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Home Cooking
9 Easy Ways to Make Fixing Meals at Home Doable
By Jill Cooper
OK, there's no way around it. Just accept the fact that tomorrow your family will eat three meals – again. People have been doing it since Adam and Eve started munching fruit in the Garden of Eden. Burying your head in the sand and not thinking about it will not make it go away.
I know that even the thought of making a meal at home strikes terror in some of your hearts and the only reason the rest of you aren't feeling terror is because you are probably so tired you can't feel terror or any other emotion. But with going out to eat being one of the top 3 causes of credit card debt and with child obesity and diabetes on the rise, I think we need to start reconsidering cooking at home.
Here are a few suggestions to help you get started:
1. One of the biggest reasons people hate cooking at home is their kitchen is such a disaster area. Take the time to clean and organize that one room. If you need to get some help, then do, even if that help means hiring someone to help you get it organized. In the long run, it will pay for itself (probably after the first one or two weeks cooking at home).
2. Once your kitchen is clean and organized, keep it that way. When your kitchen is clean it should only take you about 15 to 20 minutes to clean up after each meal. For the $40 or more you would have paid plus all of the time you would have spent going out to eat, keeping it clean and organized is time well spent.
3. The evening or day before you go shopping for groceries, clean out the fridge and check your pantry. Remember that once it has been organized, if you do minor cleaning and organizing weekly, it won't take much time. Plan a leftover night that evening, too. This will help reveal what you have too much or too little of, what you need to use or buy and empty the fridge so you have room for the new groceries.