Secrets of a Busy Cook

Whether you love to cook or find it a chore, the reality is that finding the time to cook at home can be a challenge. Weeknight meal preparation is especially stressful, and finding meals that take little work and can be prepared quickly is important.

30 minutes is an ideal time limit for week night meal preparation, and using the secrets of a busy cook as shown in the Busy Cook’s Pyramid is how you can accomplish this goal. The secrets are a combination of several different techniques with which you are probably already familiar, and when you combine them in an organized manner, it makes weekday cooking a breeze.

To help you visualize the various components, the Busy Cook’s Pyramid above shows how each of these building blocks build on each other to make dinner preparation a breeze. The methods toward the base of the pyramid are those that save the most time, those at toward the top are helpful for making meal prep easier. There is some overlap between the sections.

Making consistent use of the five levels of the Busy Cook’s Pyramid will free up valuable time and ease the pressure on you at mealtime. Knowing that there are extra meals in the freezer, that you are making the most of the tools you have, and that you have fast ingredients on hand cuts down on trips through the drive-thru or ordering take-out.

Having few last minute preparations to put a nice quick and well-balanced meal on the table also allows your children or spouse to easily help out when you cannot be home at meal preparation time. Enjoy the freedom that the Busy Cook’s Pyramid can bring to your life!

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Freezer Cooking | Planned Leftovers | Quick and Easy Recipes | Fast Ingredients | Tools & Techniques

* Adapted from Secrets of a Busy Cook by Lynn Nelson, used by permission