I’ve always loved cooking and planning nice things to eat, but sometimes making family dinners can feel like a thankless chore. When I’m tired, or the kids start pulling faces at what I’ve cooked, for example! Since I have to feed the family every night though, I’ve been dying to get my cooking mojo back, so I’ve been trying out ways to find more enthusiasm when it comes to 5pm.
If it’s stressing you out deciding what to cook for the family each night, if you’re stuck in a rut and bored of cooking the same few things, or if you’ve never really liked cooking but would love it to feel less of a chore, then these tips will give you a good place to start. Some are things you can do right now to prepare ahead, some are in-the-moment motivators and some are things you can work on bit-by-bit.
1. Have a list of easy dinners on standby
Have a think and jot down some easy meals you can throw together when the going gets tough. Maybe you have work and kids activities to fit dinner around, or maybe you’re just tired, overwhelmed and fed up that day. Some examples of easy meals could be eggs or beans on toast, pasta and pesto, soup or salad and bread.
2. Ask the family what they like
You can probably list a few meals you make that your kids love to eat, but I bet if you ask them for a list they’ll mention more things than you expect. I did this with my kids thinking “I can’t just make their very favourites all the time, we’ll just be eating spaghetti bolognese and pizza every day”. But when I asked them to tell me all their favourites, with a few gentle prompts from me, they each had a list of about 20 dishes!
If your kids say things like fast food or takeaways, try making homemade versions of those meals.
3. Remember YOUR favourites
I enjoy cooking a meal a lot more when I’m looking forward to eating it! We often start to tailor our evening meals to our kids’ tastes when we become parents, but I think, for me, that has meant that I look forward to dinner a lot less than I used to. I’m happy when my kids really enjoy the meal I’ve cooked, but when they don’t enjoy it and it’s not really one of my favourites either, I wonder what the point was! I’ve started making a list of things I’ve really enjoyed eating over the years and I’m getting more excited as I realise how many of them my kids will probably enjoy.
4. Get inspired
Try some new dishes to get you out of your rut. Flick through your cookbooks, look at food magazines (some supermarkets have free ones, or borrow some from your library) and watch tv programmes for new things to try. Just start with one dish this month and see how it feels. If you’re nervous about introducing new meals to the family, try something almost familiar… either the same ingredients from a dish they like done a different way, or a style they like with different flavours e.g. if they like Fajitas, maybe they would like a Greek version like chicken Souvlaki*; if they like Bolognese, maybe they would like Minced Beef Goulash.
*Chicken Souvlaki is chicken on skewers marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and oregano, grilled or barbecued. They could be eaten with pitta bread or in a wrap, with salad and tzatziki.
5. Have a plan
Now (using steps 1-4) you have a list of dinners that are popular in your house and/or you’re looking forward to eating. Instead of tiring your brain out deciding on dinner every single night, take 15 minutes to meal plan before you go food shopping. Have a look through your cupboards, fridge and freezer and, using the list of dinners you’ve made, write down what you’ll make for the next week. By the end of the day we’re tired and decision-fatigued, which makes choosing and cooking dinner much more of a chore. Deciding from a short list of 7 dinners (less as the week goes on) you know you have the ingredients for is sooo much easier.
Having a routine of ‘theme nights’ can help to narrow down what you’re choosing from each night e.g. pasta on Mondays, pizza on Fridays, roast on Sundays.
Read my post on meal planning here.
6. Make yourself some shortcuts for the freezer
Occasionally taking a few minutes to do a bit more when you’re already making dinner will save you 3 times that amount later on. It means you can skip a step or two when you’re making dinner another day. Here are some easy examples of what I mean:
- Make double batches when you’re making something like bolognese sauce or curry and freeze half for another night when you can’t be bothered to make it from scratch. Make sure your family likes the meal you’re planning to freeze before you make a big batch; there’s no point freezing leftovers if no-one will want to eat it again!
- Chop several onions in your food processor (or by hand) in one go and freeze in 1-cup portions in resealable sandwich bags or containers. These can go straight into a pan from frozen.
- If you’re dicing raw meat for a meal, buy and dice enough for 3 meals and divide it up into bags or containers before freezing so you don’t have to do this bit next time.
- Cook twice as much rice as you need when you’re making it for dinner (measure it so you know there is enough) and freeze half for another night. Just make sure you cool and freeze it quickly after cooking. I put it in a sieve to rinse it under cold water, let it dry out for few minutes, then freeze. Frozen rice can be reheated in a covered bowl in the microwave, in boiling water on the stove, or in a wok for fried rice.
Tip: Don’t forget to label the food you put in the freezer! Say what it is, when you made it and how many people it will feed.
7. Keep your kitchen clean and tidy
If you have to clean up before you can start cooking it’ll take even longer and we don’t want that! As much as you can, keep your kitchen tidy and the surfaces wiped down. Keep paper clutter, toys etc out of the kitchen (or at least off the surfaces). Organise your utensils, pans, dishes and food so they’re easy to get out and put away. Keep things you don’t use every day off your surfaces. Fill the sink with soapy water and clean as you cook so that there is less to do after you’ve eaten. Dinner won’t seem like such a big job!
8. Make it fun
Put some music on, watch a YouTube video or TV show, pour your favourite drink, ask a family member to come and keep you company, whatever makes it less boring for you to be in your kitchen!
Just like buying new cleaners and sponges can motivate you to clean, buying new kitchen equipment can motivate you to cook! Try a new knife, new cutting board, or a new gadget so you’ll be excited to try it out.
Good luck!
