How To Manage Your Kitchen and Family Menu

Who says managing your kitchen and family menu is impossible while being a working mom? With a little advance planning and lots of creativity, you can take charge of your kitchen and your family’s meals.

1. Turn menu planning into a family project. Ask your spouse and kids to list their favorite dishes. When given a chance to participate, family members will enjoy their meals more.
2. List down your family’s weekly menu, and then plan your grocery shopping. If possible, involve everyone. You even get to spend some more time together.
3. Surprise your family by serving a new dish once a week or every two weeks or at least once a month—whichever you can manage. Exchange recipes with friends or relatives. Search the internet. Or dive into one of those cookbooks gathering dust in your kitchen shelf.
4. Change your meal pattern. Don’t just stick to tried-and-tested, all-American food. Once in a while serve some Italian pasta, or Chinese food. If you’re having an all-inclusive nutritious salad and you have young picky eaters, try to introduce a new fruit or veggie one at a time. Trying out a new taste could be exciting.
5. Train your house help to be proactive. Teach them to make a list of things that have just run out and should be on your next shopping list. If not, you can designate a few minutes each week to (before your scheduled grocery) to sit down with your helper to find out what supplies are needed.
6. Lastly, learn the basics of food storing and preparation. Get some tips from your mom or mom-in-law. Read some books and magazines. Just some good general advice:
   • Quickly use up the food stored in the fridge. Don’t depend on the listed maximum storage time for foods.
   • On freezing, turn your freezer to its coldest. Set it a day before adding a large quantity of food (the day before your shopping day). Then turn down your freezer to 0 degrees F, the best temperature for storing frozen food. Also, keep your freezer at least 75% full only in order to run efficiently, leaving some space for air to circulate. Don’t forget to mark each food you put in with a ‘to be used by (date).’

   Storing and preparing food the right way will help you get full control of your kitchen – and helps you save time and money too.

Even if you delegate some of your kitchen responsibilities to your house help, you can still manage and take charge of your kitchen and what your family eats. The key is to stay involved and know what’s happening around your home.