by Janet Daniels.

Having a business and raising a family can be crazy sometimes. Trying to feed the family healthy meals when everyone’s going in different directions can be challenging. Here are some of the things I did to help save time in the kitchen.

First, have an organized kitchen. I took time to make sure my food was stored so I could tell at a glance what I had in my pantry. This helped me see what I needed to add to my grocery list each week. The same is true for the refrigerator. Everything had its place. I grouped snacks so the kids could grab them easily, i.e. yogurt, cheese sticks, fruit, etc.

Second, I found that it was important for me to plan our meals for the week. When I had meals planned, I knew exactly what I needed to buy at the grocery store. I saved money and, more importantly, I always had what I needed to make the recipe. To get started, I asked my family what their favorite meals were and got seven favorites. Then, I had to figure out when I would decide on the meals for the week, make the grocery list and do the shopping. I found that when I set aside enough time to do this, it was just like planning to get things done in my business. Each week I looked at my schedule and blocked out enough time in my calendar to get it done.

Finally, I found that my slow cooker became a lifesaver. By planning meals, I could look at my business week and see which days would be especially hectic. I used my slow cooker and we always had a meal ready on those days when we were going in different directions. As Mary said in her blog, it was always easy to make double batches and freeze a meal. Isn’t it always good to cook once and eat twice?

As I reflect on the things I did to save time in the kitchen when our family was young, I’m seeing that these things are still important to us today. Keeping an organized kitchen, knowing what our meals will be when we’re eating at home, using the slow cooker and freezing meals still work in our busy life.