The Wednesday section: food glorious food

As soon as I stop carpet-bagging around the National Conventions, I’m going to curl up in bed with a good book or three.

Cookbooks.

One of the most difficult things to do with little time and less money is prepare healthy, home-cooked meals for your family. Modern conveniences have made pressure cooking and Crockpots a must-have in busy homes. If you’re dealing with the double crunch of time and money, hop on over to ABC.com and copy the recipes from Five Budget-Conscious Main Courses into the back of your cookbook.

Here are some other thoughts on making meals a snap…

• Get yourself a recipe file, and copy out the recipes you know and love. Whenever you test a new meal, and it wins your kids’ seal of approval, put it in the box. That way, you can turn to your tried and true recipes without ever having to wonder where you last saw it. Unless, like me, you end up using those 3×5 cards to mark a page in another cookbook. DOH!
• Sit down on Wednesday evening with your local paper’s circular and plan meals around the sales and coupons. Think ahead, too, about what can be frozen. Buy staples when they are on sale and you’ll save money on the things you really need. Don’t be tempted to buy something just because it’s got a coupon. If you don’t usually buy something, it’s probably because it’s not really a good food choice in the first place.
• Do learn how to cook with a pressure cooker and a Crock Pot. Each can save you tons of time… one by cooking things incredibly quickly, and the other by cooking them very slowly, while you’re at work. If you know of a good cookbook for either appliance, let me know and I’ll let all you single mothers know, too.
• Cook big batches of things that freeze well. Be sure to label the package with the name of the dish and the date you cooked it. Items can stay for up to a month in a regular freezer with no worries, and even longer in a deep freeze. With just a few hours in the kitchen on weekends, you can have a freezer full of good food to last you a month.
• Last night’s side dish can be today’s lunch menu. I often make mac n cheese or stuffed pastas for dinner, and then heat them up and put them in a Thermos for the little guy’s lunch later in the week. Think ahead.
• If you go out to dinner, think about portions. Can you share an entree? Take leftovers home and have lunch the next day. Order stuff you can’t–or won’t–make at home, so the adventure of eating out is truly a treat, and not just some fast-food filler for a busy, exhausted mom. The KoE and I are probably going to eat out a lot this week, because I’m not going to be home at all next week and don’t feel like stocking the fridge with stuff that will just go bad. One night, we’re definitely going around the corner for a rice bowl to share… one order will feed us both dinner that night, with enough left over for lunch for one of us the next day. It’s a winner, alright. Three big meals for $12… and no dirty dishes to clean up later!