How to Make the Family Meal in 30 Minutes

As society becomes more and more busy, the traditional family meal has become more elusive for many families. The following tips can help you in preparing quick and convenient meals that are still delicious for your family.

Locate "fast" meals for busy days. Since so many people have such busy schedules, there is now a great wealth of cookbooks which feature "fast" recipes. Rachael Ray has her own show dedicated to meals that are quick to prepare, 30 Minute Meals. And the internet is bursting with recipe ideas. You can take some time and research recipes which are quick to prepare. You may have to try a few different recipes before you find some that you like, but the time saved will be worth it.

Read the recipe completely before you begin. This will eliminate last-minute trips to the store for ingredients. You can also do things like preheating ovens and unthawing foods in advance, so they are ready whenever you are. Reading the recipe in advance also ensures that you will understand what needs to be done before you get too into the recipe.

Overlap steps when possible. Many recipes set out a number of steps to follow when preparing a meal. However, you can be chopping vegetables, measuring ingredients, or opening cans while you are waiting for food to cook or water to boil. Combining or overlapping steps is a great time saver.

Clean as you go. Rachael Ray loves her "garbage bowl" where she throws garbage during food preparation. If you don't like this, you can move your trash can into easy reach to throw away garbage and packaging during preparation. You can also put dirty dishes into the dishwasher or a sink of hot dishwater as you prepare the food. I also like to start on some dishes while I am waiting for the food to finish cooking, because this cuts down on my dreaded clean-up time after dinner, when I want to be finished with chores and go spend some time with my family.

Use timesaving appliances and techniques when possible. Food choppers, kitchen shears, and other kitchen gadgets really do make cooking quick and easy. You can even clean the gadgets as you're waiting for the food to cut as discussed above.

Stock up on shortcuts. You can use semi-homemade entrees (think store-bought rotisserie chicken you shred for pastas, or pre-sliced deli meat for sandwiches), or you can easy-to-make side dishes. This will allow you to create a full meal without having to make everything homemade, which can be time consuming. You can also purchase shortcut ingredients like shredded cheeses, rice and pasta mixes, chopped salad greens, and precut vegetables.

Your family meal doesn't have to be a myth or a memory any more. Follow these tips and you will soon be enjoying home-cooked meals in a short amount of time!