Cook at Home the Rotation….Step 1
“Since meal planning is so time-consuming, the reality is that I often plan and shop on the fly. The result is that family meals aren’t always as healthy as I’d like, which is frustrating.”
Forty percent of households don’t know what’s for dinner at 4 o’clock!
This is not a bad thing, in that it is an easy fix and you will relieve some frustration. By deciding in the morning, you simply take something out of the freezer or stop by the store. The next step would be to make the decision a day in advance. The benefit would be that you can now use the crockpot.
We recently purchased an advanced pressure cooker. Chicken Breast in 10 minutes (a little misleading in that the pot needs to heat up and cool down, so it is more like 20 to 25 minutes). Hard-boiled eggs in 7 or 8 minutes.
Most families have a list of 10 to 12 recipes that are rotated
Again this is not a bad thing. You have a solid starting point. I was a little concerned until I looked at the number of recipes that chicken was the core ingredient. I could easily name 12 different recipes, so the variety is more than you may have thought.
Step One – Make a list of your core recipes!
This is easier than I thought, I just asked the family and they rattled them off. Little did I realize I was that predictable
These are the foundation of a healthy cooking plan. They are the recipes that you know everyone will eat and you know how to shop for the necessary ingredients. For example, I know the family with eating spaghetti, easy, I also know what ingredients I need and I check them before I shop.
List in hand I sat down to see what I was dealing with:
• Was it homemade or was it premade (for example you do you make spaghetti sauce or buy a jar of it).
• If you buy a premade, look for comparable recipes that you can control key ingredients. The primary reason I started to cook more was that I wanted to be in charge of salt and sugar. Most premade sauces have much more salt and sugar in them than I wanted.
• How can I make the core recipes easier to make. I keep several key ingredients prepared by hand. For example, I use a chop box to dice onions and mushrooms then store the fridge. FYI, keep the onions in a mason jar (replace the lid at least once a month) and keep the mushrooms in a lunch bag if you’re going to use them in a few days. If I am not going to use them in that time frame, I dice and freeze them. I keep diced red peppers & jalapeno peppers in the freezer.
Now you have the foundation of your meal plan. This should be your fall back list of recipes.
Our core recipes, based on a core ingredient
Main Ingredient Options
Salmon 5 different rubs and marinades (R&M)
Pork Tenderloin, pulled pork, 4 different R&M
Beef Steaks, roasts, hamburger many options
Chicken Easily 20 different recipes
Tacos Chicken & Beef
Marinara
Spaghetti
Chili/Soups Beef/chicken/Navy Bean Etc.
Meatballs Three meat Italian & straight Hamburger
Pizza Because Pizza is a food group at our house.
What appears to be a limited list is actually quite extensive. When you add some of our favorite recipes that require special ingredients or take more time than we have the variety is even larger. For example, we make a time consuming, expensive Mac & Cheese that is excellent, a high-calorie recipe that we use for special events (like all the kids being home).
Last week three were present for dinner.
Coming next week, super-size for even more convenience.
© 2016 TKFrawley.