The number one stress we hear from moms is getting dinner on the table, so what better place to spend money to save time? To spend smartly, first identify what part of the meal is causing stress. Is it getting the food ready? Clean-up? Grocery shopping?
Then try to spend to reduce that stress. For example...
If you stress about planning:
Order groceries online. You can shop from old orders or put items on repeat, saving you having to go to the store. This might even save you money, as you will be less tempted.
Use a recipe delivery service like Blue Apron, so you just have to cook.
If you stress about the actual cooking:
Invest in a microwave cooking set. (We like the one by Joseph Joseph). This let's you cook an entire meal (pasta, rice, potatoes, veggies) in minutes.
Buy an Instapot. Hard boil eggs, quickly cook grains, or slow cook meals all day. Trust me, it's worth it.
Skip cooking all together by having meals delivered or buying pre-made foods at the store like Rotisserie chickens.
If you stress about meal-prep:
Buy pre-cut veggies, so you can just throw things together quickly on a weeknight. You can even shop the salad bar if you want more variety than usually comes pre-cut.
Buy frozen herbs, so you always have 'fresh' ones and can throw them in meals without chopping.
Stock staples in your freezer that you can turn to in a pinch, such as frozen cooked shrimp or frozen meatballs.
If you stress about clean-up:
Line. Use tin foil or parchment paper at the bottom of all baking or roasting sheets to make clean-up easy.
Delegate to your kids or partner. Kids as young as two can help.
What are your favorite meal time saving tips? Please share!
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