Smart Cooking For the Busy
Ok, so we are all busy, but sacrificing homemade food is no alternative. If you are smart about it, you can have easy, fast, healthy and delicious meals every day of the week. What I like to do is pick a day of the week to do all my shopping and prepping. Before I go, I do menu planning, sometimes having items such as a roast that can serve as two meals. Also be flexible to accommodate sales at the store. On this day, do your shopping for the week. Now this doesn’t mean you have to do all your shopping only on this day. I like to have additions throughout the week such as the farmers market veggies, or the butchers freshest cut of meats.
Once you have all your groceries for the week, you can start prepping. First, wash all your veggies and process your herbs. You can even cut them now and keep them in plastic bags so they are ready to use. If a recipe calls for meat already cooked, this is a great day to do it.
For example, arm roast was on sale at the grocery store today, so I bought a 3 pound roast. I have a small family and will need to use this several times. Today, I plan to cook the roast in my dutch oven, so that I end up with shredded roast. I can use this in several meals. Tonight I will eat it with my stuffed poblano peppers on rice. I can use it as taco, burrito, or enchilada fillings. I can also throw it in to soups for a quick and satisfying meal, and almost all the hard work is done.
Remember, everyone is busy! Use a few hours of your weekend to make your weekday less stressful. It doesn’t have to be stressful, turn on the music and open a bottle of wine, cook with your spouse or roommate, and make it a social event. And remember………….BE CREATIVE!