I just want to thank you for your blog and the great information contained there. I had thought to ask if you had any advice on how to prepare a ‘plan ahead kitchen’ but I think I would welcome any advice you would have for a Christian woman preparing to enter into a Christ centered marriage with proper priorities.
I always enjoy reading comments regarding what is useful here at “A Day in the Life Of…” Comments allow me to see what are good topics from the perspective of my visitors. When sitting here typing I have no true indication of what you all get from reading my blog post, but it is comments like these that let me know that people are still interested in learning how to be better “keepers at home”.
Dear Rachel and Readers
You have already committed to the primary component which is to place Christ at the head of your marriage. Everything else is just the technical stuff.
When preparing my kitchen I begin at the end. I start with the end of the previous day by making sure that I end every evening with a clean kitchen.
Prepare any necessary items for the next day when you have a free moment in the kitchen. This can be done while food is cooking.
Look at your menu to determine what to prep. Dry milk and frozen juice should be made in advance for the next day or the entire week.
Meat should be taken out of the freezer and thawed in the fridge 8-24 hours prior to cooking.
Base meals around similar basic ingredients. Fried ground meat and diced chicken is very versatile and can be used to create many different dishes. Look at your menu to see how of each meat you will need for the week and cook a weeks worth at one time. For example…if you are cooking a chicken dish on Monday cook the chicken for Wednesday and Saturday on Monday as well. Do the same for ground meat.
The same works for beans. Kidney beans can be made in big batches with basic seasoning. The beans can be used for ranch beans, chili or Mexican red beans served with enchiladas.
Tools in the kitchen that make food prep easier would be a crock pot, a 2 sided griddle, a stock pot, a blender or food possessor and a microwave. These tools are not necessary, just helpful.
Crockpot: This allows you to cook meals overnight, while your out or anytime at all. Finding meals that you like cooked in a crock pot is key.
Blender: Used for breakfast to make smoothies. At dinner it is useful for making pasta sauces.
Microwave: I use my microwave to make all of those bags of Green Giant Steamers that I get for Free-$0.50 a bag. I also use it to thaw homemade chicken stocks that I use as gravy and soup starters.
Stockpot: This is just a large deep pot. Mine is about 18 inches deep. This makes boiling chicken breast for shredded chicken dishes easy. It looks like a tall spaghetti pot. This pot is also good for making broth. It’s large enough to hold chicken carcasses and and left veggies.
The most important things to focus on is thinking a ahead. Have a menu planned. This will give you an idea of what needs to be prepped in the kitchen.
Commit to ending the evening with a clean kitchen. This takes discipline especially with a family. Everyone must be on the same page with this. I began closing the kitchen at a 7:30 pm. For my family, this meant that dinner had to be on the table by 5pm. A closed kitchen simply meant that no more dishes would be pulled out after 7:30. Snacks that did not require dishes were allowed such as a handful of peanuts or a banana.
This may not work for everyone. The main point is finding a way to make life less stressful for everyone. A clean kitchen at night means a clean kitchen when you wake up.
There are so many ideas available but for the sake of making the post to long I’d like to open up Rachel’s comment for additional suggestions.
So readers, it is your turn to chime in. What advice would you give Rachel. Add your suggestions in the comments below.
Hadias, I am amazed by all the things you accomplish! I don’t know how you have the time to get all done!
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