Two things need to multitask in the kitchen. Your ingredients, and you. Ingredients, the Smart Ingredients you use for your dinner need to be multitaskers that can be used in many recipes you make for your family. When you buy Smart Ingredients, you save money on random ingredient clutter, you save space in your cabinets, and you man yourself with the ammunition you need to hit your dinner target.

Also, you need to make the very best of your time in the kitchen to take stress out of meal crunchtime. ANY steps you can take toward prepping the next meal is a gift to yourself the next time you go to cook. I know it’s hard for some people to think ahead to the next meal, but what I’ve found after teaching so many classes, is that many people are afraid… afraid to make that commitment to the the next meal, and afraid of their ability to execute it. Well, cooking is a sport, and you have to get in the game. More than likely you are, in fact, going to end up back in that kitchen sooner than you may wish, and having something that helps you get that next meal on the table helps.

Last week, I found chicken breasts on sale for under $2. I bought a large package. I used half of it to make Parmesan chicken, and rather than put the other four breasts in the freezer, I spent the time while the chicken Parm was baking, both boiling the noodles to serve it on, and making a quick Teriyaki glaze for the remaining chicken. But I also doubled the glaze and set half aside. The next night we had Teriyaki chicken with fried rice, and dinner was a breeze because I had prepped it the night before. Two days later, my Mom was coming for lunch. I marinated some Salmon in the remaining Teriyaki glaze and had my favorite Teriyaki Salmon Citrus Salad for lunch.

Me and the chicken multitasking were a great tagteam to an easy dinner. When you are making breakfast, lunch, or a different dinner this week, do yourself the favor of getting one other thing prepped ahead!

Teriyaki Chicken Glaze

P.S. Congratulations to Princessjnitta, out latest winner of FREE groceries and 70 Meals, One Trip to the Store!

As my oldest child went off to Camp last week, my son said “I feel bad that she has to eat cafeteria food for three days.” He is just 8. I was delighted that he could tell the difference in the quality of the food that he gets at home. My kids eat very little prepackaged foods. And one of my goals at Organizing Dinner is to help many other families achieve that level of purity in their dinners.

One of the strongest ways I can guide you towards achieving this for your own family is, simply put, to get in the game. Dinner, my friends, rears its head every night. Not having a game plan leaves you with that “ughh….. what am I going to make?” feeling. Think for a moment about how many nights of dinner are ahead of you in your lifetime. Wouldn’t it be better to face them with a plan for not only action, but winning?! And just a little bit of thinking ahead takes tons less time than the alternatives of writing out  meal plan, cooking ahead and freezing for a month, or running out to the store every night for ingredients.

Here are some tips to get yourself in winning shape

Show up ready to play

Keep Smart Ingredients on hand. Build your repertoire from 2 – 3, to 10 – 20 “go to” recipes for which you have the ingredients, on hand, any night of the year. Read through some of our previous posts to get some ideas, or build on your family’s tastes. For me, I keep several boxes of pasta, yeast and flour to make pizza dough, black beans, tortillas, rice, chicken, eggs, spinach, chicken broth and canned diced tomatoes to mix and match for a good 20 easy go-to recipes such as Chicken Fried Rice, BBQ Chicken Pizza, chicken Caesar wraps, many kinds of pasta, chili, Chicken Pot Pie, quiche, enchiladas, and more.

Have good equipment

Cooking is a sport. And for any sport, you need the right equipment. If you were to show up for a tennis game with a beat up old wooden racket, you would first of all not be excited to play, but second of all not stand a good chance of success. Having one good pan that doesn’t stick, and one good knife that cuts like the wind can be just the difference it makes to make you feel like a winner. These days kitchenware is very inexpensive. Invest in one or two good pieces that make you ready for success in the kitchen. Visit www.brylanehome.com or Ikea.com for some well-made inexpensive options.

Home turf advantage (turn your kitchen into a place you enjoy)

Many of us end up in the kitchen for many more hours than we would have thought possible before we had families. Since it’s a place you often have to be, it should be a place you are happy to be in. Clean out the clutter, bring in some fresh flowers or fun decorations, brew yourself a cup of tea, and settle in for some cooking.

