Ah, “The 5PM Scramble”. You know the drill. Busy day. Kids getting hungry. Haven’t thought at all about dinner. What’s in the fridge? Do we have any leftovers? Is there time to stop by the grocery store? Honey, can you pick something up on the way home? Any pizza coupons around here?!
Plan your meals and write them down on a calendar. By having a plan, you will know what to buy at the store, what to take out of the freezer each day, and you will be less likely to stop for fast food on the way home. You’ll eat healthier too!
- Janet Schiesl of Basic Organization LLC, www.BasicOrganization.com
A little bit of planning each week goes a long way (we do ours right before going to the grocery store). Which nights are we going to do a Let’s Dish! meal? When do we want to cook something from scratch (yes, I admit it, we still like to do this when we have the time!). Of course, my family always keeps a couple Let’s Dish! “cook from frozen” meals in the freezer for when our best-laid plans go awry. But planning is the key. It only takes a few moments, and instead of scrambling at 5PM, you’ll be calmly gathering ingredients. Or better yet, you’ll have your Let’s Dish! meal thawed and ready to go.
One Comment
I plan the week similarly to how Janet suggests. I use slow cooker dishes for the days that I know we get home a little later, because of weekly activities, and I know that everyone will be ravenous when we walk in the door. As NBC’s Liz Crenshaw mentioned on the news one time - when you walk in the door and the house smells like dinner is ready it feels really good. It’s a treat. Although I made the dinner by putting the Asain BBQ Pork Wraps into the slow cooker in the morning, it’s almost like someone made dinner for me. The clean up is a piece of cake too!