5 ways to be more organised in the kitchen for dinner time

They don’t call it the ‘witching hour’ for nothing. That time from when the sun goes down to when food is placed on the table. It can be a nightmare for anyone. There are no hard or fast rules for how you get dinner on the table. You want less stress and fuss. There are some ways to be more organised in the kitchen for dinner time. Here’s how.

Now, don’t worry. I’m not going to suggest you spend the whole weekend cooking up a storm. Putting all that delicious food into a plastic container so that it can be warmed in the microwave. I’m not about that at all but if it works for you, that’s great.

I’d much rather you spend as little time in the preparation of your meal so that when it does come time for dinner, all you have to do is serve it. The more time you spend preparing it earlier in the day, the better and the less cooking processes involved.

1. Prepare it in the morning

I’m a big lover of the slow cooker. I don’t use it for every meal but I try to create meals that do use it. The slow cooker is great in the warmer months too because you’re not heating up your kitchen.

It doesn’t even really have to be done first thing in the morning. Most dishes will cook on high for 4 hours or less. If you’ve got the opportunity to put it on when you’re preparing your lunch, great. If you do leave the house every day, putting on in low for 8 hours is a better bet for you.

If you’re not using the slow cooker, what components of your evening meal could you prepare in the morning? So it’s ready for dinner?

• Chop vegetables ready for a stir fry
• Boil eggs, vegetables for a salad (eg potato salad), bake jacket potatoes for a stuffed potato meal or bake pumpkin or sweet potato for a warm salad
• Cook rice or pasta, or soak noodles
• Marinate meat for the barbecue
• Cook the roast so it only needs to be warmed up at dinner time
• Make dips or sauces to accompany the meal
• Make the stock for a soup that only needs vegetables and/or meat added at the last minute and warmed up.

2. Find meals that need little preparation

One of the best ways I’ve found is to discover meals, that your family loves, that need little preparation at all.

A big platter of salad vegetables and barbecued meat served with a variety of condiments is as easy as it can get. Everyone can help themselves to what they like. All you need to do is add meat. A barbecue is great in the warmer months. Tinned fish, eg tuna, is perfect for sprinkling over the top.

One of my favourite easy meals is Salade Nicoise. This French classic is so easy and so tasty to prepare in little time.

Ingredients like vermicelli noodles or couscous only need to be soaked in hot water before serving. (I add a little orange juice and/or zest to my couscous for a great flavour.)

3. Stock your pantry well

What I mean by this is if you have a well stocked pantry, you won’t be running to the store for that one ingredient you need to finish your meal. When you have the basics, you can make anything.

For example, I was going to have aCaesar Saladfor dinner one night. I didn’t have any ready made Caesar dressing (not that I have a lot of ready made ingredients).

I had all of the ingredients to make it from scratch. I did this in the morning and just cook the bacon before serving. Then I boiled the eggs during the day. The croutons as well so it was just a matter of tossing it all together. (Having anchovies in the fridge, that keep for ages, made it really authentic.)

Think about the meals you and your family like to eat and keep those basic ingredients on hand all the time. If you’d like to know more about how I do that, check out my Shop Smart, Eat Well Program and how I only spend $150 per fortnight on all groceries.

It also pays to have a good variety of dried herbs and spices in your pantry to add instant flavour without a lot of effort. A dry rub of say paprika, oregano, cumin, dried coriander, salt and pepper spread onto fish before frying takes a simple piece of fish, or chicken, to a whole new level.

4. Be prepared for an emergency to avoid buying takeaway

I’m don’t usually buy ready made sauces or packet meal mixes but sometimes, especially with young children or if you’re working full time, it doesn’t hurt to have a few emergency pantry items on hand.

I sometimes have a good quality pasta sauce in the cupboard that can be warmed up and served with pasta than waste my money on takeaway. Another one of my favourite meals is Spaghetti Aglio e Olio. It’s just plain pasta served with fried garlic in olive oil, optional red chilli flakes and parmesan cheese and it’s delicious!

Keep bread rolls in the freezer for burgers, pita, tortilla or Lebanese bread for wraps, ready crumbed chicken or fish, pizza bases, or whatever else your family loves to eat in an easy to heat and serve form so you can avoid takeaway and save money and still enjoy a good, home cooked meal.

4. Keep it simple

Meals don’t have to be complex or gourmet to be filling and tasty. In fact, the more simple you can keep the ingredients and the preparation the more nutritious and tasty they will be. You’ll rely on the actual flavour of the ingredients to make the meal tasty.

