Short Cuts in the Kitchen

Proverbs 31: 10-31
10 An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. 11 The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. 12 She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. 13 She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. 14 She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. 15 She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. 16 She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. 17 She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. 18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. 19 She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. 20 She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. 21 She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet 22 She makes bed coverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple. 23 Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. 24 She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant. 25 Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. 27 She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. 28 Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29 “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” 30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. 31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

You are probably wondering what Proverbs 31 has to do with budgets and grocery shopping. Well it has everything to do with it; as a wife, mother, and a Christian women this is a model for me. If I was only a tenth that this woman was (sigh) but I have something to strive towards. So I look how she managed her time and compare it to how I manage my time.

Now that you have bought groceries and you have them home you are wondering “How am I going to have the time to cook and serve all of this?” Well that is what today’s topic is about…”Short Cuts in the Kitchen” I am going to give you some tips to make meal preparations quicker and easier.

First of all when I get home from the grocery store with meat I do not just stick it in the freezer. I look at my menu and see how I am going to serve it and then divide it accordingly…

Ground Beef – if I am going to serve meat loaf I will go ahead and make up the meat loaf and freeze it so that all I will have to do is set in the refrigerator the night before then when I get home from work put it in the oven and let it cook while I am preparing everything else. If I plan on serving something that calls for a pound of browned ground beef like chili or spaghetti then I will brown the ground beef and divide it into 2 cup portions and freeze each portion in its own freezer bag.

Chicken – If I plan on making pot pie, chicken quesadillas or something else that calls for cooked chicken I will go ahead and cook the chicken debone it and then divide it in freezer bags accordingly.

I do the same with vegetables. I will dice onion and freeze it. I will wash broccoli and cauliflower and divide it out in to gallon bags. I go ahead and wash and scrub my potatoes and wrap them in foil. This also stops my guys from eating the food before I get to cook it. I have a cabinet just for “snack food.” They know what ever is in the cabinet they can eat anytime day or night but they have to stay of my pantry.

As the week progresses and I drag home after work I can easily throw together dinner because of having the bulk of my prep work done. Usually within 30-45 minutes (depending on cooking time) we are sitting down to dinner.

Yes I give up a few hours on Saturday to do all of this but if it means feeding my family healthy meals with in an hour of arriving home then I have no problem doing so. This is also a great way to get the kids involved in cooking. They can wash the potatoes and wrap them in foil for you. Or they can write the date on the cans so you can go ahead and prep everything else. I had a little chopper when the boys were younger that they would use to chop stuff up for me. It had a plunger that you just pushed down and it chopped onions in just a matter of minutes. Hubby loves helping me. Here lately it has become a time that we can talk about things, we have had some interesting conversations in the kitchen over raw meat and veggies. Seriously though get your family involved there is a lot they can do.