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How to Put Meals on the Table Fast. In the time it takes to wait for take out, you can
have a delicious dinner on the table. You just have to be a little organized. You will
need Meal plans Frozen vegetables Advance preparation and meal exchange (optional).
Step 1. Plan a week’s worth of meals in advance so you don’t waste time staring
into the fridge, wondering what to cook. Step 2. Rely on frozen vegetables. Because they’re
flash frozen as soon as they’re picked, they’re usually just as fresh, or even fresher,
than non-frozen. Step 3. Always cook in batches. It’s just as easy to roast two chickens
as it is one – or three for that matter. Start a meal exchange with friends: Each person
makes several batches of a main course, and then swaps with each other. Everyone ends
up with several meals for just one cooking session. Step 4. Do prep work in advance,
like boiling a whole bag of rice that can be reheated in portions later in the week,
or cooking a big batch of potatoes that can be served scalloped one night and made into
home fries on another. Step 5. If you have kids, get them involved in prep work, like
washing and spinning greens for salad, and setting the table. Kids who help make a meal
are more likely to eat it, even if it’s something they don’t like. Step 6. Think
in threes when you cook, as in how you can get three meals out of one main course. A
ham dinner one night might be ham paninis two nights later, and the scraps can be thrown
into a hearty bean soup or vegetable-heavy stir-fry that you freeze for another time.
Did you know The average American cooks and eats a frozen packaged dinner about six times
per month.