Limit your ingredients to as few as possible. Search for new recipes by adding the words easy or simple to your Google or Pinterest search. Speaking of Pinterest. Do you follow me on Pinterest? I have many food boards that cover just about every food group possible. Most of the recipes are simple and I don’t usually pin them unless I’m going to try them.

Baked vegetables drizzled with olive oil and served with crusty bread make a delicious meal. Soups, where you throw everything in the pot (especially vegetables that are looking a bit sad) are perfect for an easy meal. I get my family involved in the prep and make their own pizzas, for example. Make a bit of fun out of the whole meal experience. My kids love burger night at my place because I put the word McMurphy in front of the name of the burger. They love it!

5. When all else fails

Not that I’m hoping it does. That’s the least of what I want for you when it comes to meal prep and eating your meal. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, things just don’t work out as planned. I know first hand what it’s like. Babies, toddlers, illness, trips to the hospital or you’re not well yourself can all contribute to how your evening meal pans out.

In times like these there’s no harm whatsoever in toasted sandwiches, baked beans on toast, brinner (breakfast for dinner) or a bowl of cereal. It’s all still food at the end of the day. Don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t get that meal out as planned. I’ve given my children a toasted sandwich and ice cream with fruit for dinner. It was one of their favourite things when they were little if I was either really sick with the flu or a single mother just trying to cope with the every day.

It’s only food at the end of the day and don’t be stressed at this important part of the day. Meal times should be a great time of the day to all come together, talk about your day and eating food should be an enjoyable part of the whole process.

16 tray bake recipes for dinner in 30 minutes or less

It always surprises me when I hear people say they don’t like cooking, don’t have time to cook or just don’t want to. I don’t believe it could get any easier than throwing everything onto an oven tray and baking it in the oven. It most parts this is called a “tray bake” and it couldn’t get any simpler. Here are 16 tray bake recipes for dinner in 30 minutes or less.

What you’ll need:

• Meat that is going to stand up to a relatively high temperature for a longer period of time does well in a tray bake. Cuts like chicken thighs, drumsticks, chicken pieces, pork or lamb chops. sausages etc will take about the same time to cook as the vegetables. If you cook a piece of fish or chicken breast, it will most likely dry out before the vegetables cook.
• All sorts of vegetables are great for a tray bake. Potatoes, sweet potato, pumpkin, other root vegetables like parsnip, carrots, wedges of cabbage, tomatoes, onion, olives. asparagus, zucchini, eggplant, beans, capsicum (peppers), whole garlic cloves.
• Canned pulses also add an extra boost of protein or go all out with a vegetarian tray bake. Try chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans etc.
• Herbs and spices sprinkled on before cooking will enhance the flavour. It’s probably best to leave any fresh herbs until serving for garnish.
• All your other seasonings like sauces such as barbecue sauce, soy sauce, honey, maple syrup, salt, pepper, flavoured salts will also enhance the flavour.
• Add 1 to 2 cups of stock to the dish when cooking and make a gravy once the meat and vegetables have been removed. All that goodness will be in the remaining liquid and make the most delicious sauce.

Recipe Ideas

Greek Chicken Tray Bake

Spanish Chicken Tray Bake

One Pan Butter Chicken with Rice

Greek Lamb Meatballs Tray Bake

Creamy Chicken & Risoni Tray Bake

Sticky Salmon & Crunchy Potato Tray Bake

Chicken Chow Mein Tray Bake

Harissa Chicken Tray Bake

Roasted Salmon with Broccoli, Lime & Chili Tray Bake

Chicken, Chorizo, Leek & Cauliflower Tray Bake

Garlic & Rosemary Chicken Tray Bake

Crispy Cod Tray Bake

Macaroni Cheese & Parmigiana Tray Bake

Hoisin Peanut Chicken & Rice Tray Bake

Creamy Pumpkin & Pasta Vegetarian Tray Bake

Mexican Chicken Tenders Tray Bake

Leftover Chicken & Spinach Lasagna

 

Looking for inspiration for that leftover rotisserie chook? There’s a million (and one) ways to use it but I was feeling like something a bit yummy this particular night and I had a couple instant lasagna sheets in the pantry, and I mean only a couple. Isn’t it funny how the makers of lasagna sheets have just too many or just too few in the box, depending on which dish you use? I never throw them out but rather keep them for ‘instant’ meals like this.

 

 

I love having these frozen spinach cubes in the freezer too. I rely on them a lot for instant meals when I’ve run out of fresh vegetables. They’re great because you only use what you need. (They can be easily made with fresh spinach too. Just blanch in boiling hot water until just wilted, blitz or chop finely and put in ice cube trays to freeze.)

