A Busy Moms Guide to Daily Meal Preparation

JUNE 11, 2015HAPPYPINAYMOMMY

Hi Mommies!
Suddenly just got inspired to post my weekly meal plans for my Little Familia.
Me and some of the moms over at my facebook group are discussing about
how to go about cooking when you have very young kids and do not have
help at all. I just wanted to share my food preparation strategy to everyone
who may be interested on how i go about our daily meal preparation. I earlier
wrote about meal planning here.

How will you ever find the time to cook? here are tips on daily meal
preparation. Photo Credits

I just wanted to expound that what I usually

do is:
1. I do an inventory of what we have in the freezer/ref and pantry
2. I meal plan accordingly. I try to include easy to cook recipes like what i
have written here.
3. i draw up a grocery list of what i have to buy for the meals.
(You may want to read a related article on how to save on grocery shopping,
pinoy style by clicking here and here)
4. i batch cook during weekends, usually the day of or day after i did
the grocery shopping
5. i usually cook for more than one meal so that i could have a backup freezer meal for the next week, and so that we would not have to be
stuffed with left-overs for days on end.

6.I try my best to marinate the meat i bought the same day so that i would
not have to go through the trouble of thawing them before marinating them.
7. I would pack the marinated meat into small-sized zip loc bags i just use
the SM Bonus brand because it is cheaper.
8. I invest in lock and lock containers, or make use of tupperware to store my
meals for the week.
9. I strive hard to heat the food during the week via stovetop/induction
cooker, and i try hard to avoid microwaving. But if i really have to use it i
use glass containers.
10. I usually ask the grocery attendant to peel the veggies for me, and if i am
extralazy, i ask that it be chopped as well so that all i have to do is wash
them before cooking!
11. I also apportion salads whenever i have extra time (like when the kids are
napping) so that it will be easier to grab them when we will just have
sandwiches for dinner
12. I also pre-make spreads whenever i can but just the simple ones tuna,
chicken, and egg.
13. I am lazy too, so if some food or ingredient will make my coking life
easier i go for it! Daily meal preparation can be very tiring.
14. I also buy food that dos not need to be thawed and could be
eaten/cooked pronto to respond ASAP to growling tummies.

Still a work in progress when it comes to

healthy eating

I am still a work in progress when it comes to offering the most nutritious

meals for my family. We still have convenience foods (canned, ready to fry,
cured) and we try hard to avoid it. Of course when you are n the thick of
daily meal preparation you sometimes fall into the trap of what is
convenient, delicious, and what gets appreciated and we are
a carnivorous family! I promise to really intentionally make our
meals greener. Ill be writing about that journey soon.

Hope you could stop by again to browse through

the weekly meal plan i plan to post every Friday.
may no longer need to ID the ingredients and the procedure, because once you read the title of the recipe, you
may already know. But then again, id still type in a description.
Breakfast:
1. Ham-Cheese-and-Mushroom Omelette I just use the canned sliced button mushroom. This is also good
for Breakfast-for-dinner dinners.
2. Fried Eggplant in Olive Oil paired with Salted Red Egg and Fresh Sliced Tomatoes. Best eaten with steaming hot
white jasmine rice!
3. Chorizo Fried Rice Use either Chinese Chorizo or Spanish Sausages. Pierce sausages with fork. Slightly boil the
sausages for 2-3 minutes. Remove from water. Dry the sausages in paper towels. Slice the sausages in half bitesized pieces. Unto a pan, add some olive oil, sautee the sausages in onion or garlic (if im in a hurry, I omit the inon
and garlic part), add your day old rice, add beaten eggs, season with salt and pepper and mix well. Just before
putting into serving platter, add a dash or two of sesame oil. J
4. Tuna Sautee. Just sautee canned tuna and ladle on top of steaming hot white rice. Add a dash of seasoning and
voila, yummy risotto like tuna-rice combo.
5. Squid/mushroom/tender Pork Salpicao. Mince garlic into tiny tiny pieces (about half a head. Sautee in olive oil,
add butter, seasoning, and lightly fry either mushroom, squid, or pork tenderlois. Ladle over steaming hot white
rice! Yummy!
6. Gambas Peel and devein shrimps. Sautee Garlic and sliced chilis (if you want something spicy), in olive oil and
butter. Add the shrimps. Once they turn pink, season with a couple of dashes of seasoning. Ready to serve!

