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| Kiwifruits & Cheerios with Manuka honey breakfast |
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| Fresh Greek Salad |
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| Tomato-based Spinach Fettuccine |
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| Mini Fairy Cupcakes |
1. Meal plan
Think ahead and plan what you want to cook for the week. It saves time, helps with grocery shopping {saves you extra trips to the supermarket!} and keeps the stress level down on racking your brain on thinking "what to cook"? for meals each day. In the long run, you will also save money because you waste less groceries and use only what you need.
2. Stock up on non-perishables
They are basically "shelf-stable" items that have months of shelf life. They are not all unhealthy and include a wide variety like canned vegetables, dried fruit, pasta, cereals, baked beans, sauces, canned fish etc. Sometimes the opportunity to cook suddenly appears, and with these ingredients readily available you can easily create a wholesome meal.
3. Give yourself a target
Set a goal to cook during the week. Maybe once a week on the weekends, or Monday nights when you are still fresh at the beginning of the week. Put it into your schedule and make a routine out of it. I try to cook weekend lunches or at least do a Sunday bake.
4. Make frozen meals
If you only have time to cook once a week, take a little extra time to make a supply of quick and tasty meals that you can freeze and warm up when you are short on time. Frozen meals don't mean they are unhealthy. If you use fresh and quality ingredients, they can be pretty nutritious too. Check out some of the frozen food recipes here.
5. Get the family involved
Ask your family members to help you prepare the meal. It eases your burden and is a great time to share food tips as well. Even the little ones can help :) I usually get Lil Pumpkin to mix my baking batter or wash my vegetables. It makes her appreciate the food better and encourages her to finish the food that she helped prepare!
6. Don't forget the fun
Sometimes, we don't feel like cooking because it's boring. Keep the motivation going by finding fun new ways to cook an ingredient you've used many times. I'm currently taking part in the Zespri Kiwifruit 14-Day Daily Scoop of Amazing Challenge to get creative with kiwis for the next 2 weeks, and I'm excited to learn new recipes and cooking methods with just that one fruit. It's an innovative idea and maybe I'd do a personal challenge after that to think out-of-the-box with a random food ingredient monthly! 21 ways to eat & cook tomatoes, apples or chicken, anyone?
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| Lil Pumpkin & her daddy bond through cooking together |
More inspiration can be found on the #CookforFamily updates by checking on Twitter or Instagram with that hashtag {find me on both as @AiSakuraHaruka} or join this Facebook group, Food with Love. Good luck and feel free to share with me the delicious meals you created for your family!
Need more tips from a busy working mama? Read them all here!
4 comments:
Such great tips! I think it's so important to make time to cook for your family, whether it's once a week or every day. It's a great example to set for your kids on how to unite the family and enjoy a home cooked meal :)
Great tips. For me, I enjoy coking for the family too, but like you pointed out it's making time for it that's tough as a working mum. So I usually source for one-dish receipes that I can whip up in less than half an hour, otherwise I'll end up with hungry, grumpy people at the dining table :)
For me, the best tip is to plan ahead as it makes a whole lot of difference.
Great tips! I like to cook, but some nights it really does feel like a chore. My main problem is trying to figure out what is for dinner each day. I really need to sit down and start making a meal plan for each week. That way I can look forward to the dinner I want to create instead of dreading trying to figure out what to make.
I cook too. :) While food is easily bought in KL too, it's mostly laden with MSG and lower-grade ingredients. Not what I'd feed my little ones if I can help it!
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