Easy Weeknight Dinners | 6 Meal Delivery Services That Save Your Time
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If it’s a cozy weekend morning, you can leisurely cook a meal while the music plays gently in the background. But for a busy weeknight, cooking dinners is more of a race against the clock – all you expect is efficiency. We get it. So in this post, we’ll share with you some pro tips on how to save time as you make easy (and healthy) weeknight dinners.
Before you cook: Think and plan ahead
If you’re a recipe person, you should plan ahead on what to cook in the coming week. Because that will allow you to make a shopping list and buy things in bulk, saving you much time.
- Plan on cooking one-pot meals.
One-pot meals mean way less clean-up and fewer things to monitor on the stove. Dinners like stir-fry, stews, soups, and pasta are all prime one-pot meal choices. - Shop in bulk.
Then you can buy them all once without extra trips to the grocery store. Or you can place an order online. - Choose speedy substitutes.
For example, you can use noodles instead of pasta in your dishes. The two are basically made from the same thing, but noodles take less time to cook. - Think about your prepping order.
You can take one minute to mentally walk through what you’re cooking each day and have a whole picture. For example, you can chop ingredients while other dishes are been cooked.
1. Consider a meal kit delivery
If you’re too busy to cook on weeknights, but don’t want to make do on some messy junk food, we highly recommend you try a meal delivery service. Here’s why:
- A box of healthy and fresh ingredients sent to your home each week.
- Premade meal options.
- Various plans and recipes that suit your needs.
- Spend less to eat fast and healthy.
- Easy cooking and cleaning.
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2. Measuring by weight instead of by volume
If you want to save time in making easy weeknight dinners, or any dinners, you might need to change some of your habits. For example, the way you measure ingredients.
- According to an informal experiment carried out by a YouTuber, using a kitchen scale, instead of measuring cups and spoons, saves about 44% of the time.
- When you measure by weight, you don’t have to grab your spoons from the drawer each time you cook and wash them later.
- Plus, measuring by weight is more accurate.
3. Be creative with your kitchenware
Another way to save time in the kitchen is to use ‘multifunctional’ kitchenware. It’s not about buying extra fancy tools to be thrown into your drawer, but how to make use of the ones you already have. Here are a few hints:
Kitchen Scissors >
Are not only for cutting meats. Basically, it can cut everything in your daily recipes.
Why: No need to wash your chopping board.
Ice Cube Trays >
Can preserve a small portion of ingredients in the fridge, like garlic and ginger.
Why: No need to chop each time you need some.
Bowls >
Can be used as an on-table trash bin, where you can toss food waste like onion peels.
Why: No need to find and open the trash bin each time.
Remember to be creative with your kitchenware. You don’t have to use them as instructions tell you to do. As long as it levels up your efficiency, then it’s a good way to use them.
4. Multitask as you cook
If you have been cooking for a while, you should’ve become a good multitasker. A good multitasking will raise your efficiency, which is the whole point of making easy weeknight dinners. Here are a few tricks:
- Wash up as you go.
There’s no need to load up your sink or dishwasher as you prep your meals. If it’s just a bowl that held lettuce for a while, rinse it with water then you can put it away. - Reuse the utensils.
Normally as you cook, you can use the same utensils between dishes, as long as there are no raw meats. - Preheat your oven while you’re prepping.
As you wash vegetables, you can turn on the oven and let it heat up. Don’t waste the time.
These are pretty much all the personally proven and tested tricks you should know as you make an easy and healthy weeknight dinner. If you favor a few days off, don’t hesitate to try out our top choice for meal delivery. Hope this post can provide you with some inspiration!
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