Working parents always dread the question, “what’s for dinner?” Most lack enough time to cook during the week because of their busy schedules at work and with kids. With hectic mornings and busy days at school, most families struggle to create time to connect and focus on each other. Establishing mealtime rituals and traditions with your family provides you with the perfect opportunity to connect. Here are some stresses reducing dinner tips for a working parent.
Plan Your Meals
After a long day at work, going to the supermarket can be tiring. Therefore, you must plan all your meals to reduce stress and make the most out of your time. Planning your meals at least once a week helps you get organized. You will also get time to shop for ingredients that you don’t have in the house and store the perishables in the fridge. You can make a list of dinner ideas and what you intend to make every day. Ensure that you have all ingredients in the house. This will save you from making midweek trips to the grocery stores. If you don’t want to go shopping, you can also try a dinner-kit delivery service. This service will deliver your ingredients and recipes, giving you enough time to cook a full meal. You will get the benefit of eating a home-cooked meal without shopping or searching for recipes. If you live in Chicago, look up Chicago meal delivery options to save time and have a freshly prepared meal delivered to you nightly.
Take Turns Cooking
Another way to reduce the hassle of weeknight dinners is to split the work in half. If you split the week in half with your partner, it means you only have to cook 3-4 days a week, instead of 7. Look at your schedules and see who has more free time on certain days. If you plan out each month in advance, it’ll save both of you time and stress.
If your child is old enough, have them assist a few nights a week with cooking. Use your best judgement on what tasks they can safely accomplish, but this is a great opportunity to teach your kids a vital life skill. If they are too young to do any of the prep work, you can still explain how a meal is made. This can be a great bonding experience and could spark an interest in cooking, later in their lives.
Order in Dinner
There are those days you feel like you don’t have the energy to cook at all. But your family has to eat, regardless. Other days, you will feel sick and need someone to care for your family’s dinner needs. The best thing to do is order dinner and get it delivered to your doorstep. It will ensure that your family gets a healthy dinner during those days you want to take a rest. The good thing is that you get a variety of affordable and convenient entrees. Therefore, a busy day will not stop you from enjoying dinner time with your family.
Reinvent
Reinventing involves cooking a meal once and then reinventing it several times. For instance, you may cook chicken breast during your free time on weekends. You can eat your chicken breast on different sides one night. Then, take your leftovers, shred them, refrigerate some and freeze some. Make a chicken salad with your refrigerated portion the following night. The next night, use your frozen portion as a quick filling for your chicken enchiladas. You can also try a salsa Verde recipe on one night. Reinventing saves you a lot of time as you only need to get creative on what to do with your meal.
Slow Cooking Your Fast Meals
A slow cooker has become a necessity in most American households. A slow cooker is not only suitable for cold-weather food, but you can also use it in the summer. The machine conserves energy and saves you a lot of time. Most slow cooker meals need zero preparation. You can throw all your ingredients in the pot and get your food ready. A slow cooker is a great way to prepare a dinner for working moms. After work, you will get your food hot and ready to serve.
Instapots work in a similar way. You can do some basic prep work and throw all your ingredients in for a quick and easy dinner. These meals can be healthy depending on what you use, and ready in under an hour. The advantage of an instant pot over a traditional slow cooker, is there are more cooking options, such as steam. There is an entire industry of cookbooks and recipes for cooking in an instant pot if you need inspiration.
Cook Once and Eat All Week
If you want to cook once and eat all week, you must commit a few hours, especially on weekends when you are not busy. Plan your meals and prepare as much as you can before the weekend. On weekends, shop for everything you need and make your dinner for the entire week. You can store the food in containers and refrigerate it. Although cooking dinner for the whole of the week may take a lot of time, you will save time during the week. This is because you will only need to reheat the food for your family without cooking.
The fear some people have with this method, is a lack of variety with meals. If you prep basic ingredients, it’ll save time during the week and you can still diversify your meals. For example, you can marinade vegetables and a protein, but still add different sauces or spices when you cook them each day. If all you have to do during the week is spend 5 minutes putting a meal in the oven, you have around 40 minutes of free back each night.
Final Thoughts
Preparing dinner for a working parent can be stressful, especially after a long day at work. That is why it’s essential to devise new ways to reduce stress after work. Some of these tips include reinventing, slow cooking, cooking once and eating all week, ordering in, and planning your meals.
Hope you find these tips useful! Looking forward to your comments.
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