Cook at Home

My Story

       Now, I don’t cook every single night, but pretty darn close! I enjoy cooking, so if you don’t you might be thinking I’m crazy! I like cooking, saving money, and staying in! These reasons help keep me motivated to cook every night.

     See, I grew up eating at home almost every night and so did my husband. While we were dating and after we got married, we both liked the idea of eating at home most nights. Now, I didn’t grow up eating everything homemade like The Pioneer Woman, but I did eat at home. I feel like eating at home is kind of a lost art. With life being so fast paced it’s easy to get caught up and not slow down enough to eat dinner at home. I love eating at home, who’s with me?

     You might be thinking, cooking every night? That takes so much time, I’m too busy! I’m here to tell you, it’s not hard. Yes it’s going to take some time, but once you have a plan and practice it gets easier. Just because I cook almost every night does not mean I cook three course meals that are all homemade. I plan simple, but delicious meals that I’m able to cook throughout the week. If you’re wondering how exactly I make this work, keep reading.

How I Cook – My Plan

     The first question you might ask is what do I cook? Well, I have a few answers to that. The first thing I usually do is look at what I already have in my fridge, freezer, and pantry. If I have the ingredients for a meal already, I don’t have to buy any extra ingredients! I also like to look on Pinterest, and sometimes I like to try and come up with something based on my ingredients. Some of our favorite meals are: Chicken Parmesan, Bacon Wrapped Chicken, and Grilled Chicken with mashed potatoes just to name a few. We love chicken and I love finding new ways to cook chicken. I always have ground turkey or ground beef on hand for an easy taco night. I make a lot of tried an true favorites and sprinkle in some new recipes from Pinterest to try.

     Next, I make a grocery list. Don’t skip this step! This helps me remember everything I need for all meals. Trust me, you do not want to be cooking dinner just to realize that you forgot an ingredient at the store (been there, done that!) I usually handwrite a list and bring the list and a pen to the store to check off as I go.

     I have also used my Amazon Alexa app. If you didn’t know already, you can create lists in the Alexa app and then when you need something just tell her to add it to your grocery list. I will do this throughout the week, and then you can add them to your list or you can manually enter groceries to your list on the app to use at the store. You can also find a million apps and printables to help you meal plan. I’ve tried them and some are really good, but I’m simple and a paper and pen work just fine.

     You have made your list, now you have to go to the store. This part for me isn’t too hard. Once I’m in my car and driving there I do alright. I like to go to the grocery store on Sunday or Monday. On Mondays when I work, I’ll sometimes go on Tuesday. However, if I can get to the store Sunday then that works best. The final thing to do is to actually cook your meals. Do not let all those precious groceries you spent your time going to get, go to waste in your fridge. If you planned meals that you could realistically make during the week, then it’s time to get cooking.

     It’s okay to have more dishes, that’s the point. You are cooking at home. You are learning what works best for your household. Give yourself some grace, you will make mistakes, it won’t come out perfect every time. I still cook WAY too much pasta. (Is there really ever too much pasta?) You will learn, get better, perfect recipes, and become quite the cook at home. When you start cooking at home you will also start to realize what goes into your food. That’s a win-win for everybody.

Do you cook at home?

What is your favorite recipe?

Love, Meg