Simple steps to start a Kitchen Day in your week and five reasons why you should.

Actually, there are 1,095 reasons for Kitchen Day.  That is how many meals there are in a year! Food is necessary for life, our days tend to center around mealtime routines, and eating is a social activity.  We can keep it low key and yummy with some thought and planning. I’m giving five reasons for kitchen day and simple steps to start doing it because sometimes we just need a little jump-start. I’ve written a lot about Kitchen Day in Home Management, Plain and Simple, this is the very abbreviated version.

Five Reasons for Kitchen Day

1. We’re busy and it helps manage the time in the kitchen.  Meals and all that goes with it can feel overwhelming when our days are full of the rest of life.  A Kitchen Day is meal prep that frees up time later.
2. It’s a stress management technique.  When people are asking “What’s for dinner” or “I’m hungry” or “What is there to eat?” you don’t need to stress, you’ve prepared and have an answer.  Sometimes, it’s taking care of the basic things in life that relieve a nagging stress.

3. You will improve your health.  When you give thought to what you’re preparing, and not rushing- you make better food and drink choices.  Your grocery list matches your meal plan and you will be less likely to throw junk food into the cart.

4. Save money by having a plan.  When you meal plan and prep ahead you will make money-saving choices, use money-saving prep techniques, and be less prone to eat out

5. Your food will be more creative and taste better.  With thought and preparation, you will get more color and flavor in your food.  You will have chosen family favorites and delightful new dishes that stretch your family’s taste buds. 

Simple Steps to Start:

• Each week, plan your menu; take some time to look at your family’s calendar and choose dishes that fit with the days.  One day may call for a slow cooker meal, another day allows more time for a creative dish that takes more prep, or a busy morning and day means that you have a 30-minute skillet meal ready-to-go.  Plan your meals for the week including family favorites and new dishes you might like to try.
• Make the grocery list for your choices and schedule a shopping day.  When you get home—wash, dry chop and store.
• Choose your Kitchen Day to either be the same day as your shopping day or the day after.
• On Kitchen Day, start early in the day for items that need more time to cook.  For example, cooking chicken for several meals in the slow cooker all day.  Defrost several pounds of ground meat overnight or in the morning and brown in the afternoon.
• Assemble meals (or parts of meals) for dinners, lunch salads, snacks, and breakfasts then refrigerate or freeze.  Don’t forget to add food storage containers to your shopping list.
• Clean your kitchen thoroughly.

This is do-able and with practice you will be efficient and fast.  Although it calls for a commitment of a focused day, this frees up time in the rest of your week.  You can do it!

Get a Checklist for Kitchen Day in the Free Resource Library.