We’ve been back to school for almost a month now.  I am amazed that after having kids in school for 17 years, I still forget just how hectic life gets once everything is in full swing.

This year two of my children, including Philip are in new schools and the schedule is much earlier.  Philip is on a bus before 7:00 and he is the last child to leave in the morning.  Things don’t get any easier after 3:00.  There are swim practices and meets, pick ups from other activities, night time PTA meetings and fundraisers and my own school obligations. (I am teaching full-time.)

We have a full schedule of church meetings during the week and dinner is something we still do.  We don’t always get to sit down together any more (though we have for the last few nights – victory!) but the kids will always make their way to the kitchen and expect food.

Philip has some food allergies and does not do well with prepared food which contain additives and preservatives.  Mostly, I cook.  My tip for quick meals is cook often.  The more you do it the easier it gets and the more it becomes second nature.  Chopping up an onion and a few potatoes and throwing them in a pan with a little oil is quick and easy.  I threw in some leftover chicken the other night and called it dinner. My son loved it so much I even saw a facebook post about it.

My second tip is keep it simple, not just the dishes themselves, but the number of meals you regularly prepare.  Know what your family likes and rotate.  Shopping becomes easy, you know what ingredients you have to have on hand.  You don’t need to look at a recipe because you make the dish often.

My third tip that keeps my simple rotated meals tasty is two homemade items that I make ahead on a Saturday and keep in the freezer – sofrito and pesto.  Open a can of pinto beans or red beans add a cube of sofrito and some tomato sauce and you have quick spanish beans to serve with rice.   Add sofrito and tomato sauce to ground beef and you have picadillo which goes great with the rice and beans.  I can prepare this in 20 -30 minutes. This is one of Philip’s favorite dishes.  I always make extra because I also send hot food to school with Philip for lunch every day because of all the salt and preservatives in school lunch food.  The pesto I put over plain pasta or tortellini, usually with a little broccoli thrown in.

Just cook!  You’ll save money and it will get faster and easier the more that you do it.

You might want to share your tips for quick meals:

See link under blog roll to the left for details of the Samsung blogging contest.

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