Go through your menu plan and figure out what ingredients you need to buy for each meal.

6. When you go to the grocery store, don’t forget to pick up some healthy snack options. Fresh fruits are a popular type of healthy snack among kids, and they are loaded with beneficial vitamins.

There are numerous benefits associated with planning meals. It allows us to feed our children healthy food with less fuss. It saves us time in the long run. And it lets us keep everyone happy by having their favorite foods on a regular basis. Planning meals is a great way to start off the New Year.

If you think meal planning is an impossible task, here’s the simple solution you’ve been looking for! Meal Planning For Busy Moms provides you the step-by-step techniques to save time and money by meal planning. Another great resource brought to you by The Household Helper.

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