How to Make Dinner in 30 Minutes

Опубликовал Admin
10-11-2016, 02:42
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To make fast weeknight meals, you need to plan ahead a bit. By making meal plans and shopping on the weekends, you can easily have dinner on the table in under 30 minutes. You can make it even easier on yourself by prepping some ingredients on the weekend and choosing meals that are quick to prepare.

Planning Ahead

  1. Check your local ads. When meal planning, it can help your budget to check the local ads as you plan. That way, you can incorporate what's on sale into your menus, so you save money and you and your family can eat better.
    • If you don't get your grocery stores' ads in the mail, try looking online to find the ads for the places you shop at most.
  2. Compare the ads to your typical recipes. Once you figure out what's on sale, compare that to recipes you normally fix. Of course, you can try out something new once in awhile, but when you're fixing something new, you're not likely to have dinner on the table in 30 minutes.
    • Add meal planning to your schedule so you don't try to skip it.
  3. Don't be afraid to be a little boring. That is, to keep things simple, you don't have to try a new recipe every night or even every week. If you want, you can assign one thing to each day of the week, such as "salad Mondays, taco Tuesdays, etc." You can even take it a step farther and assign a specific recipe to each day of the week, such as "tuna salad Mondays, beef taco Tuesdays." As long as they're recipes you and your family like, it shouldn't be a problem. You can get a little crazier on the weekends when you have more time.
    • Plus, sticking to recipes you know means you'll become an expert at them, and you can have dinner on the table in record time.
    • You don't have to keep the same five recipes all year. Try changing them out by season, for instance.
    • Make sure to pick recipes that are different from one another so that you don't get sick of them.
  4. Ask for family input. Of course, no one is going to agree on every meal every time. However, asking for some family input gives them some control, meaning they are more likely to eat what you fix. See what suggestions your family has for meals, and take them into account when planning.
  5. Organize your shopping list. Create a list based on the meals you've planned. Make sure you have everything you need to make the meals, including condiments and pantry staples, such as ketchup, rice, and pasta. It's best to check your cupboards before going shopping.
  6. Go shopping. Once you're organized, you only need to go shopping once a week, usually. Therefore, you have everything you need on hand each night, and you don't need to run out for extra ingredients. Pick up the things on your list, but don't be afraid to substitute if you see a better deal.

Prepping Meals Ahead of Time

  1. Wash and chop veggies. If possible, spend some time on the weekend to wash and chop veggies ahead of time. Alternatively, if you're chopping half an onion for one dinner, chop the rest of it for a dinner later that week. Doing some prep work ahead of time helps you get dinner on the table faster during the week.
    • Alternatively, you can buy fresh or frozen vegetables that are already chopped for you, saving you time.
  2. Create spice mixes. To save time during the week, premix your spices on the weekend. If it's a dish you make all the time, you can even just make a special jar of seasoning for that dish, ready to go for the weeks ahead.
    • Use small baggies or empty spice jars to hold the mixtures.
  3. Cook common ingredients ahead. Cooking a few ingredients on the weekend can help you save time during the week. For instance, if you know you're going to make several dishes that need rice (chicken and rice, then fried rice), cook a big batch on Sunday for the rest of the week. Alternatively, if several dishes take sauteed onions, go ahead and saute an onion or two up for the week.
    • You can also cook other whole grains and beans ahead, such as barley, lentils, black beans, or quinoa. Most of them even freeze well, so you can make a really large batch and save smaller portions for later.
  4. Try making a big batch of roasted vegetables. Another good option to keep you full and healthy throughout the week is to make a big batch of roasted vegetables over the weekend. You could do all root and starchy vegetables, like carrots, parsnips, beets, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash, or you could a mixture of greener varieties, such as broccoli, cauliflower, onions, mushrooms, and bell peppers.
    • All you need to do is spray a roasting pan with cooking spray. Chop the veggies into about 1-inch pieces. The specific size doesn't matter as much as the pieces being roughly the same size. Drizzle with oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and your favorite seasonings. Cook at 425 Fahrenheit (218 Celsius).
    • Turn them at 15 minutes, though some vegetables may take as long as an hour to cook, depending on how many you have in the oven.
  5. Cook whole meals ahead. If you have time, you can also cook and freeze whole meals ahead of time. Soups, for instance, do well in this capacity, such as beef stew. You can make a big batch and then freeze it into smaller batches. You can also make a double batch of a casserole, one to eat and one to freeze for later. When you need to use your freeze-ahead meal, you can thaw it in the refrigerator overnight, thaw it in the microwave, or in some cases (such as casseroles), cook it from frozen.

