From Scratch Cooking: How to Serve Up Three Home-Cooked Meals Every Day!

Are you trying to fuel your family with healthy, home-cooked food? Are you wondering how to find the time to dish up three wholesome meals every day? Then look no further! Here’s how I manage it.

Appraise Your Current Routine

If you aspire to create three home-cooked meals every day, but you’re currently struggling to meet that goal, then the first thing you need to do is have a serious look at your daily routine. What are the current barriers that are preventing you from reaching this target? Do you need to free up some time in your schedule? Or is a lack of motivation the bigger issue?

Quick wins might be to meal plan and prep instead of scrolling on social media in the evening. Could you get up 30 minutes earlier to peel and chop all the fruit and vegetables you need for the day? If time is really tight, you may have to put some lower priority projects or activities on the back-burner until you get into the routine of cooking all your food from scratch.

And while you are reviewing your daily routine, take some time to consider your goal of three home-cooked meals every day. What is your motivation?

For me, the main driver is my love for my family, and my desire to nourish us all with wholesome, sustaining food. I have worked in healthcare for long enough to know that prevention is better than cure. And preventing ill health really starts with fueling your body with nourishing food, as well as getting plenty of fresh air and exercise.

Get Organised

The actual cooking is just one part of the process involved in creating three delicious meals each day. You will also need clean pots and pans, dishes and cutlery. And a kitchen that you enjoy getting creative in!

So, you will need to establish a routine to keep your kitchen clean and organised. By all means, delegate some of these tasks to other members of your household!

Meal Plan

Try to plan out your meals for the week ahead of time. I spend 15-20 minutes on a Sunday reviewing what we have left in the fridge and kitchen cupboards, and then planning out breakfast, lunch and dinner for the week ahead. I jot down a shopping list of any ingredients we need to buy.

Whilst most of my meals are chosen from a selection of well-known recipes, I try to include a brand new recipe each week for a little bit of variety.

I also make a plan for baking fresh bread, snacks and a couple of sweet treats throughout the week.

Once you have made your plan, try your best to stick with it!

Keep your store cupboard stocked

A well-stocked pantry is absolutely essential. With a supply of basic ingredients, you can create a wide variety of delicious meals.

This is by far the best way to remove the temptation of a weekly takeaway. You can cook something wholesome and sustaining, and do so more economically and in less time than it takes to buy a curry or Chinese!

A good store-cupboard stash is also handy for whipping up last-minute snacks during the day, instead of turning to cereal bars or other processed foods.

Leftovers

Making use of leftovers is a total gamechanger. If you are going to the effort of cooking, make a little extra to keep in the fridge.

Our leftovers can often stretch to another meal for the whole family the next day. You can change things up a little by adding a different carbohydrate or different vegetables.

Sometimes I pull leftovers from a couple of meals together and make a picky plate for a bit more variety.

Batch Cooking

If you are serious about serving up home-cooked food day after day, then batch cooking is your new best friend! I try to set aside a day every few months to make approximately 20 individual pies, a large pan eat of chilli, bolognese and curry, and 2-3 lasagnes and quiches.

These meals are great to pull out of the freezer on busier days. They are also a fantastic back-up plan on days where things do not run according to my schedule!

Eating Repetitively

Eating the same meal on a few occasions during the week can help to simplify your meal plan and take the pressure off decision making.

We have porridge for our breakfast every day (except for Saturday, when I make banana pancakes – YUM!). We use different toppings on our porridge throughout the week; some days we have dried fruit, other days we have home-made apple sauce or a sprinkle of granola.

I make our main meal at lunchtime. This meal is generally something different each day.

And then I make a large pot of soup a couple of times per week. This feeds us for our evening meal over a few days.

I hope these simple steps help you in your journey towards healthy, home-cooked meals for your family throughout the week. Have a look at my recipe posts for some meal inspiration! And leave me a comment – I would love to know how you get on.