Busy? Who isn't, but who has time to cook? You can probably whip up a home cooked meal faster than you think, especially if you plan ahead and stock your shelves and freezer in anticipation. It will also save money and time as you can stock up when stuff is on sale rather than running to the store to buy something at the last minute. Here are a few useful tricks that make life in my kitchen much easier.
Vegetables: here in Siberia, fresh produce is available for about 2 months of the year, the rest of the time we have to subsist on frozen or canned veggies or eat something that is half way to becoming a raisin or compost. Thankfully, many vegetables freeze or can well and this makes them rather handy for quick meal preparations, just dump and go, no more peeling, cutting, rinsing… I also like to chop up things like onions, celery, mushrooms, and peppers and throw them in the freezer in a plastic zipper bag so when I need half a cup of minced onion all I have to do is whack the frozen mass on the counter, take out what I need, and continue on with my life. This works well for veggies going into a cooked dish, but they get soggy when thawed so don't serve them raw. It is also nice to buy a bag of something, chop it all at once, freeze it, and have it there when you need it. Don't do this to a potato, it just makes a mess.
Meat: buying your meat in bulk on sale can save money and taking it home and freezing it in usable size portions will also save you time, you can even cook your hamburger ahead of time or cube your stew meat before freezing.
Cheese: shredded cheese keeps well in the freezer and is a handy addition to many recipes, stock up when it goes on sale. Refreeze anything you won't use within a day or two to avoid molding.
Shortcuts: the current trend is to move away from prepackaged items and make your own from scratch, which is great if you have the time but keeping a selection of canned soups, rice mixes, boxed pastas, cheesy potatoes, pasta sauce, salad dressings, etc. can be a lifesaver to a harried cook. You can make your own cream of something soup from scratch, but when all you have to do is open a can and boil noodles, you can have supper on the table in half an hour. I like to use a boxed rice or pasta dish as a base and often add veggies, meat, cheese, and/or a sauce to make it a meal. They also make handy side dishes when you need to round out a meal at the last minute. Think of macaroni and cheese as a blank canvas rather than as something that might kill you, I don't think it has been proven to cause cancer yet, so eat up!
Spices: learn to use spices to add flavor without adding salt to recipes, you can also make your own sauces and dressings that suite your own taste. Figure out what you like, experiment, and have fun. The dollar store or a local bulk grocer often sell decent spices for much less. You can make your own taco seasoning, spaghetti sauce, etc. rather than buying a pre-made mix.
Starch: keep a variety of noodles, rice, tortillas, potatoes (fresh or frozen (french fries, etc), bread, etc. on hand to round out your meals. I like making buns or french bread and then freezing them while they are still warm. Zap them in the microwave when needed and they taste fresh.
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