7. Steamed fish with Ginger. I usually use pangasius fillet or cream dory. After washing and thawing, I put it in a
foil and top it with lots and lots of grated garlic and ginger, onions, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. I then steam it!
8. Steamed Tofu with oyster sauce. Steam tofu. Mix the following on a separate bowl for your sauce: oyster sauce,
hot sauce, a dash of seasoning, and a dash of sesame oil!
9. Tofu and mushrooms. Wash and slice your favorite type of mushroom. Slice tofu into cubes. Sautee onion and a
little bit of minced garlic. Mix in the mushrooms. Stir in the tofu and what till tofu turns light brown. In a small bowl,
mix in cornstarch in around three tbsps of water. Stir in the mixture in the tofu and mushrooms. Add in a tbsp of
oyser sauce (or more, accdg to your taste). Simmer and serve!
10. Fish or Chicken nuggets. thaw thigh or breast fillet/fish fillet. Slice in bite size pieces or strips. Season with salt
and pepper. Dip in beaten eggs then in panko bread crumbs. Deep Fry. Serve with either thousand Island dressing
or Asian Salad Dressing. Serve!
Will be writing down more go-to recipes in the days to come. For now I wish all of you a happy weekend, and
happy cooking!

Grocery Shopping is one of the biggest holes in our little Familys budget.
Although I mostly have been successful in keeping within the monthly
budget, I know in my heart I could still keep it down. I could still make
wiser decisions in order to save on grocery shopping, and I could implement
strategies that would make me buy less, and consume more of the pantry
and freezer stuff we have back home.
We are still in the thick of this journey, but I have already discovered some
effective ways that helped me keep the grocery budget within our monthly
limit.
Let me share it with you.
1. Set a Monthly Budget You can only stay within a budget if you
have a set budget. Operating without it is like sailing without any goal
or direction. So how do you set a grocery budget? For food, determine
how much you want to spend for every meal of the day including

snacks. Include as well utility items that you need to buy for the house
on a monthly basis like toiletries, cleaning materials etc. This may
become a detailed list but this is the only way you could gauge how
much you most likely need each month.
2. Do an Inventory List down everything that you have in the freezer
and pantry. This will help you in your meal planning process and
eventually to save ongrocery shopping.
3. Meal Plan With a budget in sight, and a list of inventory at hand you
can plan the meals that you want to prepare for the duration youd like
to shop for. So if you are planning to shop every two weeks, then that
would mean sevenbreakfasts, seven lunches, and so on and so forth. It
is important to use up the ingredients you currently have than to buy
everything at once. You will prevent spoilage that way, and of course
save on money.
4. Create a list Bash your inventory with that of the ingredients
needed in your meal plan to find out which food stuff you are lacking.
List down all the utility items and miscellaneous groceries that you
may need. Never enter the store without a list.
5. Limit your shopping to twice a month max. If your home space,
pantry and refrigerator can accommodate a months full of food and
utility stuff thenschedule shopping once a month. This saves you on a
lot of thing like time, gas, energy, and of course takes you away from
the temptation of buying things you do not need, as well as other
incidental expenses after grocery shopping like eating out or going to
the drive thru.If you live in an apartment, or a micro-space like a studio
or a one-br condo, be creative with space and shop every two weeks.
For instance, you can leave the toilet papers and extra paper towels
and cleaning materials in the trunk of your car and just get it once you

need it. J You can also do under bed storage. Gone are the days when
all the goods have to be displayed in curio cabinets, especially PX ones
J

