Hi all. As Susan mentioned, we're starting a weekly habit of sharing tips from community members that we hope will help you all shave a little time off the edges.
This week's tip is MENU PLANNING. Here's some info on how to do it:
1) Plan out the week's dinners before going food shopping.
-- Magazines like Real Simple and Martha Stewart's Every Day Foods have websites and email blasts with recipes for quick-prep (30 minutes or less) dinners.
-- Fresh Direct allows you to combine menu planning and food shopping with its recipe search function (and it features Real Simple recipes as well). It also has great pre-prepared options that you can just put in the oven (check out its "ready to cook" section).
-- Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything cookbook is a life-saver. Many recipes are 20 minutes or less and use simple ingredients.
2) Build in leftovers to the next day's menu (lunch or dinner).
3) Cook all vegetables for the week in advance, immediately (or asap) after food shopping, and then store in the fridge to reheat at meal-time. It'll take an hour or so to slice, dice, saute and/or roast the various veggies, but then it's done for the week (toss in the pasta, serve on the side, whatever). (I've tried this, actually; it really makes things easier.)
4) Find a few quick meals to serve in heavy rotation: pasta with anything; take-out rotisserie chicken (with potatoes and sauteed greens); spinach and feta frittata (add prewashed greens for a side salad and a roll); pizza (buy frozen dough and roll it out yourself; add toppings).
Other tips to share on getting it all done? Email me!
All best,
Amarah
Director
PSP Work-Life Balance Initiative
