Simplify cooking

Most of the time, we think homemade​ means hours and hours of difficult prep and cooking. On the good days, though, I can create a homemade meal in what feels like minutes.

I literally make myself stop and apply the knowledge that I do have regarding food and the kitchen. Sometimes I lean on what I learned from my mother in the kitchen, and other times I rely on Google. Whoever you are, there's a base of what you know to prepare. Take that knowledge and commit to applying it the best you can. You might be surprised by the results. 

Example: Chicken and Rice Soup 
I haven been wanting to use up some of the things in my freezer. Specifically, leftover turkey from Thanksgiving. I kept thinking that homemade chicken noodle soup sounded good. The best thing I did to accomplish such a delicious meal was to bucket and break up the steps. 

Step 1/Day 1: Thaw the turkey in the refrigerator (I did this over the weekend). 
Step 2/Day 2:  Dice carrots and celery, sauté with seasonings. Shred chicken. 
Step 3/Day 2: Properly store each of the major ingredients. 
Step 4/Day 2 or 3: When I'm ready, I dump in the stock, the rice (I didn't have egg noodles so found an alternative recipe) and already cooked carrots/celery/chicken. 

Lesson Learned:
I have to do some of the cooking steps ahead of time so that I can quickly assemble later (in 15 minutes or less). Why? I have two kids under the age of 5. There's not a ton of joy in boiling water on a hot stove while being ran over by a 1-year-old in a walker, while playing Legos with a 4-year-old. Basically, I don't want to have to assemble all ingredients, dice, chop, sauté, and boil all at one time. I want to dump it all in a pot and let it cook on its own. 

Here are some things I routinely do to cut down dinner cooking time:

1. Cook extra ground meat on taco night (leave this extra meat unseasoned and it be be a versatile ingredient for later in the week; such as a rice bowl, stuffed peppers or spaghetti meat sauce). 
2. Dice extra veggies (bell peppers are one of my favorite examples - they can be used in omelets, tacos or fajitas, stir fry). 
3. Make one large batch of complex carb of choice (e.g., quinoa, brown rice, whole wheat noodle), which again allows you to have a base from which dinner ideas can be made.
4. Batch roast vegetables. Roast vegetables with the same cooking time together (fast-cooking vegetables that can bake in the same pan include asparagus, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes; slow-roasting include carrots, cauliflower, onions, potatoes, parsnips). 

Leftover turkey from Thanksgiving 

Baby carrots and celery

Rice and chicken stock