Day 22: Saving Time in the Kitchen: Cooking Once a Week

Are you one of those people who is always rushing here and there but still seems to run out of time to get everything done?  Do you have a mile-high TODO list and no time to do it? I know that when I was working I was one of those people too.   Here and there and everywhere!  I knew I had to reorganize my life so I could work, get my errands done, do the household chores, spend time with family and cook meals every day.  I didn’t have much time to add in fun things, like visiting friends, going to a movie or even putting my feet up to read a book.  Your schedule might be the same.  If you have children you also have the additional task of getting your kids to where they need to be, when they need to be there!  Do you suddenly hear Helen Reddy singing  … “I am woman hear me roar?”  Well you should … because that is a beastly schedule to keep up with.

I always felt overwhelmed until I started taking control of my life, one issue at a time.  The first step in my life-reorganizing project  was meal preparation.  I decided the simplest change I could make is to cook only one day a week instead of seven.  And here is how I did it.

On Saturday:

1.  I decide the meals I wanted to make for the coming week.  I usually made three entrée dishes.  One would be an oven recipe, one would be a crockpot meal and the third would be a top-of-the-stove dish.  I would include items such as a weekly salad bar.  I would also plan a very simple side dish and dessert.

2.  Next, I list all the ingredients needed for the meals and put them on a shopping list.  Saturday is my errand day and I will hit the grocery store while I am out.  If you have kids who play sports on Saturday, you might opt for using another day for shopping so you can attend the games, or partner up with your hubby and take turns doing the shopping.  One weekend he goes to the game and you shop and the next weekend you change it up and you go to the game while he does the shopping.  (Good luck with that!!)

On Sunday:

3.  Sunday afternoons are usually pretty quiet for my husband and me, so I usually prepare all the meals for the week in on Sunday afternoon.  This probably takes about 3 hours.  Now don’t get excited, remember you are going to save two hours a night NOT cooking or cleaning up for the REST OF THE WEEK! 

4.  The first thing I do is organize all the ingredients for all of the meals.  All the vegetables are together by this sink, ready to be washed.  The canned foods and spices are lined up.  Dairy products and meats remain in the refrigerator.

5.  Now you have a chance to delegate some of the tasks.  The first task is to wash all the vegetables.  A child or even your husband (wink) can help with this part.  I usually fill a big bowl of water in the sink with some white vinegar to soak and wash the vegetables and put them in a strainer to drip dry.

6.  The second task is to cut up all of the veggies.  Make a note how many of the items need to be diced, sliced and/or minced. 

7.  There are three tools I could not live without in the kitchen.  A good set of knives, the Vidalia Chop Wizard™ and a set of flexible cutting mats.  The flexible cutting mats are handy and easy to clean.  Not only use them for chopping, I also put them on the counter where I am working to keep the counter clean.  The chopping wizard makes chopping and dicing  a cinch – its kinda like Whack-a-Mole™, if you remember that game.  The newer Wizards have several different blades to facilitate different cuts.  With the Chopping Wizard, even a child can help with the cutting.  Another child would be in charge of tearing up the lettuce for the salad bar

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After cutting the vegetables, put them in small bowls until they are ready to be added to a recipe.

8.  The next task is to prep the meats or fish.  Check the recipes and see how each piece is to be prepared.  Do all the cutting at once and then put the prepared meat back into the refrigerator until ready to be used.

9.  Get out all of the measuring tools, pans, crockpot and baking dishes.

10.  Assemble the recipes beginning with the crockpot recipe.  It is often helpful to have someone read the recipe while another person does the actual assembly.  Prepare the oven dish next, and follow with the top-of-stove recipe. If a side dish needs to be prepared, do it at this time.

8.  While the three dishes are cooking, clean up all of the tools and dishes used in the prep and put them in the dishwasher to be cleaned while dinner is cooking.  Clean and sanitize the counters and take a break – you deserve it.

9.  After the meals are cooked, you can put them in the refrigerator and give yourself a pat on the back and enjoy the week ahead with no cooking in sight.

Tip #1:  Always make an ample amount of each dish.  The leftovers can be frozen for a meal at a different time, or can be packed away for a lunch.

Tip #2:  I always make a huge bowl of lettuce and greens for a week’s worth of salad bars.  I cut extra vegetables to use as add-ons to the salads and put them into small containers.  I also put things like raisins, cashews, pineapple tidbits, beans, corn, etc. in bowls.  At dinner time, we pull out all the bowls and set up the salad bar.  A different salad every night – no muss no fuss!

Personal Note:  Sunday night is a great night to call out for PIZZA or Chinese!!!

Well, there is my routine for making more time with the family and less time in the kitchen.  Let me know what you think!

Daily Stats:

Start:     Wt.  235.0     BGlucose:  130     BPressure:  140/79
Today:   Wt.  220.0     BGlucose:  104     BPressure:  125/64