Finding Time to Cook

We often hear our customers stating “if only if I knew how to cook, I would order the pork” or ” I don’t time to cook those cuts of meat.” I understand it is hard to find time to put a decent meal on your family’s table. Our lives are filled with so much. Commutes, long work hours, after school sports and more. Where do we find the time to even sit for a minute, let alone cook.

I totally understand this. As a working mom who has a husband that works 14 hours days nearly everyday of the year, I totally get it. I also understand the confusion when it comes to learning how to cook. Even though I grew up in a family where my mother served us a home cooked meal each night, I didn’t learn to cook well until after college and well into my first year of marriage to Tim. 

So what tools/tricks do I use to make my cooking simpler?

• KISS: (Keep it Simple Silly) While the fancy cookbooks with fancy sounding recipes look nice and make us feel good, who has time? A simple baked pork chop served with green beans, brown rice and a glass of milk is perfect in my book. My favorite cookbook is a simple book I received at my highschool graduation party “Where is Mom Now that I Need Her” This book is filled with simple recipes with ingredients you can find anywhere. I also use church cookbooks a lot. You can find them at garage sales for pennies on the dollar. You know that 90% of the recipes will be great, because no one would risk their reputation.
• Pull out your Slow Cooker: My crock-pot has a permanent spot on my kitchen counter. I use it at least once a week. Add a whole chicken, a roast or a ham, some veggies and in 8 hours you have a complete and healthy meal.
• The Internet is your best friend: My favorite website is Allrecipes.com. Here you can search by ingredients, meal, etc and also read reviews and suggestions. The reviews are the most valuable part in my opinion. Also, I have used Youtube on numerous occasions to “see” how a recipe is done. Lastly, there are a lot of blogs out there dedicated to cooking.
• Don’t Be Afraid: You don’t need to be afraid when it comes to cooking. What is the worst that can happen? So what if you burn the meal; have bowl of cereal, call it a day and try again tomorrow. I love to try new things, but they don’t always work out. For some reason, I can never cook a whole chicken properly in my oven. I have found that my roaster oven works perfectly. That is okay.

There is no way I would ever find myself on Master Chef, but most nights my family is served a home cooked meal. For me that means I need to cook dinner right after lunch, because I do chores from 4pm-6pm and want to eat at 6pm. We just reheat (or take it out of the crock-pot). Find what works for your family. Maybe it is cooking as a family the night before and reheating the next day. If you ever have questions about a particular cut, just email us and I can send you a few recipes. Believe me I have cooked it all (pork tongue anyone?).