6. Set a shopping date and stick to it. This means that if you are out
of your favorite food items in your refrigerator, youd have to go
through your pantry and freezer to be able to make it to your next
shopping date. This is a challenge, but once you get disciplined
enough, it will be automatic, and it will save you a lot of funds making
you save on grocery shopping.
7. Never Shop Hungry. You see this in most grocery saving tips list
because it is really advisable. When you are hungry you get to
be impulsive about you buy, and if ever you get to stick to your list,
you will end up spending still because you are most likely to eat out
after shopping.
8. Avail of the loyalty cards. Rustans Fresh, Shopwise Card, SM
Advantage you can take advantage of all these especially if you have
a favorite store. They have endless promos, which actually allow you to
save up. Be on the look-out for promos as well for members. The points
are also very useful as they are converted into cash and can be readily
deducted to your billJ
9. Beware of the added expense. I would have to say shop for specific
items that are cheaper in a specific store, but in the long run,
the gas and energy you spend to go from one store to another plus
possible parking fees and the hassle of lugging the kids around, may
not be worth it. It may just offset the savings you can incur from the
cheaper item so I say, just stick to one store, and choose one that
validates your parking fee or allows you to park for free!

So there goes my nine tips. Will be updating this post as I progress in our
journey of saving. Thanks and if you have any tips, please let me know by
commenting below J
Breakfast time is the most hurried meal in the house even if it is lovingly
prepared. it usually gets to be eaten in a rush especially during schooldays.
Now that it is summer, we have more time to prepare
yummy breakfast meals for the kids that they will have the luxury to enjoy.
Here are five Happy and Easy Breakfast Meals for Kids this Summer:
a. Crispy Adobo Flakes with Fried Rice and Scrambled Eggs They can still
burn the extra fats, and just make sure that they crispy adobo flakes have
been drained in paper towel before serving. A good way to upcycle your leftover adobo too. Watch herethe recipe that I follow.
b. Home-Made Super Tender Tapa, Sunny Side-up Eggs, Plain RIce This is
one personal recipe I make that kids will surely love. this is also a guaranteed
one of the super super Easy Breakfast Meals for Kids to eat and for us
mommies to prep. Although I do not have the exact measurements for this
since I just eyeball and mix the ingredients, heres what you can do: Buy
Sukiyaki Cut Beef, Marinade it in a mixture of the usual toyo, a bit of sugar,
and a wee bit of pepper. Put in a ziplock bag and marinade the night before.
Fry as usual for less than a minute or so so it will not be rubbery.
c. French Toast, Schublig Sausage, and Scrambled Eggs Heres the easy
french toast recipe that I use. For Schublig Sausage, I just buy the Purefoods
Brand because it is OK and is not as expensive. Add in more milk in the
scrambled egg to make it sweeter.
d. Boneless Bangus with Fried Rice Nothing beats a home-style boneless
bangus thats juicily fried, paired up with yummy fried rice. Try this

yummy fried rice recipethat your kids will surely love. Just omit the roast
pork so that it wouldt take away the spotlight from the Bangus, and then
swap the Japanese Soy Sauce with either Knorr Liquid Seasoning or
Kikkoman
e. Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Banana Smoothie Encourage the kids to
join you in preparing choco-chip pancakes. Just buy the usual choco chips or
if you dont have one or do not want to spend on one just look for
a chocolate bar on your fridge, crush it roughly. Make your usual hotake
batter. Put a portion in the pan, once it bubbles, sprinkle some chocolates on
it and then ladle in a thin layer of pancakeover the one you sprinkled
chocolate unto. Then cook as usual Serve with a banana smoothie, try this
healthy recipe that I use for Little
Of course do not forget to give them a serving of fruit with
their breakfast plus tons of fresh juice, water, and vitamins. This scorching
Philippine heat leaves a lot hydrated and kids need to be reminded to drink
up Happy cooking and cheers to happy breakfasts!