Suggestions for Harried Home Cooks

Here are some general suggestions for those of you juggling multiple roles who want to eat well.  

• Accept the fact that there will be times when just feeding yourself and your family is enough, even if its a frozen dinner or fast food.  Everyone has those days.  Delivery pizza, Stouffers, and the occasional McDonald's got us through many a hectic day.  
• Breakfast dinner is fast and easy, and my kids always loved it.
• Planning ahead is key.  Sunday was meal planning and grocery day.  Minimizing stops to grocery shop during the week after a long day of work and school helped keep everyone sane and happy.
• Invest in a deep freezer.  When you are making soup, or pasta sauce, or stew, or baking cakes or cookies, make extra and stash it in your freezer for dinner or dessert another night. Cook once, eat twice.  This works for entertaining as well.  For example, a big batch of short ribs can be made ahead and kept in the freezer so that the main dish is already done long before the day of your party.  Also keep frozen veggies, boneless chicken breasts and any other frozen convenience food that your family enjoys stocked in the freezer.
• Keep a well stocked pantry with rice, pasta, canned tomatoes, canned beans, chicken stock, and baking supplies.  Having a well stocked pantry and freezer gives you the flexibility to put together a meal on the fly.