So, last week we had the 10-gadget getout, where you cleared some clutter for your kitchen space. Now you’ve got some room in which to move things around, and organize the Zone. You know, the place you stand to do most of your cooking or prep work. That place where you chop, where you’re most likely to be caught making school lunches, where you often squeeze in your cup of coffee between defrosting some meat for the night’s dinner or unloading the dishwasher. Every kitchen’s got one. Is yours a place you enjoy? Since there are so many reasons you have to be there, it should be. Here’s some ways to help you enjoy your Zone time.

Organization & Placement

I don’t care what you keep in the rest of your rooms, or even the outskirts of your kitchen, but what you keep in the Zone should be the key elements of making your everyday dining a success…. the obvious spoons, plates and cups, but also the top two serving utensils, prep bowls and cutting boards. Not your wrapping paper (as we found at a recent in-home party), not your spare light bulbs, and even not the 1001 must-have kitchen items that may be a “must-have” for somebody… but for you they just take up space. For most people, clutter is unsettling, and if you are unsettled where you’re cooking, of course you won’t enjoy it.

I have several different measuring pieces in my kitchen. But in my primary small drawer in my Zone, I keep just the basic cup and spoon measurers. They’re always there, within reach, in an uncluttered drawer. In a life that is elsewhere full of clutter, this little bit of releief makes dinner just that much easier to whip out. And the spoons that much easier to put away. I grab em, use em, wash em… back in the drawer.

Fun

Since there are so many reasons you’ve gotta be there, make it a place you enjoy. Put a radio or tv nearby so you are entertained, or decorate your zone with flowers, pictures of your kids or something else that makes you happy. Make your Zone work for you, and make cooking dinner as much fun as eating it.

Let us know what “treasures” you found in your Zone when you took a second look.

Egg separators, citrus peelers beware. Your days may be numbered. That’s right… it’s time for the 10 gadget getout. Grab a bag, grab a box, or if you’re brave enough clear a pitching path to the garbage can. It’s time to pitch 10 items from your kitchen. The goal is to do it fast. Don’t stand over the drawer dreaming of days when you’ll zest lemons and make your own fettuccine. Move fast so second thoughts have no time to enter your path. 10 things quick. You won’t miss them in the kitchen, and you’ll have more room for free and clear movement in your kitchen Zone.

What’s the Zone? It’s that area where you find yourself — sometimes more often than you’d like — making meals for yourself and your family. For me it’s the spot between sink, fridge, cabinets and garbage. Efficiency in the Zone is key for quick cooking and even quicker cleanup. So what’s nearest the Zone are the most-used ingredients and the most-used kitchen utensils. Everything else is in the outskirts of the kitchen.

Get rid of your 10 gadgets today, and make more room for a well-oiled machine of a kitchen Zone.

Hi all. Welcome to all the new members, and thank you for subscribing to my blog. The newspaper article really got the word out, and I’m glad to have you on board.

At the end of every week, I’m going to give you tips on getting your kitchen in primo Organizing Dinner shape. For it’s not just the cooking that gives some of us a challenge, it’s the space in which we do it. And it’s not like there are options… for the most part, it’s the one place we can do most of the prep, cooking and executing of our family meals. It makes sense then that it’s a place that works as hard for us as we do in it.

Next week I’ll start with the tips. This week, you have some homework… assess your kitchen. What is it about your kitchen that keeps you from enjoying it. Sticky pans or other cooking items aren’t working for you, perhaps? Peeling wallpaper? Clutter? Disorganized food storage. Stand in your spot, your “zone” we’ll be calling it… that one spot in your kitchen somewhere between sink, fridge, garbage can and stove where you find yourself standing for many minutes, and what can be hours, a day — and think about it. Give it a good 3 minutes, and then ponder it the rest of the week. Comment here on the blog about some of the things you can’t stand.

Starting at the end of next week, we’ll tackle the kitchen, step by step, bit by painless pit, turning into an efficient, well-oiled machine that you not only enjoy, but feel powerful being in. You’re going to learn to treat dinner as a game, and you my friend, are going to win!