Episode 142 4 Ways to Feed Your Family When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking
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It is late July and my brain is mush. There is something about the end of July that squashes out any motivation which means I don’t feel like cooking. If you are in the same boat, I have 4 ways to help you get dinner on the table with minimal effort from you.
1- No Cook Meal
Look at things that don’t take any cooking at all. Thinks salads and sandwiches. Make a giant sub sandwich from a loaf of Italian bread, or a big chef salad from ham and hard boiled eggs. (You can buy eggs already hard boiled at the store if you want to take this to Ninja level no-cook!)
If you like tuna, buy a really nice jar of tuna packed in oil and put it on a bed of lettuce with capers or cornichons. If you have only had the tuna from the pouch or can, you will be amazed at the difference.
2-Use pasta as a low-cook meal.
Pasta can be a quick and easy base for meals. Mix it with a jar of pesto or chopped fresh veggies. The heat of the pasta will warm the other ingredients. Top it with some parmesan and add a can of drained cannellini beans if you wish.
Consider making pasta salads in the morning for serving at dinner. If you do make pasta salads ahead of time, reserve a little of the dressing and add it to the salad just before serving to keep it from being dry.
My Greek Pasta Salad is super easy and delicious in the summer.
3- Embrace the rotisserie chicken.
Rotisserie chickens can be used so many ways. I like to make chicken salad or put it in a quesadilla. You can even add it to some lettuce with Caesar dressing, parmesan cheese and some croutons for a shortcut chicken Caesar salad.
4- Let the grocery store do a little of the cooking for you.
Look for grocery store shortcuts.
Many grocery stores will cook fish for you at the fish counter.
Buy pre-cooked chicken in the freezer section.
Keep a bag of pre-cooked shrimp in the freezer for fast and easy proteins to add to pasta, salads, spring rolls and more.
Use the deli section. You can buy fried chicken, pre-made sandwiches and so much more.
Marie Fiebach is a married mother of four active kids. She helps busy families plan and execute weeknight dinner so they can recapture a little calm in the crazy. You can see her every week on KAKE TV’s Good Morning Kakeland or listen to the Feed Your Family Tonight Podcast.
For a transcript click here.
