4 Ways to Cook Dinner Faster

Smudjie

This is something someone sent me, I thought it was so great I had to share

Before I had a baby, one minute was one minute. Just 60 seconds. And I had a lot of minutes. I could use them where I wanted, and mostly I chose to use them at dinnertime—leisurely pulling a meal together, eating slowly, sipping wine, then cleaning up. Fast-forward nine months and now my dinnertime routine looks like an episode of Iron Chef. I’m scrambling around, food is flying off the cutting board and I’m yelling, “Hurry up!”

I’m trying to bank some minutes. I’m now acutely aware of their value and the prospect of having a few of them set aside at the end of a long day after the baby is asleep makes me giddy. Sure, I could just call for takeout, but I don’t want to be the mother who develops healthy recipes for a living, then feeds her family Chinese takeout from down the street three times a week. And I don’t want to set the precedent that dinner is a race either. So I’m going to use some time-saving shortcuts to get a healthy dinner on the table for my family and get me a few extra minutes at the end of the day
Shortcut 1: Use Your Microwave
Time saved – 25 minutes

Your microwave isn’t just for reheating a cup of coffee. It’s a tool for cooking, and it can be pretty efficient. For example, one of my favorite easy dinners is stuffed baked potatoes. In my oven, potatoes take 45 minutes to 1 hour to cook, but in the microwave they take only about 20 minutes. Not everything is suitable for the microwave, but vegetables in particular lend themselves well to being nuked. So next time you need to pull together a vegetable side dish, or a stuffed potato, consider saving time by using your microwave instead of your stove or oven.

Shortcut 2: Buy Prepped Vegetables
Time saved – 15 minutes

Often on the periphery of the produce area at the grocery store you’ll find bags or boxes of vegetables that have already been washed, chopped, sliced or cooked. If you’re in a time crunch, use them. Look for bags of broccoli florets (you’ll save time chopping them from the whole head) or a shredded carrot-and-cabbage mix for a throw-together slaw. Opt for baby spinach over adult spinach. You can easily find it prewashed (time saver!) and you don’t have to remove any of those pesky tough stems.

Shortcut 3: Raid the Salad Bar
Time saved – 20 minutes

I hate to admit that I often let my salad greens wither in the fridge because I don’t want to go through the trouble of prepping other vegetables to go with them. But I recently got into the habit of raiding the salad bar at the local grocery store. I skip over the lettuce and just pile up the toppings–hard-boiled eggs, sliced mushrooms, cucumber and red pepper. I can buy just what I need for the next couple of days and skip all the cooking, slicing and chopping.

Shortcut 4: Use Frozen Fruits and Vegetables
Time saved – 20 minutes

Instead of being tied to my cutting board all night, I stock up on frozen vegetables that I can add to my creation quickly. The beauty of frozen vegetables is that they’re usually all chopped up and ready to go. Plus you can buy mixed bags of the stuff–broccoli and cauliflower, for example, or a stir-fry mix with peppers and onions–so you can get the variety you’re looking for without stuffing your freezer to the brim

sbeisel1

huh, great tips.

PinkEarthMama

Great time savers... not so hot on the " money " issue.

Prepped veggies, salad bars, etc, are REALLY EXPENSIVE.

Instead, maybe find a few extra minutes after baby goes to bed to prep your own.

Lesa_Sass

I do the weekend warrior type of thing, including:

Baking several sweet potatoes at once and reheating them during the week, after all, I am heating up the whole oven anyway, why not get more use out of it.

Grill several chicken breasts at once, I can slice them and use them for salads, wraps or reheat for meals during the week.

Pre slice my fruits and vegetables and put them in plastic containers in the frig. I find that if I prewash my fresh fruit and slice them into one big bowl, I always have some fruit salad around, always good for a snack.

Vegetarian meals typically can be fixed in about 15 minutes or so, no having to cook meat all the way through to kill the bacteria in it.

I also find that cooking up a big batch of steel cut oats for the week as well as quinoa that I can just add things to for the week makes eating healthy a whole lot easier.

It can be done, if we are willing to put in the effort that is. Every single one of the things I just described in here can all be done at the same time in around an hour.

Emily_Katherine

I use pre-chopped veggies and bagged salad on occasion (large dinner parties, really busy weeks, on sale), but these are 4 ways I cook faster and save some cash:

1. Try to prep all the vegetables and fruits on the weekend after I come home from the grocery store

2. If I've bought meat for later, I also slice/marinade/bag the portions I will use when I get home and then put them in the freezer so they are ready to use when defrosted

3. If I'm planning one meal with rice during the week, I plan another - that way I cook 2x the rice the first night and it's ready for the second night too. I do the same with other ingredients, for example if I'm making sauteed spinach as a side dish one night I'll have pizza with spinach another night that week.

4. Stock up on jarred tomato sauce, canned beans, salmon and tuna - all great for quick meals

Totally agree with the frozen veg and fruits! Convenient and cost effective.

shellma00

Awesome ideas!! I will have to start doing some of these.

dizsolvedgirl

I spend a couple of hours once a week prepping single servings of raw veggies and fruit which are great to grab and go.


I also I love roast veggies skewered on the BBQ!

These are very time consuming so when I do make them I usually make about 4x the serving and grill them all at once.
Not only are they wonderful (and quick) warmed up later in the week to accompany a protein, they make a good low cal snack.

Smudjie

Personally I tend to use an hour or so on the weekend or an afternoon and prep veggies and such but I thought it was a good article for the folks that hate doing that type of thing or are very pressed for time.

Lesa_Sass

Personally I tend to use an hour or so on the weekend or an afternoon and prep veggies and such but I thought it was a good article for the folks that hate doing that type of thing or are very pressed for time.

AAAHH, gotcha.

I actually enjoy food prep and cooking, so that is why it is not a big deal to me. I do know, how ever, if I am hungry and fixing dinner, I will choose the faster option, so it is better if I can get a good amount of this done when I am in the mood.

I have purchased pre chopped fruit and vegetables in the past, in a pinch, but I really have a hard time justifying the cost. I calculated it is double the price in my area to purchase it pre done. Since we eat fruits and vegetables just about every single meal, that would be a cost that I would rather spend on something else.

Thanks for posting this. I know many women that tell me they do not have time to cook dinner, this proves it can be done.