No matter how regularly Dinner time swings round, I still manage to get caught out. Tonight, I should be prepping my chicken lasagna but instead I opted to cut 40 minutes and one dirty pot off the to do list – and have time to write this little doozy of a blog post.
But how did I do this? I know you’re thinking it.
Well, come closer, let me share a little secret.
I cheated.
Half way through the making of before mentioned lasagna, I realized that I just didn’t have enough lasagna. I was at least 4 sheets short. Which, let’s face it, would look kinda silly and someone would be missing out on their slice of pasta.
I was not going to put on a bra and take the 35 minute drive to the store and besides, I didn’t really feel like spending the extra time and kitchen cleaning needed in making the cheese sauce, layerin’ all those lasagna layers and then waiting 40 minutes while the kids glued their hungry little eyes to the timer.
Nope.
So, I didn’t. Instead, I referred to my favorite Dinner time trick (#5 on this list) and tried this recipe instead. I’ve been meaning to try it for ages, but never quite got round to. And I’m so glad I did, because it has officially made it to the next stage of Dinner planning evolution (trick #4). Which is a pretty big deal round here.
This aren’t your regular meal planning tricks, for that you need to read through these 22 Genius Meal Prepping Tips for Busy Moms. These 5 little tips are more for Moms who experience the 5pm Dinner Time Panic a little more often than not.
5 Clever Dinner Tricks for Disorganized Moms. 1. Get your groceries delivered.
Find out if your local grocery store delivers to your door. This is a brilliant service that is well worth the small delivery fee. It save at least an hour of your time as well as vehicle expenses. If your local store doesn’t deliver then take a look at this service – PLUS they offer free delivery with orders over $35.
2. Reuse your Meal Plans.
Don’t throw away meal plans that work well for your family. Keep them and reuse them. In a couple of months’ you will have a stockpile of tried and tested meal plans that are ready to go and perfectly suited for your family – complete with its shopping list.
For my done for printable Healthy Meal Plans, take a browse through my FREE Weekly meal plans. Just, click and print. So far, I think I have at least 3 months of meal plans ready to be downloaded.
–>> Keep all your meal plans together in this Recipe Binder
3. Make a Master Recipe List
Make a master list of 10 – 15 meals that your family loves. It is a really good resource when you are looking to full up that meal plan. To help you get started on what to include in this list – I have a couple of Free Resources you might enjoy – I use them a lot!
18 Fast and Easy Meal Ideas (this one is an opt in to my newsletter, but you can opt out if you don;t want me sending you new recipes) 100 Family Meal Ideas (Awesome printable if I don’t say so myself). And did I mention it’s FREE!! 30 Days of Dinners – 30 Days of done for you dinner ideas + a 30 day dinner printable template 4. Keep a folder of recipes you want to try.
If you find a good recipe, print it, write it out and file it (take a look at my CEWK Recipe Binder here) so that its easy to access when you are looking for some ideas on what to cook. We have a notebook in our kitchen where I write down recipes that work. We try a lot more, but only some make it to the notebook (and then to this blog).
5. Introduce a Theme night.
To really simplify things, you can introduce some family traditions or theme nights. So … Sunday Roasts, Meatless Monday, Tuesday Taco’s, Wednesday can be casserole night. Well, you get the idea. Get the family involved in this one too. It’s a great way to teach the kids to cook as they get to practice meals with similar elements every week.
–> Here are 31 Theme Night Dinner Ideas for you to try
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More Meal Planning Resources:
30 Days of Dinners
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Genius Meal Prepping tips for Busy Moms
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