Weeknight Dinner Hacks ANYONE can use
Weeknight dinner hacks aren’t new. Many a convo in the ‘ol lounge at work center around this very topic. I love all the ideas I get, but sometimes they sound so time consuming! I went back to the classroom full-time four years ago. Since then, I’ve begun to find some quick tricks that really help when we are tired and busy. Some of these ideas take a little energy on your weekend, others are super easy to do and won’t require much more effort at all, and a few ideas are just some of the tricks I’ve found to help minimize dinner prep energy consumption.
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We’ve all been there. Staring into the fridge or pantry hoping for something miraculous to happen…dinner. The result, you order pizza or takeout.
Listen, I’m all for a takeout from our favorite neighborhood place from time to time, but there has got to be a better way to beat the mid week dinner doldrums!
Try these ideas if you find yourself in a weeknight dinner rut.
Menu Planning is your Friend
We all know it. Menu planning will not only save you time, but also money. Take it one step further and shop the grocery store ads. Make it easy by having themed dinner nights, breakfast for dinner (brinner) or leftover night.
Save your Menus
Next, save your menus in a home binder so you can reuse them every few weeks! I have a revolving list of about 25-30 meals currently in the rotation, so I save my menus and I put them all in a handy binder. Some weeks, I don’t menu plan, I just grab an old week!
Weeknight Dinner Time Savers
Try a few weeknight dinner timesavers.
- Set out the recipe, pantry ingredients, and cookware you’ll need on the counter before leaving for work. It’s amazing how doing this saves energy after a long day.
- Meal prep on the weekend by cutting your veggies, making some chicken for soft tacos or nachos in advance. Baking muffins to go with breakfast all week is a synch too!
- Double batches of soup or chili when you can. If you’re like me and don’t have a deep freezer, lay the bags flat so they take up less space.
- The Crock-Pot or Instant-Pot are your best friends!
Plan for the Weeknight Dinner Crunch
I have zero guilt about frozen pizza or chicken nuggets with veggies almost weekly. Between practices or errands that keep me out late, a quick throw in the oven meal is exactly what I need sometimes. So plan for those nights friend, know they are going to happen, and be ready so you aren’t stressed.
Weeknight Dinner Help
About four months ago I wrote something for you. To help with this exact issue, it’s called Your Home Productivity Bundle. Inside is a menu planning section that can be insanely helpful with the weeknight dinner crunch. So much of my work at PINEdaisyHOUSE starts with a whisper in my heart and this bundle is no different! A big part of PDH’s mission is to make Intentional Living Tools accessible to everyone! Be it with tips, product suggestions to support your lifestyle, or practical tools. Also, they are Intentional Living Tools are CHEAP. That’s on purpose too. Because when I was newly married we were DEAD BROKE, and tools like I’m writing now would have been an complete game changer.
Anyway, not to ramble but I want you to know, cultivating a home that is intentional and life-giving for your people is always worth the work. I’m here to help you along the way. The work I do here, behind the camera, and on Instagram are all aimed at spreading joy, hope, and encouragement. May you find that today friend.
With Hope for You and Your Intentional Home,
