Kitchen Tips For Busy Family Life

KitchenAid 5 qt. Stand Mixer, designed in 1937 by Egmont Arens, remains very successful today (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Busy families have become common place in our modern community and anyone who has ever been part of one knows that cooking a well balanced meal for everyone can be a difficult chore to fit into the day. Gone are the days of stay at home mommies and with both parents at work eating out seems to become a regular choice. However, despite its convenience, it can become very expensive. It is possible to prepare fresh meals quickly and stop eating out. Check out these handy kitchen hints for busy families:

1. Simplify Your Menu – You can still enjoy a nutritionally balance meal by using the simplest of methods. Why not add dishes like tacos, tortillas and burritos to your menu list. These are tasty and so easy to prepare in under 30 minutes. You will even get faster the more you make it. I have tacos down to about 15 minutes now!
2. Stock Up The Pantry & Prepare In Advance – It is important to have a well stocked kitchen. You will find that many simple recipes contain very similar ingredients, so by ensuring you have these ingredients at hand you will be able to cut your prep time in half! My must have ingredients include onions, garlic and vegetables. To save time I dice and chop these on the weekends and store in air tight containers for easy access to them throughout the week. If you know what ingredients you use alot of then stock up, often you can get discounts for bulk buying. I will also cut meat up and store in freezer bag. I can just pull one out of the freezer in the morning and it is ready to cook after work.
3. Invest In Appliances – Some kitchen appliances can be expensive, but they can be well worth it in terms of convenience it can be worth the investment. If you have a large family to prepare food for and a limited time, there are gadgets to help. The KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer is my best friend! I can mix up to 5 quarts of food at once! That is 7lbs of mash or enough dough for 5 loaves of bread! A Slow cooker or crock pot is also ideal for making family meals .

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Handpicked Tips And Tricks For Kitchen Design Projects

If you are thinking about updating your kitchen, you need not focus only on replacing kitchen cabinets and countertops or resurfacing cabinet doors. There are a number of smaller sale projects you might like to try in order to freshen up the look of your kitchen. I have put together a few suggestions for you to consider, not only in the kitchen but throughout the home.

• Use lighter colors when you are painting the rooms like the kitchen or bathroom. Incorporating beige and white colors into a room will increase the appearance of the size. Dark colors can decrease the appearance in size. Smaller homes or apartments can look roomier with brighter colors. Having lighter colors gives off the feeling of more space in a cramped environment. If you use darker colors, you will make it appear smaller by closing you in. Light colors will be good for a smaller kitchen when thinking of fixing up the interior of your home. Off white is a great color for making a room appear larger, and remember that big furniture pieces effect the lighting as well. Dark colors actually make a room look smaller.
• Make sure your kitchen and bathroom have adequate light sources. Two of the smallest rooms in a home are traditionally the bathroom and kitchen. If they are too dark they will feel even smaller. Installing lighting can make a room more enjoyable and will increase the value of your home. Bathrooms in particular are much more comfortable when properly lit. Bad lighting only exacerbates this problem. Installing lighting can make a room more enjoyable and will increase the value of your home. Ensuring adequate lighting is installed in bathrooms and kitchens can make them feel more expansive.
• Think of the amount of people you have living in your home when figuring out how to design its interior. Is there only one or two other residents or do you have a large family. You should always be aware that each room serves a different purpose. A bedroom will require design features that will not be suitable for the living room or kitchen, for example. If you pay attention to these issues, your design process will be more effective.
• The use of ceramic tile in a kitchen or bathroom is a relatively simple project. Choose between a solid color or cool designs to improve the look of the room. The installation of ceramic tile is a fairly simple fix that adds value to your home.
• Clay flower pots are a very elegant addition to your kitchen. Kids can even decorate their own and use them to hold items in their rooms, such as toys, stuffed animals and other collectible items.

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Feeding The Family During A Kitchen Refit

Modern kitchen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of the biggest upheavals during our recent kitchen remodel was planning how to feed the family with our kitchen out of commission for about 10 days. What I did was set up a mini kitchen in the dining room. I put the table against one wall and put my microwave, kettle, toaster and grill on there. I also bought a plug in hotplate. I planned ahead and cooked some meals ahead of time that I could freeze and then reheat in the microwave. Things like stew and casserole. I also made a few stirfry dishes on the hotplate which worked out pretty well. We never had to resort to to take-out although we did eat at my mother's house on one occasion. It was summer, so we also grilled out a couple of times. The main issue was washing the dishes. I had to do it in the shower which is not really idea. I ended up steam cleaning it afterwards because I just felt a bit ick! Apart from that we survived pretty well. I tried not to use meals that were going to leave a smell lingering in the dining room.

I think that forward planning goes a long way in most situations. If we are prepared then we can breeze through difficult situations. I think this does for lots of things, not just preparing for a kitchenremodel! Think about when we have to take a trip, when we have someone in hospital or any number different situations. So with that being said, I have a new motto...

Be Prepared!