How To Cook Real Food With A Busy Schedule #AskWardee 025

“What Real Foods can I cook even if I’m super busy?” Lovina R. asks on today’s #AskWardee. I’m sharing my thoughts below!

The Question:

Lovina R. needs help:

“Working full time and having children who work almost full time and go to high school, I am just not sure if I can squeeze in anything from scratch. I am trying to become a coach and have my own business and that will free up time needed to do more things from scratch. I work about 9 hours per day, my kids go to high school in the morning and work 8 hours a day, and hubby commutes 2 hours daily and puts in a 12-hour work day. How can we begin to cook food from scratch? What are the easiest and quickest things we can make from scratch that would be healthy and beneficial for us?”

My Answer:

Lovina, I have 6 tips to help you with this!

1. Real Food-ify your existing ingredients.

Whatever you ARE cooking, make sure to use the healthiest ingredients. This adds NO extra time to what you’re already cooking… you just instantly increased the health value!

• Fats: use butter or tallow or coconut oil
• Meats and fish: pastured or wild-caught
• Eggs: pastured and/or organic
• Grains and beans: organic and/or pesticide-free
• Fruits and veggies: organic and/or pesticide-free

2. It’s a myth that traditional cooking can’t be fast.

Don’t think traditional cooking is a lost cause because everything has to be soaked, sprouted, or fermented. Don’t think you can’t do fast food anymore!

You can make all sorts of “fast” meals and dishes with traditional foods.

One example is our no-wait sourdough recipes.

Other fast, simple, healthy meals:

• Eggs — so many ways to fix them!
• Meat and veggie meals — no soaking, sprouting, or souring required!
• Leftover meals
• “Bowls” — a starch like rice or potatoes, meat, beans, and toppings — yumm!
• Salads — chicken, salmon, tuna, egg — eat them on their own or use them to top a green salad
• Hamburger salad — warm hamburger or meatballs on top of a salad

Another way to facilitate fast meals is through freezer cooking — keep the freezer stocked with meal components such as bread, cooked rice, or cooked beans.

For more info, go to 7 Traditional Cooking Mistakes You Might Be Making.

3. Cultivate easy meals and dishes — even desserts!

Whatever works for you, keep a record and keep those items on hand as a go-to. You could even go so far as to create a menu plan that rotates through them. For more info, see 4 Steps to Easy Meal Planning.

For easy desserts, try these no-bake treats!

4. When CAN you cook?

On the weekends? Batch cook/freezer cook thing you know you won’t have time for later.

Ideas for you from this helpful post: What You Can Do Today To Save Time This Week {in the kitchen!}:

• snacks
• breads
• broth
• rice
• yogurt
• prep veggies for the week
• salad dressing
• crockpot chickens — debone and keep meat on hand
• ferments

5. Don’t feel guilty about using healthy convenience foods!

We are blessed that so many small companies are providing healthy convenience foods. When you’re super busy and likely to spend money on junk food anyway, why not spend the money on healthy convenience foods? And don’t feel guilty about it!

These include drinks, meats, quality butter, cheese, fermented foods, sprouted/sourdough bread, good jerky, plain yogurt with active cultures, hot dogs or lunch meats… just to name a few.

Here is more info: Our Favorite Healthy Convenience Foods.

6. Everyone eats, everyone cooks!

“Everyone eats, everyone cooks” is a phrase from our Real Food Kids eCourse.

We teach our children to tie their shoes, brush their teeth, keep their rooms tidy. Why not teach them to cook alongside us, too? To be competent and skilled in the kitchen in their own right.

If mom is as busy as the rest of the family, why should she shoulder all the burden of the cooking, too?

Have a frank talk with the family and point out that you’re in a difficult spot and could use help. Ask if they are wiling to help keep things afloat so you’re all at your best health. This means pitching in. Even if it’s just helping to keep up with dishes, try to involve everyone so it’s not just you bearing all the burden.

Links Mentioned:

• Free Traditional Cooking Videos
• Real Food Kids eCourse
• Our Favorite Healthy Convenience Foods
• 2 Whole Chickens In A Crock Pot
• What You Can Do Today To Save Time This Week {in the kitchen!}
• Handy Guide For Washing Produce
• 7 Traditional Cooking Mistakes You Might Be Making
• Nourishing No-Bake Treats
• 14 Ways To Nourish A Large Family On A Small Budget
• No-Wait Sourdough Podcast

Do you wonder how to cook Real Food with a busy schedule? What tips can you share for getting it done?