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Home Cooking

9 Easy Ways to Make Fixing Meals at Home Doable

By Jill Cooper

7. Prepare as much as you can the night before or first thing in the morning. Clean carrot sticks and veggies and make Jell-o, pudding or desserts. Fry hamburger for a recipe or even make a whole casserole so all you have to do is pop it into the oven. It is much easier and less stressful to do as much as possible ahead of time than to try and do it at 5 o'clock – the busiest time of day (when everyone is tired, fussy and needs your attention). Besides, it is easier to concentrate on fixing two or three items ahead of time instead of trying to take care of five or six things all at the last minute.

8. Give yourself a break. You will be saving a great deal by eating at home, so use some convenience foods like bagged lettuce or sliced and buttered French bread. Line your pans with aluminum foil and don't feel guilty about using disposable pans or paper plates. We are funny creatures. We don't feel guilty spending money to go out to eat (where people throw away the trash for you), but feel awful about buying much less expensive disposable pans and paper plates. Go figure.

9. Don't forget the meal is not finished until the kitchen is clean and left ready for the next meal.

Jill Cooper raised two teenagers alone on $500 a month income after becoming disabled with chronic fatigue syndrome. She is the co-author of Dining on a Dime Cookbook (Newman Marketing, 2004) with her daughter, Tawra Kellam.