1. Do your big grocery shopping once a week. Be sure to stock up on meats, staples, snacks, etc. which will minimize having to make quick stops to the grocery store during mid-week.
2. Put a piece of paper up on your refrigerator so that you have a place to write down something you have run out of. The hardest part of this is to teach your kids that when they empty something, they need to put it on the list. This minimizes you forgetting something when you do your shopping.
3. Buy meat in bulk and separate it into dinner servings before freezing. It takes a little more time when you get home, but it will save you a lot of money in the long run.
4. Marinade your meats before freezing. This is a big time saver. The kids really love Chicken Teriyaki over rice. What I do is cut my chicken breasts into thin strips and place them into a freezer bag. I then add the Teriyaki marinade and freeze. I take the chicken out of the freezer in the morning before I leave work. Just place it on a plate and as it defrosts, it continues to marinade. By the time you get home, all you need to do is stir fry the chicken, prepare some rice, veggies and a salad. Presto, a meal!
5. When you are shopping, think easy to prepare. Save the complicated meals for the weekends when you aren't pressed for time. I know we would all like to stay away from pre-packaged foods, but when we are short for time, sometimes they are an answer. One of the things I love is Uncle Ben's Ready Rice. This cooks up in your microwave in 90 seconds. There are a variety of different flavors to choose from. While it's more expensive than buying normal rice, I can usually find it on sale at least once a month and I stock up on it at that time. Another thing I love (and so does my family) is the Ore-Ida Steam-N-Mash Potatoes. Real mashed potatoes are easy to make, but time consuming. This is an easy and quick way to make them so that you and your family can enjoy the taste of homemade mashed potatoes during the week.
6. Prepare meals ahead of time when possible. Do all of your prep work the night before. That way, when you come home from work, all you need to do is put it all together and cook it. If a casserole is part of your menu, make it up the night before and put it in the refrigerator. When you come home, pop it in the oven, make up a salad or whatever you are having with it, and your dinner is complete. I do this a lot with things like lasagna, or even meatloaf.
7. Do some cooking on the weekends to save time. For example, I may roast a whole chicken on the weekend. One night, I'll make chicken (I slice it), mashed potatoes and corn. Another night I might make fajitas. For the fajitas, I will cut up my bell peppers and onions the night before and put them in a baggie. Then all I need to do is throw them all together and cook.
8. Cook double portions. This is one of my favorite time savers. Quite often, I'll make a large pot roast, complete with potatoes, carrots and onions in the crock pot. After dinner, I will separate the leftovers into freezer bags and now I have complete meals that only need to be heated up in the microwave for dinner. You can do this with so many things. When I make Rigatoni, or Lasagna, or a Mexican casserole, I will make two of them, and place one of them in the freezer to have on another night.
9. Think crock pots. This is a lovely invention that allows you to prepare a meal the night before. Just put it in the refrigerator, and when you get up in the morning, take it out and turn it on. When you get home you have the advantage of having dinner ready, as well as the delicious, mouth watering aroma that meets you when you walk into the door. This is another great way to use double portions, especially when you make soups or stews. I love to make a big pot of chili and then freeze the remaining jars. When you leave for the morning to go to work, just take out a jar (or two) and let them defrost all day while you are at work.
10. Subway night. Give yourself a break during the week. Thursday nights are Subway nights at our house. On the way home, I stop by Subway and get our sandwiches. That way, I don't have to worry about timing the meal. Everyone can eat whenever they want and I don't have to worry about clean up. It reduces the stress for me and gives the kids a big treat.

For this weekend’s Blog Blast, Parent Bloggers Network teamed up with Ore Ida to promote their new Steam ‘N Mash potatoes*. If you haven’t tried them yet, you really should. You won't regret it.

*See #5