Cooking for a large family can be a nightmare. You need to ensure everyone eats a good healthy meal at dinner time. But it can sometimes take ages, and it’s easy for mums to end up pulling their hair out by the end! Here are eight hacks to make cooking for the family easier!
You need to have a list of recipes when you go food shopping
One hack mums need to see to make cooking for the family easier is to ensure you have a list of recipes planned for when you do the food shopping. If you know exactly what you want to cook for everyone, it can make it much simpler when you get to the store. Therefore, make a list at home of what you want to be cooking every day for the next week before you go to do your shopping. You can find many recipe books online, or in store, which are full of great recipes you will want to cook for your family. You could also talk to the kids about what they want to eat over the coming week. There are many cooking books for children you could show them to find a recipe they will love to try. Once you have bought all the ingredients, keep the recipes on hand, so you know exactly what you are cooking every night.
You need non-stick pans
Another hack for mums to make cooking for the family easier is you need to start using non-stick pans. It can be a nightmare when you have to scrub at pans for ages. Therefore, to ensure you save time, you need to choose ones which are non-stick and will easily be cleaned after use. It will also help you when you are trying to lift the food out of the pan after cooking. It can be frustrating when you leave half of the omelet behind! You need to find some great pans which allow you to move the food around the pan. Check out this le creuset skillet review for one you might want to purchase for your kitchen.
You need to get the family to help out
Mums can also make cooking for the family easier by getting the kids to help out. Find easy jobs they can do which can help you out while you are busy cooking. You could ask them to stir the bowl while you are busy putting things in the oven. It will teach them some basic cooking skills while helping you out when you are trying to cook everyone dinner! You could also ask them to lay the table while you are cooking. That way, everything is ready for you to put the food on once it’s cooked.
You need to freeze leftovers to use another day
Another hack you need to make cooking for the family easier is to ensure you freeze leftovers for use another day. It can be easy to make too much food when you are cooking for a large number. Rather than it ending up in the bin, you should be popping the leftovers in freezer containers. That way, you can defrost it, and use it a later date for another meal for your family. You could also make meals in advance and freeze them until the day you are ready to use them. That way, you won’t have to spend hours cooking when you are busy, as it will be ready to defrost and put in the oven! You can also freeze other scraps such as wine and stock to use another day. As you can see in this article, they freeze them in cube trays to add to future meals!
You need to ensure you are using all the hobs on your stove
You can also make cooking for the family easier by making sure you are using all the hobs on your stove. We often get so used to using one specific one that we don’t bother using the others. But to make cooking more efficient, you need to ensure you are utilising the oven properly. Therefore, make sure you are using all the hobs on your stove.
You need to prep the veg in advance and keep it in the fridge
Another hack you need to see to make cooking for the family easier is to ensure you are preparing the vegetables in advance before cooking. It’s not going to ruin the vegetables if you prep them the day before and keep them in the fridge. You should keep a guide to cooking your veg by the oven, so you know exactly how long each vegetable needs to cook for. It’s never good to consume over-cooked vegetables! You can find a handy cheat sheet on this site for you to keep next to the oven.
You need to check the food in the fridge to see what’s gone off
You need to make sure you are regularly going through the food in the fridge to see what’s still good to cook. It can be frustrating if you are trying to cook dinner and then find the cheese you were going to use has now gone rotten! You should check in the fridge at least every other day to throw away any food which has now gone off, and replace it immediately. It will also ensure it doesn’t contaminate any other food in there if it starts to rot.
You can make a foil lid for your pans
Another hack mums need to make cooking for the whole family a lot easier is to ensure you have a lid on your pans. It can keep the heat inside which means it will cook a lot faster. It will also ensure the inside of the item gets cooked at the same time as the outside. If you don’t have a lid for your pan, you can use some tin foil to create a makeshift lid! It will still have all the benefits of the above, so you can ensure food gets cooked quicker for your family.
Here are some tips on saving some money when buying food for your family. You know how easy it is to break the bank with the food shopping bill!
