The lovely Rani from ‘You Totally Got This’ has also offered to write a guest post for me. I thought that I would be up on my feet and back into the swing of it all, but a little hiccup in terms of the Z man’s health has slowed me down. So thanks for all the love in the blogging world who have offered me some awesome content. So here is Rani’s post on ‘8 Super Simple Tips for Getting Dinner on the Table Fast’.
Hands up, if cooking is the last thing that you want to do on a weeknight. Long day at work, screaming kids, hubby turning his nose up at having spag bol again. Weeknight dinners can be stressful, but they don’t have to be. Here are 8 super simple tips for getting dinner on the table fast. Stress free weeknights start here – woo-hoo!
Have a plan
Yep, I know…BORING! But it really does work. If you plan your meals and get your shopping done in one hit, you won’t have the stress of deciding what to cook every night. Plus, I encourage meal planning over a glass of wine, Rani’s orders.
Don’t over commit
Forget the roast dinners, ain’t nobody got time for that during week. Stick to meals with a total cooking time of 30 minutes or less. If your looking for some inspiration, grab a cuppa, and search thirty minute meals on Pinterest. Warning… may be highly additive.
Don’t cook it from scratch
There’s no need to cook everything from scratch, especially during the week. Check out my Fried Rice recipe, made with the help of my two best friends, supermarket BBQ Chicken and 2-minute microwave rice. You can have it on the table in 15 minutes and it is seriously delicious.
Get the kids in on the act
We all know doing some prep can cut your cooking time, but we don’t always have the time to do it. Why not get the kids in on the act? Whether its washing veggies before they are stored, or pre chopping veggies for your weeknight meals, it all helps. Sling them a few bucks pocket money for their trouble, and everyone’s a winner.
Cook it quicker
There’s lots of things you can do to speed up cooking time. If you’re cooking a stir fry, zap your veggies in the microwave before adding them to the wok. Need to boil water to cook vegetables or pasta? Fill your saucepan with water that has been boiled in the kettle, and it will boil in half the time! Even things as simple as cutting your vegetables into smaller pieces, or slicing your meat more thinly will speed things up, and create more space in your day.
Get your one pan wonder on
What’s worse than weeknight cooking? Cleaning up. During the week go for recipes that can be cooked in one pan, like Shari’s Chicken and Chickpea Sheet Pan Dinner. How good does that look?
Press it
Thought your sandwich press, was just for toasties? Wrong! You can cook anything from steak to eggs in this miracle machine. It is a great weeknight option, because it’s no mess and no fuss. I grill vegetables in mine all the time. Check out this recent Huffpost article with 7 surprising, awesome things you can cook in a sandwich press. It will blow your mind.
Have some fun
Cut cooking time by making meals your family can assemble themselves. Just put all the ingredients on the table and let them load up on their favourites. This works well with pizza, burgers, and Mexican dishes like fajitas and tacos. If your looking for a quick and family friendly taco recipe, check out my tasty chicken tacos. They take less 10 minutes, Arriba Arriba!
Big thanks to Shari, for having me over at Good Food Week – mwah!
Do you have any super simple tips for getting dinner on the table fast? I would love to hear what they are.
Rani is a lawyer who shares all her tips for quick and healthy weeknight meals over at www.youtotallygotthis.com You can get her best ever tips, and your very own printable ‘You Totally Got This’ shopping list over on her website too!
