Getting ahead in the kitchen for me usually means planning and shopping for our meals at the beginning of the week… but sometimes I forget to plan, or I can’t be bothered, or I just can’t decide what I’m going to cook! Whilst a meal plan is my go-to strategy, we all need a backup plan don’t we? Here are 5 ways to make getting dinner on the table easier.
1) Meal Plan
So let’s start with the obvious Plan A: Get out some paper and a pen, root through the cupboards, the fridge and freezer to see what you have, have a think about what everyone likes and what you fancy making and make a list of the dinners you will be making for the next week or so. I hate deciding what to make for dinner out of every recipe in the world (but something the kids will eat, of course) every single day – too much brain energy! Doing it all in one go saves so much time.
It helps to have a list of your family’s favourite dinners to narrow down your options, or assign a theme for each day of the week (pasta, pizza, Mexican, fish, soup or salad etc).
See my post on meal planning here
2) Stock your store cupboard with the basics
If you have random bits and pieces, or nothing, in your cupboards and you always seem to be missing a couple of key ingredients when you go to cook something, then you need to get your store cupboard stocked and organised. By this I don’t mean stock up for the apocalypse! Just having a few recipe staples on hand to take some of the work out of planning and shopping for your week.
Write a master list of the meals you like or would like to make regularly, think about the ingredients you need to make those meals and stock up accordingly. For example…if you like Chinese, you’ll need to start with garlic, ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil. For Mexican, cumin, garlic, chilli, tinned tomatoes and/or tomato paste, red kidney/black beans, tacos and rice can be used to make a few popular dishes.
Once you have a basic store of things in your cupboard it’ll be easier to put a meal together without too much thought. You don’t have to spend a fortune and get months worth – just 1 bottle, 1 jar, or 1 or 2 tins is fine. Just make sure that when you’re using the last of something or you can see that it won’t last you another week, put it straight on your shopping list.
See my own store cupboard essentials here.
3) Use your freezer to help you
You can freeze leftover sauces, batches of casseroles, soups, and baked snacks to give you easy dinner and lunch options later. Extra loaves of bread freeze very well, and you can make toast from frozen (that’s how I do fruit toast). Frozen veggies (for when you have run out of fresh or can’t be bothered to chop) and fruit (for smoothies or a quick compote to have with yoghurt and granola for breakfast or dessert) are a real time saver. Frozen tortellini or ravioli make a quick dinner with a carton of passata or just some melted butter and grated cheese.
Freeze aromatics: portions of homemade or jarred curry pastes can go into small ziploc bags, you can grate frozen chunks of fresh ginger straight into the pan, freeze lemongrass, chopped coriander leaves, lime leaves, curry leaves and whole chillies. These sorts of ingredients can get soggy as they defrost, but just chop them up and bung them into your pan – the flavour will still be there.
Split big packs of meat into smaller (labelled) packages and freeze them, then you can just defrost what you need as and when. I try to keep mince, chicken breasts, sausages and fish fillets in the freezer most of the time.
4) Cook bigger batches
If you are making a casserole, a curry, a bolognese… make a double batch and freeze half. That way you’re only cooking once, but getting 2 meals. The next time you want that meal, you only have to defrost and reheat it. Future you will thank you!
5) Eat lunch for dinner sometimes
Or breakfast for dinner! When you’re short of time, inspiration and motivation, go easy on yourself and keep things simple. Soup and bread, toasted sandwiches, eggs or baked beans on toast and bacon sandwiches are easy, quick and cheap.
What I sometimes like to do is raid the fridge and put a chopping board in the middle of the table with any cheese, sandwich meat, pickles, salad veggies, dips, crackers and bread I have left on it for everyone to just pick at what they want. My Mum used to do this whenever we had visitors at weekends.
See my houmous recipe here, or my beetroot dip here
I hope those tips giving you a running start in the kitchen! Leave your own favourite tips or any questions you have in the comments!