Well, this is narcissistic of me... isn't it??? LOL!***
Fun Food Friday
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I had some other tool necessities suggested yesterday...
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A food chopper
a garlic press
a microwave
and a take out menu...LOL!
Hmmm... We'll keep the microwave and toss the takeout menu...
It's expensive to feed a family every night on takeout... not to mention full of salt, fat and
hardly any nutrition at all!
It's our responsibility as Mom's to put good food into our family.
We'll get a list going soon of what's needed... for now... please go here a read the sidebars for lists of goodies...
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So, now that you've gathered all your necessary items into one place, I want to talk with you about my favorite thing to do in the kitchen, and why I don't stress out about meals anymore.
P-R-E-P.
Getting stuff done ALL AT ONCE, and having what you need ALREADY CHOPPED, SLICED, COOKED OFF, ASSEMBLED or otherwise READY TO GO!
Once again please go here and read about prep at your leisure...
So... now we have all our most used items in one place,
and soon, hopefully, you'll read about what I mean by Prep.
First things first...
Make your list of dinners you want to make.
I will be providing you with LOTS of recipes on here, and you can always get some off my other blog. I don't use prepackaged foods, but if you do... go for it!
I also don't use too many canned things... once again... if you do... Brava!
I'm not here to judge... I'm here to help.
HOWEVER... please read your labels... LOTS OF SALT AND CHEMICALS exist in pre-packaged foods and canned goods...Fresh is ALWAYS best... but... this is my last time saying it.
I'm not a preacher...I'm just a cook.
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Make a list of dinners and their ingredients and side dishes.
Do you find a recurring theme in your dishes?
What I mean is... do 3 of your dishes require chopped or sliced onions?
Do 2 of them require herbs or celery?
or Chicken? or Fish?
Do you eat a lot of potatoes, made in different ways?
See where I'm going here?
THAT'S WHERE THE PREP COMES IN!
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If I know I am going to need sliced onions for 3 of my dishes this week...
WHY CHOP THEM EACH NIGHT?
Why not just chop all of them ALL AT ONCE? and use what I need each night, and store the other chopped onions in my fridge in a container?
If I know I am going to make chicken 2 nights...
COOK THE CHICKEN EACH WAY, ALL AT ONCE... either braise, or boil, or fry, or bake it
ahead of time and store it in the fridge.
Now... I understand that you just can't do that with EVERYTHING.. but with chopped veggies, herbs, salad ingredients etc... you certainly could!
Do you know how much time you saved yourself NOT having to chop that onion on Tuesday night? 5 minutes and smelly hands is a lot of time when the kids are hungry, the hubs is home, baths need to get done, and you are TIRED!
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My kids LOVE an Italian grain called Farro (whole wheat berries)
It takes a long time to cook if I were to cook it every morning... AND IT IS SOOOOOOO
GOOD FOR THEM... for EVERYONE! Tons of fiber, vitamins, minerals... and very yummy.
So, I cook an entire batch on Sunday night, and store it in my Lock and Lock container for the week in the fridge... and when they want some, they just scoop it out.
I am Queen Mama when I do that...
Mornings are hectic enough without having to wait for a grain to cook.
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For their lunches for school?
I cut all the lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, lunch meat and my homemade bread and store them in my shallow plastic containers ALL TOGETHER in different tiers of the Lock and Lock in my fridge. So when I need to make a sandwich... I just grab one stack of ingredients and I'm ready to go... no more searching for sandwich fixings.
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The trick to make your kitchen WORK for you!
When I make coffee, ALL my coffee stuff in within reach...
When I make cookies, ALL MY baking things are all together... ingredients AND utensils needed.
It just makes for more and better cooking in the kitchen.
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Now go on... get your kitchen as organized as you can, and I'll see you next week!
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**All the information on this blog is proprietary TO ME!
Nothing can be reproduced, copied, pasted or used in reference, without express written consent by me, Sandra Shaver. If consent is given, a link back to my blog and my name MUST accompany any part used...
This is great Saundra, I love the way you are so organised. My ex used to own restaurants and I remember this Exec Chef telling me that as long as you were organised and planned cooking was a breeze and he never got stressed no matter how busy the restaurant was. I will have to do some research on the grain you are talking about. Never heard of it but I do love all things Italian, including you! Your kids sure look healthy too and I love what a great Mom you are. Another book in this series I am sure.
ReplyDeleteGreat suggestions, I have major reorganization to do. Best Wishes for a great school year w/your fellas.
ReplyDeleteOut of everything you said-the only thing I do is store my coffee things in one cabinet above the coffee pot-and I guess it shows I do Love my coffee!
ReplyDeleteI have some Major redoing to do in the kitchen-I better start today!
Love it, and am looking forword to your cooking posts-all these tips I find so amazingly helpful-Merci!
Saundra,
ReplyDeleteThis is great! I love to cook and my kitchen is actually pretty organized. Though I buy my meat and seafood at specialty shops rather than the grocery, my favorite kitchen item is this: I have a list of stuff we might EVER buy in the grocery store. The list is in the order of the grocery store aisles. When we run out of something, all anyone has to do is circle the item that needs to be purchased. So when I go to the grocery store, I just start at the beginning of the list and only buy the circled items. (Except in the summer when I buy fresh from the farmstand)! Love this Friday idea of yours!
I'm always so intimidated by organized kitchen moms. I have so much to learn from you Saundra!
ReplyDelete