Four Kitchen Hacks for the Momprenure
Moms, we do a lot in a day between running a business, caring for our kids, and doing household chores. Wouldn't it be nice if we could come home to a nice warm meal or be able to tackle some of your to do list while your meal is cooking. No I am not talking about hiring a personal chef, although thats a great option if you can afford it, or ordering a meal from grub hub. What I am talking about is streamlining how you prep dinner. Luckly for you, I have a background in food prep as a nuttionist I would teach classes on this. Now I am passing my knowledge in the kitchen down to you.
Fun fact:I am cooking dinner in the oven as I am writing this blog post. Multitasking at its finest.
Hack 1: Invest in the right tools
Most people miss this step, but the right tools in your kicker can do a lot for cutting down on time. These are my favorite kitchen tools.
This is an investment worth making. I tell every new bride and new mom to put this on their registry. You will be glad you did. Its a pressure cooker, slow cooker, air fryer, and dehydeater all in one lovely device. Cut down on other gadgets that take up counter space and get this one, you will not regret it. Think of the endless things you can cook in it: beef stew, chicken marsala, buffalo cauliflower, apple chips, endless possiabilities. Just think, you can have a delicious meal in 30 min or come home to a bowl of pipping hot soup thats been slow cooking all day.
Want to cook a huge meal with all the sides? Then you need a roasting pan and baking sheets. Scroll though Pinterest and you will find a ton of roast and one pan recipes. I call this type of cooking: Set it and forget it. You can have your meal cooking in the oven while you finish responding to emails, or while you play with your kids.
Why this tool? Because it chops everything perfectly and evenly. Not only does it make beautiful cuts but it also speeds up cooking time by having things evenly cut. Love roasted brussle sprouts that are thinly cut and perfectly crisp? Hate chopping them to get them to roast up just the way you like it? Then get this tool, it cuts down on chopping time, it's fun, and....this one is so safe the kids can even use it.
Foil
Say what? Yes Foil is going to be your BFF. Why? because you can cover the lovely baking sheets with it and avoid having to clean the sheets after dinner. Lets face it, NO ONE likes cleaning dishes, so don't. Use the foil to cover the pans well enough that when you are done all you have to do is toss out the foil.
Hack 2: Batch Cook/ Bulk Cook
Maybe the ideal of batch cooking frightens you. I get it, no one wants to slave away on a weekend just so they can have healthy food to eat all week. Or maybe you are like me, want variety of food to eat all week and what I cooked on a Sunday might not be that appealing to my taste buds come Wednesday. I get it, batch cooking is not for everyone. OMG, yes you found a nutritionalist and personal trainer who actually does not like to batch cook. (Guess what, I am not a fan of calorie counting but thats a different story) So if this is you, my dear, then I suggest you bulk cook. When cooking dinner, cook enough for leftovers the next day. This saves you from having to cook daily. Now this is going to take some time to figure out how much you need to cook in order to have enough for the following day (it took be almost a month to figure out how much to cook when I first meet my husband. But once you figure it out, the rest is a breeze.)
Hack 3:Get your kids/ the family involved.
Not everyone has kids that are old enough to cook (🙋🏽♀️) but they might have other family members that can assist. Getting your family involved speeds up the process plus you get to spend some amazing time with your loved ones. For those who have children old enough to assist, having them help in the kitchen teaches them a new skill set. I plan to teach my son how to cook. (this mom wants to retire by the time he is 5 years old.)
Hack 4:When all else fails....get help.
Lets face it there are those days where you have no time to cook, shoot you have no time for yourself. Those are the days it doesn't make sense to slave away in the kitchen. Ask your loved one to help out, if they are not willing to cook you a nice meal then ask them to pick you up something healthy on the way home from he office. Or... if you like to treat yourself, hire a professional chef or meal prep service to cook dinner for the night. Hey, sometimes you just need to hire out and thats perfectly ok.
Comments