Quick and Painless Meals

CBN.com Meal preparation can really stress some families. This is because like laundry, it is a multi-faceted task. It can be quicker and painless than we think.

It merely involves shopping, planning, preparing and finally cooking the meal.

The time spent in this area also can be greatly reduced. You should really only be going to the grocery store once a week. With careful planning, you can go shopping once or twice a month. This can be easily accomplished with a bit of creative and efficient planning.

First, visit the store you frequent the most and write down the items in each aisle.

Next, type it up, if possible then photocopy it.

Write your grocery list on it; it will reduce your shopping time.

Post the shopping list in the kitchen when you notice you are low on an item you can simply write it on the list. This will keep you from running out of items and from going to the store so frequently.

Having your own personalized ready-made shopping list speeds up the time when you are in the store.

You may also write out tentative menus for a week and then go shopping for these items at one time. There are so many great cookbooks with simple meals with little preparation time. I have also noticed if our meals consist more of healthy vegetables, etc., it does not take long to cook. You may also take time every Saturday to plan the next week's meals. I try to plan for a month’s worth of meals.

You may add things like kids’ snacks and lunch foods. You can also cook double portions when you cook; freeze the second portion. You may also cook for two weeks, or even a month at a time, if you have the freezer space. In a pinch, I store prepared foods (I catch them when they go on sale).

The time I save on cooking I spend playing with the kids. So get out of the kitchen and on the playground with a little planning.

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Cheryl R. Carter is the author of Chasing God and the Kids Too (Revell Books). When she isn't dodging cooking a meal she is homeschooling the kids or pursuing some other crazy whim. Visit www.Momtime.net for more organizing tips.