Posted by Sue Landsman on Nov.20, 2009

©iStockphoto.com - theboone

Many of us have the best of intentions for cooking for our family, but often fall short during the reality of everyday life. We’re all busy, and it’s tempting to visit Trader Joe’s or the local grocery store regularly to buy pre-made or pre-prepared food. This can be expensive as well as fattening. We’d love to be able feed our family healthy homemade food, but how do you increase your chances of actually being able to do this? How do you bring your good intentions into reality? One secret is to make your kitchen ready for you; invest in storage solutions that will make it easier for you to whip up daily meals. If cooking is easier, and the ingredients are on hand, you’re more likely to cook. Here’s some tips on outfitting your kitchen:

Invest in Good Bulk Containers

In order to cook, you need to have food. It sounds obvious, but having accessible food can often be a challenge. Instead of having small bags of beans or rice that get lost in the pantry, invest in some bulk storage containers that will let you store a larger quantity of the basics. You’ll be able to keep this easily visible on a shelf, and in addition to not running out you’ll be able to use these as creative prompts for those “oh-no-what-am-I-going-to-cook-for-dinner” nights. You can also use bulk containers for baking needs. They’re easy to clean, and during the summer you can keep them in your refrigerator or freezer to avoid indian meal moths.

Make a Meal Plan

Sit down one day a week, either on the weekend or when you’re out waiting for your kids, and plan out what you think you’d like to cook for the week. Keep a master list of about twenty recipes that your entire family will eat without too much complaining. Once you’ve put a few meals on automatic pilot, you’ll find you’ve got a little extra time to figure out the others. You may also want to keep a separate notebook for recipes to try. It’s often so overwhelming to want to cook so many different new things that you end up cooking nothing; if you set yourself a goal to try one new recipe a week, you’ll soon discover yourself with a large repertoire.

Leverage and Multipurpose

Once you’ve planned a meal or two, think of how you could use those ingredients to supply a few other meals. If you’re cooking rice for one meal, cook extra, and then throw the rest into a soup for another meal, or fry it up with a bag of mixed vegetables to make fried rice. If you’re using half of a large can of chopped tomatoes for chili, use the other half to flavor another meal. If you need to chop vegetables for one dish, chop extra and make some fancy omelets later. You’re much likely to cook more if you’ve got extra ingredients that are already ready-to-go.

Use See-Through Containers for Food Storage

If you can see it in your refrigerator, you’re more likely to use it. A good set of glass containers can go from the refrigerator to the microwave to the table and look more presentable and enjoyable than plastic. Make sure you have more than enough, so you’re encouraged to cook extra. Square or rectangular ones will take up less space and stack better in your refrigerator. Having storage containers that make food look appetizing will also tempt snackers who might otherwise have no clue what’s in the refrigerator.

Have Sauces on Hand

You can turn a chicken stir fry into a chicken vindaloo with a jar of sauce. Another night it can be a cacciatore. Instead of killing yourself trying to come up with a billion different meals, fool your family by cooking the same thing with several key variations that make it exciting and different. You can even buy tubes of ginger and garlic paste to vary the taste of your meals with little effort. When you’re pressed for time and out at the grocery store without a list, all you need to do is get the building blocks of a meal if you know you can pull out a jar of sauce at home.

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Posted under Cooking Healthy, Food, Nutrition & Recipes, Home Environment.