Time Saving Cooking Tips

Cooking may not be your favorite chore, but it is something that needs to be done every day.  Thankfully, there are many time management techniques that you can use to make cooking a faster and easier part of your day.

One of the easiest ways to save time throughout the week is to plan your meals ahead of time.  This will free up the time you spend each night trying to decide what to make for dinner, racing to the grocery store, standing in line to pay for your purchases, and then driving back home to cook your meal.

Instead, you’ll sit down, write out the meals you’ll have during the week, and make one trip to the grocery store.  You can plan your meals according to what is on sale that week, which will also help you save money.

The following are some more tips to help you save time, but still provide tasty and healthy meals for your family:
* Start using your crockpot! This is a great time saving tool when it comes to cooking.  When you get up in the morning, you can throw your meal in and let it simmer all day.  When you are ready to eat, your dinner will be hot and ready to eat.

* You may want to consider freezer cooking.  With this method of cooking, you’ll spend one weekend preparing a month’s worth of dinners and then you’ll store them in the freezer.  At night, you’ll take out the next day’s dinner and let it thaw in the fridge.  When your family is ready to eat, just pop that night’s dinner into the oven.

* The casserole was very popular in the 1970’s, but it fell out of fashion during the 80’s and 90’s.  They’re making a come back among busy families and for good reason.  This is a one pot dinner that is quick and easy to make (and easy to clean, since there is only the one pot plus plates and silverware). You can find some cookbooks on Amazon.com or eBay to give you some inspiration.

* If you don’t have time to cook a whole meal, you can opt to have a soup and sandwiches night. You can find some great soup starter mixes in the soup aisle. You simply open the mix, add water, and any fresh ingredients you choose and let it simmer.  While that’s cooking, you can make up some turkey and cheese sandwiches and cut up some raw veggies and serve those with a side dip.  You’ll have a very filling and nutritious dinner.

* Short cut cooking is the process of mixing prepared food with fresh ingredients to create a quick meal with homemade taste.  For instance, you can purchase a rotisserie chicken from the deli and serve it with some pasta and a side salad that you made at home.

* You can also plan your leftovers in order to create quick and easy meals throughout the week.  For instance, using the chicken from the above example, you can take the leftover chicken meat and use it to make a stir fry or chicken salad sandwiches for the next day’s meal.

Learning How To Save More

Once you’ve done this and taken some time to absorb it all, it is time to learn about valuable money saving tips to help you learn to spend less. Don’t be afraid, nothing discussed here will harm you in any way. These are basically a set of guidelines created to you through the process of spending less money.

Take the list of all the places you have spent money at for the time period you kept a record. Are there any transactions that you can cut? Maybe decide that instead of stopping at the coffee shop each morning, get yourself a coffee maker and make yourself a pot of coffee each morning. Put the coffee into a thermos and take it to work with you.

If you don’t want to do that, have it to where your coffee maker makes you two cups of coffee, enough to put into a cool looking cup with a lid to carry to work. You’ll still get your coffee, but won’t be spending five dollars a day to have it. You can also purchase flavored coffee from the grocery store and flavored creamer as well.

Are you able to take your lunch to work? Instead of spending seven to ten dollars a day on lunch out, grab lunch options at the grocery store. The same can be done for dinnertime. Look at the price of buying a frozen pizza at the store and buying one from the local pizza delivery store.

The difference is at least five to ten dollars each. If you do have to eat out, whether it’s for work or pleasure, don’t be afraid to use coupons for a percentage off or a certain dollar amount off the final price. It is best to save a few dollars than to worry what people will think of you and the coupon you just used. They might even be jealous!

Look back at your list and look at how you paid your bills. Did you mail them or drive to where they needed to be paid? Many companies give you the option of paying your bills through the Internet. Not only will you be saving the money on stamps, but gas as well. Some companies offer discounts on your monthly bill for paying them online as well as some banking institutions if you utilize their bill paying service.

Take a glance at the amount spent on fuel for your vehicle. Gas prices fluctuate often without warning which can cause your expenses to rise and lower at a moments notice. Think amount your travels for a moment. Is it possible to take public transportation to work or the mall? Is carpooling an option? The goal is to cut down on how much gasoline you use and easy ways include public transportation, carpooling and walking, which is good for other reasons.

One final example is looking at how much you are spending on things like renting movies, CD’s and DVD’s. Consider a movie swap night with friends. If five or six of your friends get together and borrow each other’s movies, you get to see several movies for free.

Instead of purchasing movies each month, check out one of the services where you can rent movies online for a flat fee each month, but make sure what your paying each month is less than your usual DVD purchases each month. This is helpful if you like to watch a lot of movies all the time.

The same could be used for CD’s. Feel free to swap with friends or look into the different online services where you can download a CD at a cheaper price than purchasing one brand new. Another resource for CD’s and DVD’s is your local library. Most now offer the ability to checkout the latest movies and CD’s for you to enjoy. Membership to the library is always free.

Hopefully these few pages have given you an opportunity to evaluate where you need to cut back in order to save money and to become more “frugal” without hurting yourself financially in the long run. This is a starting point, a jumpstart to a new life.

Time Saving Cooking Tips

Cooking may not be your favorite chore, but it is something that needs to be done every day. Thankfully, there are many time management techniques that you can use to make cooking a faster and easier part of your day.

One of the easiest ways to save time throughout the week is to plan your meals ahead of time. This will free up the time you spend each night trying to decide what to make for dinner, racing to the grocery store, standing in line to pay for your purchases, and then driving back home to cook your meal.

Instead, you’ll sit down, write out the meals you’ll have during the week, and make one trip to the grocery store. You can plan your meals according to what is on sale that week, which will also help you save money.

The following are some more tips to help you save time, but still provide tasty and healthy meals for your family:
* Start using your crockpot! This is a great time saving tool when it comes to cooking. When you get up in the morning, you can throw your meal in and let it simmer all day. When you are ready to eat, your dinner will be hot and ready to eat.

* You may want to consider freezer cooking. With this method of cooking, you’ll spend one weekend preparing a month’s worth of dinners and then you’ll store them in the freezer. At night, you’ll take out the next day’s dinner and let it thaw in the fridge. When your family is ready to eat, just pop that night’s dinner into the oven.

* The casserole was very popular in the 1970’s, but it fell out of fashion during the 80’s and 90’s. They’re making a come back among busy families and for good reason. This is a one pot dinner that is quick and easy to make (and easy to clean, since there is only the one pot plus plates and silverware). You can find some cookbooks on Amazon.com or eBay to give you some inspiration.

* If you don’t have time to cook a whole meal, you can opt to have a soup and sandwiches night. You can find some great soup starter mixes in the soup aisle. You simply open the mix, add water, and any fresh ingredients you choose and let it simmer. While that’s cooking, you can make up some turkey and cheese sandwiches and cut up some raw veggies and serve those with a side dip. You’ll have a very filling and nutritious dinner.

* Short cut cooking is the process of mixing prepared food with fresh ingredients to create a quick meal with homemade taste. For instance, you can purchase a rotisserie chicken from the deli and serve it with some pasta and a side salad that you made at home.

* You can also plan your leftovers in order to create quick and easy meals throughout the week. For instance, using the chicken from the above example, you can take the leftover chicken meat and use it to make a stir fry or chicken salad sandwiches for the next day’s meal.

For more help with your meal planning, check out my e-book: Meal Planning for Busy Moms. I also have a slow cooker recipe book in my shop. Both are available for immediate download and reasonably priced.