BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Cooking For Kids Time Saving Tips

I thought it'd be helpful to have an ongoing thread of time saving tips for cooking, grocery shopping, etc.

So, what are YOUR tips that help you save time when it comes to cooking and kids?

Hi everyone!

Here's one of my favorite tips:

I signed up with my local grocery store's website for their savings program.

Once a week, I receive e-mail alerts as to some of the items I buy on a regular basis that are on sale.

A few weeks ago, the special was buy one get one free pork tenderloin. I cooked one in the oven that afternoon, and put the other in the crock pot for pulled bbq pork.

We had the oven roasted pork tenderloin that night, and the pulled bbq pork from the crock pot was frozen for a later date.

It is cold and rainy here today, so that pulled bbq sounds wonderful for dinner. Speaking of dinner, I'm going to go pull it out of the freezer right now.

Here's another time saving tip that I am using this evening:

We love making calzones at home. We always have leftovers, so we started making calzone kits for the freezer.

For example, if we make ground beef and cheese calzones, we put the remaining mixture of ground beef and sauce in a freezer bag. The cheeese goes in another freezer bag, and we place them together in the freezer.

Just make sure you have some pizza dough on hand, and all you have to do is thaw out the calzone kit in the morning, and throw it together in the evening. No cooking (except for the baking), no mess, and no clean up!

Here is an easy calzone recipe featured in this week's Cooking for Kids article:

Calzone Recipe

I'll have to try that recipe, thanks.

I'm trying to get my kids involved in preparing the meals, at least in some way. My daughter can set the table and help me wash the veggies. My son is younger so often his "helping" doesn't save me much time.

I take them grocery shopping with me so they can let me know things they would like to try too. That way they can't say they don't want to try it when we eat their choice for dinner-lol.

I do have them help me clip coupons too. We sit down on Sunday afternoons and go over the ones from the newspaper.

I have my kids help me pack their lunches the night before. That really saves us a last minute scramble before they head to school, plus, if they help, I don't get a lot of complaints that they don't like something.

I also make them go shopping with me once in a while to pick out things they like. It doesn't save time shopping but it does save time when packing lunches-we already have things they like on hand.

Also, we keep a shopping list on the frig so when anyone sees something we're nearly out of, or something they'd like me to pick up at the store, they write it down. I can keep track better that way too, instead of running around just before I head to the store to see what supplies are low.

Green1 and Bethj, THANK YOU so much for those tips!

I love learning new ways to save time (and energy).

Hope you are having a great day!

If you think of any other tips, post away, and I'll do the same!

I've gotten my kids into coupons recently. We sit down with the Sunday paper and cut out the ones we want and my daughter even finds good ones on coupon sites on the internet.

It's their job to organize them for our shopping trips. It helps with their reading and teaches them about money. Also there are practical considerations too-like is it worth saving a dollar to buy a more expensive product or is it better to buy the store brand.

Maybe it doesn't save too much time overall but it's fun for them to learn this way.

Hi all,

I think prioritising tasks is a great way to save time whilst cooking. For instance, if I have to make a meal of roast chicken, spicy rice and vegetable salad, remembering to prepare and pop the chicken in the oven first saves me a lot of time. While the chicken cooks, I do the salad and put it in the fridge to cool. While the salad cools, I cook the rice. While the rice cooks, I tidy up the kitchen etc.

I find that when I cook in a haphazard fashion everything takes longer and I enjoy the experience less.

Wow! These are great. I wish I could come up with more ideas. We keep a Kosher homes and that makes some of tips difficult to use (there are not a lot of coupons, for example).

Our grocery store has a home delivery, and I hardly ever pay for it. The first time you use it, it's free. I figure what I spend on delivery is balanced by the money I'd spend on impulse items as well as gas... and the hassle of dragging four children with me.

This one sounds ridiculous... but I tried it and it actually makes the job easier. When you put your silverware in the dishwasher, sort them. Forks with forks, spoons with spoons, etc. When you go to put them away, you just grab the whole group and your job is done faster. I hate unloading the dishwasher and it has made a difference. I know it's not food prep - but anything in the kitchen helps.

My mom used to spend some time once a month and make sandwiches - she would stick them in the freezer and then pull them out for lunches. By the time lunch came at school, the sandwich was thawed and ready to be eaten. I haven't tried that yet, but it sounds like a good idea.

I've been using my crock pot a lot more lately. That way when I come home, dinner is about ready. The kids are always hungry!

I try to have a fruit snack in the frig for them so they'll sit quietly and let me do the last minute things for dinner.