Efficient cooking.

We are all busy people .  Someone reminded me when I had 2 toddlers and a teenager that I didn't work.   Excuse me, I worked harder than when I worked.   That's not to say that most days it was very satisfying, but I worked,    I dug gardens, cleaned house, did 17 loads of laundry a week, cooked from scratch , made all the children's clothes and my own ( except dad and teen) .   We were living on one income.  My husband taught classes in Boston often amd was gone a week at a time.   I worked.  

I learned to cook more efficiently.   You can cook from scratch and not spend all day on the kitchen.   Having a few well thought out kitchen appliances helps.  It may take time to accumulate them.  Some of them can be found  at the thrift stores  at estate sales or garage sales.    

One of the best tools is a slow cooker.    They have come down in price.   The other thing I have discovered is the insta pot.   It's pricey, but not too bad for a six quart.   It tak s the place of a rice cooker, a slow cooker, and a pressure,cooker.    When you take that into consideration, it's a pretty good investment,   Less clutter, more efficient.    

Them something would be a food processor.   It's nice to have a kitchen and mixer, but a food processor is less Expensive  and will mix things and chop, and grate.   

I use my slow cooker amd my food processor more than any other appliance in the kitchen with the exception of the coffee  pot and toaster.   

Batch cooking and making your own mixes saves a lot of money and time.  Planning your meals and prepping when you can carve out some time makes dinner time less stressful.  I used to get a lot  done when the children were taking their nap.   A lot of giggling going on in that room for a while, but they did take a nap.   

I can make mixes and bread crumbs with my granddaughter,   We count.   We talk about sizes of measuring spoons.    We shake jars.   She pushes the food processor button.   It can teach a child fractions, and counting, and the fact that food doesn't come from a salt and sugar and preservative laden box.   

Spending a little time making mixes and breadcrumbs etc can save a lot of money and to,e on the long run.     It's something  you only have to do once every month or two and well worth the effort.   

Writing your list and thinking it through helps.   You can prioritize the list and do the things that can be doing themselves while you are doing other things.   Start the laundry, soak things.   Unload the dishwasher before you start cooking.   Your dishes can go directly on the dishwasher many times and avoid having to set on and do dishes after you have cooked.   

Batch cooking a protein, will save a lot of time at dinner time.   The protein often takes the longest to cook.    I cooked a whole 4.5 pound package of chicken thighs this weekend.    I held out what we needed for dinner, amd froze the rest in meal sized portions.  Dinner  last night was a breeze.   I put rice in the rice cooker ( maybe three minutes) washed and cut the ends off the green beans, amd out both the chicken thighs and the green beans on the microwave.to cook.  ( maybe another three minutes. )  I could load the dishwasher. Sweep the floor and wash the countertops while food was cooking,   - course, I didn't, I painted roses instead!    Bottom line, actual non passive cooking was about five minutes.   When I batch cooked the chicken, it wasn't much longer.   It took me more time to disinfect the kitchen than to out the thighs on the oven on a sheet pan.    I sometomes out a rack on the sheet pan and let the fat drain.   I also cut extra fat off the thighs before I put them in to cook.    You save time and only clean once.   

You are still cooking food fast but not  cooking fast food.    

Today I am going to cook 5 pounds of ribs and freeze them in batches.    First, I am going to check my meal plans amd prep  anything I need for dinner this week.   Remember beans and rice have a three day fridge life.  Check the meat and cheese drawer and vegetable Bon to see what,needs to be incorporated or frozen.   Music going always help me stay motivated amd on my toes.    LOL.  

Next : dry mixes not already posted.   

Thanks for stopping by 

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the Put Dinner On The Table meal train from a different

 Perspective . The  emphasis is on purchasing good food( shelf- stable/ freezer staples )at the lowest possible cost and purchasing enough to last you until it goes on sale again -- Keeping a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you use on a regular basis. 

It means that when you shop, rather than purchasing just what you need for a day or a week, you  buy a loss leader protein, produce you will need on sale, a stock item if it's a RBP, and dairy instead.    This allows you to put well balanced meals on the table consistently  for a four dollar a day budget per person. 

  You spend more time on the planning and shopping end of the meal train and less on the cooking end  by cooking efficiently.    

Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on four dollars a day, spending more isn't hard.   You still get more bang for your buck.