Busy moms and dads have a lot on their plates. When you’re juggling work and taking care of the kids, you don’t need to worry about cooking an elaborate dinner every night. Fortunately, there are shortcuts to making healthy dinners fast when meal prep is simply not in the cards. A meal delivery service, for instance, that provides countless nutritious meals for kids.
The key to delicious, healthy dinners in 30 minutes or less lies in one simple thing: Preparation. You don’t have to be a pro chef to make a delicious meal for your family if you only think ahead! Try these simple tricks and wow your family every night without you feeling exhausted and burnt out.
Prep Meal Ingredients Ahead of Time
Each day, schedule in time to prep meal ingredients for the next day. If you are a morning person, you might like to get up 30 minutes earlier than usual to do your meal prep. If you don’t have time in the mornings, take a few minutes before or after dinner to prepare for the next day. By getting everything ready one day ahead, you will not only make cooking easier, you will also leave enough time to dash out to the store if you are missing some ingredients. Many people swear by meal prepping as a way to stay healthy because you are approaching food in a calm, organized way rather than rushing to eat something quickly at the last minute. When you don’t plan ahead, you can end up being tempted by fast food or other impulses that wreck your diet.
Stick to Simple 30 Minute Recipes
Start simple. Don’t go overboard with complicated recipes that take hours to make with fancy equipment. When cooking everyday, most people simply don’t have enough time to spend more than thirty minutes in the kitchen preparing for a meal. Plus, most moms and dads know that kids don’t really like complicated food anyway and much prefer classics like Oven Baked Chicken Tenders and Healthy Mac and Cheese.
Make Meal Starters and Store in Freezer
Meal starters, like pasta sauce, taco meat, and chicken broth can be bought, but everyone knows that homemade versions are much better! Meal starters are usually time-intensive, so making them ahead of time is a really smart thing to do. When you have a spare afternoon, devote some time to making meal starters that you know you will use later in different recipes. You can store them all in the freezer until they are needed. No more store bought cans!
Save Your Leftovers
Made too much food for your family of 4? Don’t throw it away! Leftovers are a dream that many parents intentionally try to have on hand because they are basically two nights of meals that only took the time and energy of one. To preserve freshness, store your leftovers in airtight containers. Meat, noodles, and pizza are generally fine in the fridge for 3-4 days, but if you know you’re not going to eat them right away, you should go ahead and store them in the freezer.