Making Dinner Faster

  1. Preheat the oven when you walk in the door. If you know you're going to be using the oven, go ahead and turn it on when you come in the house. That way, it will be ready as soon as you're ready to heat something up, and it gives you a few minutes to prepare.
  2. Use precooked foods. Items like cooked rotisserie chickens often aren't that much more expensive than raw chicken. You can serve the chicken as is or pull off the meat from it to use in casseroles, soups, stir fries, salads, and more.
    • Other options include pre-cooked shrimp or pre-cooked grilled chicken strips, both found in the frozen and/or fresh sections.
  3. Go vegetarian. The meat in your meal often takes longer to cook than anything else. Therefore, skipping the meat on some nights can help you save some time. For example, try using canned beans for protein or cook up a dish like an omelet with eggs.
  4. Put your microwave to use. Your microwave can help increase your cooking speed immensely. You can defrost foods to help them cook faster, for instance. You can also nuke foods for a few minutes to give them a head start before you finish cooking them another way.
  5. Pick vegetables and foods that take little preparation. If you pick foods that take less time to prep, you can get dinner out faster. For example, try using the bagged and washed spinach to add to meals. Whole potatoes and sweet potatoes are also fairly fast because all you need to do is wash them and prick them, and then you can cook them in the microwave.
  6. Use pre-made sauces. You probably already used jarred sauces like spaghetti sauce. However, other sauces can also do a lot to bring a meal together. For instance, add teriyaki sauce to chicken and vegetables to make a stir fry or use pesto to spice up baked chicken breasts or pastas. There's a wide variety of sauces out there now; you just have to find the ones you like.
    • Another option is to make batches of sauce yourself over the weekend. You can use them up over the week or freeze or can portions for later.
  7. Clean up after yourself. A dirty kitchen is a deterrent for making dinner. Plus, it slows you down exponentially. Make sure to clean up after yourself each night so you can start fresh the next day. Your future self will definitely thank you.

Using Quick Dinner Ideas

  1. Don't forget about fish. Fish is one of the faster cooking proteins. Because fish fillets are so thin, they can cook in minutes, particularly in a pan. Plus, fish is a healthy, lean protein. Add a simple side, and you have a meal.
    • You can even bake fish fillets with vegetables, though you'll likely need to give the vegetables a head start.
  2. Add sandwiches or simple burgers. There's always going to be a night when your dinner needs to be faster than 30 minutes, and you can make that happen. Simple sandwiches, grilled paninis, and turkey burgers all make for fast, delicious meals.
  3. Have breakfast for dinner. Breakfast foods are often meant to cook a lot faster than dinner foods. For instance, scrambled eggs and toast make a delicious dinner, particularly if you add a bit of sauteed spinach to the eggs. You could also go for a bit more sugar with pancake night.
  4. Have emergency rations. Some nights, you just might not make it around to cooking. Try having some foods on hand that literally take no effort, such as canned soups, frozen entrees, or frozen pizza. You can also prepare for the week ahead by making something like chicken salad to keep in the fridge.
    • Other good options to have on hand are canned proteins, such as tuna, mussels, sardines, or beans.
  5. Make pasta a staple. Pasta can make a very quick dinner, and it can even be healthy if you stick to the whole wheat variety. Incorporate some frozen vegetables and some pesto, and you have a quick, nutritious meal.
  6. Create easy sides. Once you have a main dish, you don't need to go super fancy on your sides. Create a simple salad with pre-washed spinach leaves, dressing, whole grapes, and a sprinkle of sliced almonds. Wash whole fruits like raspberries and blueberries and serve them with a dollop of yogurt. Buy the frozen vegetables that allow you to steam them in the bag, and serve one as a side.
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