 

 

Remove all the meat from the chicken and put it aside with the spinach. I can normally get 3 or 4 meals out of a supermarket rotisserie chicken including meat for sandwiches and salads. For around the $10 mark, they’re not a bad buy when you’re in a hurry.

Putting the lasagna together is really easy. Fry a medium chopped onion in some butter, add some flour and add milk or chicken stock to make a bechamel sauce.

Set aside a cup of the sauce for the lasagna topping.

Add the chicken and spinach to the bechamel sauce.

 

Assemble the lasagna by first putting a layer of the chicken mixture into the bottom of the dish and layer with the lasagna sheets. Top with the reserved cup of bechamel sauce.

 

 

Finish off with a sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese and bake until golden brown on top.

This really didn’t take any time at all. The most labour intensive part was making the bechamel sauce and that is really kind of easy. I guess the whole thing only took about 30 minutes. You could prepare something like this in the morning, pop in the fridge and bake just before dinner time.

A delicious, tasty, mid-week meal using up leftovers and bits and pieces. My kind of meal.

Leftover Chicken & Spinach Lasagna

• leftover roast chicken meat, chopped into bite sized pieces
• frozen spinach (or fresh wilted and chopped finely)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• lasagna sheets
• 2 tbs butter
• 2 tbs plain flour
• 2 cups milk or chicken stock (approximately)
• grated parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 170 deg C.
2. Fry diced onion in 2 tbs butter until translucent.
3. Stir in 2 tbs plain flour and fry until well combined with butter mixture (approx 2 minutes).
4. Pour in milk or chicken stock and keep stirring until thicken. (You may need a little more liquid if mixture is too thick.)
5. Reserve 1 cup of this sauce mixture for lasagna topping.
6. Add chicken meat and lasagna to bechamel sauce and mix well. 
7. Layer the bottom of an ovenproof dish with chicken/spinach sauce mixture.
8. Top with lasagna sheets and continue to layer.
9. Finish top layer with reserved cup of bechamel sauce and grated parmesan cheese.
10. Bake until golden on top (approximately 15 minutes).

 

Bangers & Smash

You’ve all heard of the famous British pub ‘grub’ Bangers & Mash, right? A plate of mashed potatoes with sausages served on top, smothered in gravy? Well, don’t even bother trying to make it here. You see, my 10 year old daughter doesn’t like mashed potato. Just one of the many things she won’t eat and hasn’t for the last nearly 9 years. As much as I’d love to just give her what she wants, I’m always thinking of ways to transform our regular meals into something she will eat. Normally she would’ve eaten the above sausages with a piece of bread wrapped around them and it would’ve been an ordeal watching her play with the carrots and broccoli for about an hour but I was totally surprised when she devoured these ‘smashed’ potatoes.

There was nothing to it really. Just peel and boil some potatoes in salted water then strain.

In the same pan, add butter and crushed garlic and ever so gently mash the potatoes until they are just starting to crumble.

Pop in a pan with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat.

As it starts to brown underneath, gently turn over the potatoes, trying to keep most of their shape. The soft ‘mushy’ bits are just glorious smothered in butter and garlic. (Well, I thought so.)

Cook up your favourite sausages and serve with a side of your ‘token’ vegetables. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

If you would’ve told me I had a child who wouldn’t eat mashed potato before I had kids I would’ve laughed my head off then lo and behold I went and had one. Mashed potato is the least of my problems. At least I ‘caught her out’ on this one.

Bangers & Smash

• sausages, grilled or fried
• potatoes, peeled, steamed or boiled
• garlic, crushed
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper
• butter
• other vegetables
• gravy (optional)

1. Once the potatoes have been boiled, strain and add butter and garlic to the same pan. (Depending on the number of potatoes you have cooked, I added about 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 cloves of crushed garlic to 4 potatoes.)
2. Gently toss potatoes in butter/garlic mixture.
3. Coat a pan with extra virgin olive oil and put pan on a medium heat.
4. Gently fry potatoes until they become golden brown on the bottom and turn over until golden brown all over.
5. Serve with cooked sausages and other vegetables of your choice. 
6. Gravy could be served as well.

Braised Steak & Onions

Have I told you how much I’ve been loving my slow cooker lately? I guess it’s one of my most used appliances in winter time but it’s amazing just how versatile it becomes in the warmer months. You don’t have to worry about slaving away in a hot kitchen, turning the oven on or standing over a hot plate on your stove. Just pop everything into the slow cooker in the morning then just serve it up at dinner time. Even though we’re still officially only in Spring, it hasn’t quite warmed up yet so this easy Braised Steak & Onions was for dinner.

