|
Busy homemakers can find managing the kitchen and meal planning
and preparations a large challenge. The trend towards fast foods
and convenience foods is common today as a solution to deal with
this challenge. I walk into a nearby grocery store and find the
deli loaded with "old-fashioned" goodies like roasted chicken,
mashed potatoes, apple pies and any other item one could want for
making meal time a breeze. This could seem like an answer to
prayer!
I am not so convinced that these types of helps for the homemaker
are answers to prayers. The food is loaded with bad fats, MSG,
sugar and poor quality ingredients in general. They add
preservatives and coloring so it is shelf stable and looks
appealing. Perhaps the answer lies more in improving the skills
of managing the kitchen so as to give us the extra time we need
in our days and to be able to feed our family better quality
food.
When you are looking at where to start in managing your kitchen
remember that every homemaker must have a plan. As managers of
our homes we can't be tossed about and pulled by our daily lives
as though we were victims of whatever may come our way. We need
to work on a plan to be prepared to handle the feeding of our
families.
Food and eating are major issues of both finances and health, and
worth the time and effort that is necessary to be organized in
this area. I have found that having a weekly menu has been the
main key to good kitchen management. Making menus, grocery lists
from those menus and keeping my pantry stocked with needed items
makes meal time much easier to deal with.
The first step is to make a menu. If you have not done this
before, begin by writing down all the meals that are your
family's favorites. Keep this list posted somewhere (perhaps in
a 3-ring organizer/binder, on the back of cupboard door, your
computer, etc). Each week take out the list and pick about 5
meals from it. Pull out all the recipes for that week and put
them in one place for easy access. Fill in your calendar with
the meals you want to eat on their proper night. Make sure you
consider what types of things are happening during the week. If
you will be gone all day, don't plan a complicated meal like
lasagna. Pick an easy crock pot meal instead and prepare it
before you leave. Save two nights each week for eating up
leftovers, trying out a new recipe, having a sandwich night or a
"cook's night off". Take time each evening to look at the next
day's menu and see what needs to be done that night. Do you need
to take anything out of the freezer? Do you need to cook some
beans in the crockpot overnight so they will be ready the next
morning?
Make a grocery list from your recipes making sure to check your
pantry for any of the needed items. There's nothing like running
out of baking powder when you are trying to quickly make a batch
of cornbread. Or finding that your recipe called for a can of
tomato sauce that you thought you had.
Having a well stocked pantry is helpful for good kitchen
management. Begin by creating a pantry list for yourself. Find
lists on the internet to help you get started (I have one on my
site, http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/pantrylist.html ). Add to
this and remove items to suit your cooking style and needs.
Watch for when these commonly used items to go on sale and then
stock up on them.
If you feel you just don't have the time to spend to organize
this area let me encourage you that as we look at our roles as
wives and mothers and put the things of our lives into priority
we realize the care and feeding of our family is pretty high on
the list. How wonderful it is to be able to feed them better
quality home cooked meals and not over do the budget in the
process. We will spend time at the grocery store and in the
kitchen anyway, so we might as well spend a little extra time
organizing this area of our life and receive the benefits of
being an organized homemaker!
| 
