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After a busy and stressful day, the last thing most people want to do is cook! Preferring takeaways or ready meals instead. This however can turn out to be expensive in the long run and as homeschooling mothers one of our duties is to pass on the skill of cooking and healthy eating to the next generation.
See below some tried and tested tips that will work for any busy family whether you are homeschooling or not.
1) It all begins with planning; first plan a menu of what to cook. This is essential for three reasons.
One- It will stop your from impulse buying and so will save you money.
Two- It will save you time as you will ensure you have all your ingredients together and enough of them.
Three- By planning a menu you will actually be thinking about what you will be eating and so will be more inclined towards healthier eating.
Why not plan some of your meals around the special offers at your local supermarket? At the moment there seems to be a drive towards offering the basics like bread, milk, vegetables and fruit for around a £1.00 or less. This means you can buy in bulk thus saving your more money.
2) Keep staples like bread, rice, pasta and potatoes in the cupboard, as they are great fillers and inexpensive to use.
3) For all your planning they will be times when you will run out of that essential ingredient whilst cooking. Do not panic! There are many substitutes that you can use which will not mar the flavour of your recipe. You may not even notice the difference and the alternative may even be healthier for you.
For example run out of wine? Use cranberry juice for red wine and white grape juice for white wine.
Run out of butter use margarine.
Need to make a gravy or sauce, use condensed soup and add your own flavourings. No pasta use noodles or spaghetti
No self raising flour? Use plain flour and baking powder mixed together.
4) Get the family involved in making complete meals for the week, which you can freeze and eat as and when. The benefits of this are two fold: First kids learn how to cook and you can also combine parts of the curriculum into their cooking sessions.
5) Invest in a slow cooker and become excited about one pot recipes and slow cooking. Here you can throw everything in and leave to cook throughout the day. Great if you are busy and of course less washing up!
6) Use leftovers by freezing and making another meal from them. You can use the leftovers in sandwiches or turn it into a tasty lunch by adding a salad or bake potato.
7) This is a good idea if you know other homeschooling mums. Why not get together and take it in turns to cook a main meal for the other homeschooling mums and their children once a week. You can plan and contribute to the ingredients. Another variation is to have a group of homeschooling mums cook complete meals for the week for their homeschooling group
So go ahead and practice a few of the above tips. You will be surprised at just how much time you will save once you get into a routine. Time that will allow you to carry two of the most important life skills to be learnt in a child's life that of education and cooking.
I am a former Esol and life skills tutor, who is interested in education and writing. I have written a number of articles for other directories and have just completed an ebook on homeschooling. http:http://www.homeschoolforstarters.com
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