I usually heat my brocolli in the microwave and tonight’s dinner was served with a side of sweet potato mash, which was also cooked in the microwave. Easy peasy.

Slow cooking cheap cuts of meat this way makes them fall apart and melt in your mouth.

Fill a ziplock bag with seasoned flour and toss the meat in until well coated with the flour. This will form the gravy.

Put the meat in the slow cooker with a couple of sliced onions.

Add a cup of beef stock, heaps of salt and pepper and set to cook on high for 4 hours or low on 8 hours.

This dish also makes a great filling for a pie. You could use any type of meat as well like chicken, pork, veal or lamb. The cheaper cut of meat the better. Also, for a darker gravy, don’t forget my secret ingredient, one tablespoon of Vegemite (if you’re game). It adds a dark rich colour and flavour to the dish. You could also cook this on the stove top or in the oven, should you want to warm up your kitchen. A great meal for winter or summer.

Braised Steak & Onions

• quantity of chuck or blade steak, diced
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• plain flour for dredging
• salt & pepper
• 1 tablespoon Vegemite (optional)
• 1 cup beef stock

1. Place steak, flour, salt and pepper in a ziplock bag and coat the meat well with the flour.
2. Put the meat, onions and stock into a slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
3. Once the sauce has started to thicken, add 1 tablespoon of Vegemite (optional).
4. Serve with vegetables of choice or use as a pie filling.

To menu plan or not to menu plan

 

  

To menu plan or not to menu plan? That is the question!  Yes, I have done it over the years and no, I don’t do it nowadays. I’ve got such a good routine going in my kitchen I don’t need to. I can tell the night before or the morning of what I’ll be eating for the day.

 

I follow so many bloggers who menu plan and I’m in awe. I put my reason for not menu planning down to experience or just having one less thing to do but I found it quite time consuming to menu plan. I’d allocate an hour or so on a Saturday afternoon, for example, one weekend and the next weekend would come and go before I got the chance again. Things always pop up when you have young children.  There are, of course, many ways to reduce the time spent taken to menu plan.  I’d say these ‘seasoned’ menu planners have got it down to a fine art.

 

 

The times I have menu planned, I’ve loved. Menu planning is great for using up what you already have in the fridge and pantry. Knowing in advance (yourself and the family) what’s for dinner makes things so much more organised.

 

 

My biggest problem is my ‘fussy one’ and it’s just about the biggest waste of time for me to set out a week’s menu when there’s just no way she’ll eat any of it. I’ve had probably near on 40 years experience of cooking and maybe 20 or more years of preparing a regular evening meal so I guess I can look at what’s in my fridge and throw something together. With the invention of the internet, my job is so much easier. I can easily search for a recipe based on the ingredients I have on hand or use one of my many cookbooks for inspiration.

 

Greek lamb

 

Sometimes the ingredients ‘speak’ to me. For example, whenever I have lamb, I automatically think of Greek food. Vegetables that cook quickly when sliced thinly always say ‘stir fry me’. Your root vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots say ‘stew me or soup me up’. (No wonder I hear voices all the time with all of this food speaking to me!) 

 

Beef Satay Sticks

The weather will also depict what’s served for the evening meal. For example, on a hot night it’s salad or a barbecue or I will use an appliance that doesn’t generate much heat. If I’ve got chicken, I’ll make skewers. If it’s a cool day, I’ll get the slow cooker on for a hearty meal of comfort food.

  

[photo source]

 

Buying your vegetables in season also helps me decide what will be on our plates each meal. Don’t worry. The ‘fussy one’ gets a little bit on her plate to try, with much hostility, but we don’t push the issue.

There are so many great menu planners out there in the blogiverse that freely offer their templates and printables to help you menu plan. Whichever way you do it, menu planning or not, always use what you have, substitute, substitute, substitute and don’t run out to pick up that one ingredient you need to make a recipe. That’s when you’ll often spend more than you have to.

Write it on a piece of paper, a blackboard, a photo frame, online, in your diary. There are even meal planning apps for your smart phone that you can store recipes you find online and then you can do your shopping list from as well. Do it weekly, monthly or 3 monthly. Develop a card system where you write down your family favourites or the recipe’s page number from a recipe book. Get the family involved and let them choose. Designate one night a week as ‘take out’ night but make it at home. No matter if it’s written down or done on a whim like I do, this will help you save money along the way and help you be organised.