为孩子们制作简单而快速的工作日晚餐的10个秘密

During the week, when my days are a mad rush to wake up, drop my son at daycare, put in a day’s worth of work, then get dinner on the table before he totally loses it, a quick and easy dinner is not just preferred, it’s essential. Giving my family real food every night is so important to me, but I just can’t afford to spend all evening doing so. Unfortunately, recipes aren’t always what they promise to be.

就在昨天，我拿了一道叫Quick Tomato Curry。We were just getting back from a weekend away, so I didn’t even begin cooking until after 7 p.m.—dangerous territory when you have a son who reaches full-on meltdown mode around that time of the day. But the title of the recipe assured me it was quick, so I marched forward.

30分钟后，我仍在做饭。我又一看了食谱标题，肯定是我读错了。不，根据指示，这个“快速”的咖喱需要50分钟，不包括任何切碎和准备时间。（这不包括我停下的15分钟，我摇摇欲坠的儿子去睡觉，实际上是融化的。）

因此，为了避免将来这种失望，我要求真正的父母分享他们在餐桌上享受健康晚餐的最佳技巧。他们不得不说：

1. Make your appliances work for you

您的KitchenAid Stand Mixer不仅仅是烤饼干。切尔西·麦克唐纳（Chelsea McDonnough），《生活方式》博客的金宝搏APP下载作者两个二十一个, uses this kitchen workhorse to its fullest potential—she uses it to make quick work of shredding chicken. Simply cook chicken breasts, place them in a KitchenAid mixing bowl fitted with the standard paddle attachment, put the machine on stir, then slowly increase the speed to 3 or 4 and watch your chicken break into perfect shreds, no hands-on time required.

2.尝试锡箔晚餐

As the busy author of the food blog奶油克拉姆and the mother to twin toddlers, Tiffany Edwards knows a thing or two about cooking healthy weeknight dinners in a flash. Her antidote to busy nights:箔数据包。You do have to cut up a few veggies, but a rough chop is sufficient and the entire meal—protein, starch, and vegetable—cooks right in a square of foil, on the grill or in the oven, in as little as nine minutes. So while you may have to wash a knife and a cutting board, there are no pots and pans, or even plates, to scrub.

3.将冷冻餐酱

在捏中，冰柜过道是您最好的朋友。里面到处都是在忙碌的夜晚使烹饪甚至遥不可及的物品。但是乔安娜·戈达德（Joanna Goddard）的作者一杯乔, says there’s an easy way to make these dinners feel fresher and more personalized:医生他们一点。有一些额外的食材，例如新鲜的西红柿，香肠和蘑菇，可以将一袋普通的旧袋转变为五颜六色而令人满意的饭菜。

4.早上做晚餐

蕾妮·库克（Renee Cook）的作者调整我的心博客, says switching things up and烹饪dinner right after breakfast帮助她度过了孩子幼年时代的艰难阶段。“如果我在早餐后做晚饭，当我一天仍然有精力的时候，我可以在沙发上的幼儿读书时，在沙发上读书，或者在看电影时快速午睡。”厨师。提前做一顿饭，并在该食用时加热，或进行准备工作以加快过程的速度。

5.提前计划并坚持主题

Rather than spend countless hours thumbing through cookbooks each week, plan out your meals a month at a time, suggests Jen and Madi, mother-daughter duo and authors of the blogHairs Out of Place。虽然这听起来吓人,particular themes for each night ultimately makes it easier to select recipes and ensures the family always knows what to expect. Try vegetarian on Monday, ground beef on Tuesday, Italian on Wednesday, a roast and veggies on Thursdays, leftovers on Fridays, seafood on Saturdays, and sandwiches on Sundays.

6. Try one-pot pasta for a low-maintenance dinner

诺拉·鲁塞夫（Nora Rusev）说咸味：“我可以在厨房里与两个抱怨的孩子一起做，而不会破坏汗水。”然后没有沸腾的沸腾，没有另一个锅来制作酱汁 - 所有的厨师都可以在一个锅中完美。

7. Use kitchen shears to make quick work of cutting

Kitchen shears艾琳·蔡斯（Erin Chase）说，一般被低估了$5 Dinners。用它们快速剪切草药，分解西红柿罐头，切成鸡肉，裂缝坚果和切小的蔬菜作为沙拉。用刀切割它们的时间需要一小部分时间 - 此外可以节省额外的菜肴（例如刀和切菜板）上的时间。

8.煮一道菜，整个星期多种方式

切碎的初级冠军说，简化晚餐准备的最佳方法是选择一种明星成分（chili，鸡肉，猪肉，牛肉或素食主义者），并在本周初进行大批批量。梅森·帕特克（Mason Partak）。例如，可以自己享受一大锅辣椒，一晚，然后在几个晚上变成不同的东西。想想：炸玉米饼沙拉，玉米片，辣椒包裹，辣椒狗，甚至意大利面条。病了辣椒，但是被剩菜剩下吗？Partak说，将它冻结了一次。

9. Embrace the microwave

不，我们不建议冷冻电视晚餐。迈克·弗罗贝尔（Mike Vrobel），作者爸爸煮晚餐says the microwave is the key to weeknight baked potatoes. Traditional cooking methods take 60 minutes or longer, but you can cut that time in half (or more!) by nuking your potatoes to soften, then finishing in the oven to crisp.

10. Swap rice for couscous

When you need to get dinner on the table—stat—克里斯汀·奥利芬特（Kristen Oliphant）说库斯科斯是改变游戏规则的人。只需以1：1的比例将蒸粗麦粉添加到沸水中，然后静置五分钟即可。ET VOILA - 仅几分钟后几乎所有用餐的美味粉底。