How Many Hours Do I Need To Spend In The Kitchen?

Efficient use of the kitchen time.

Every woman should take the kitchen job seriously as most men do not play with food. A woman that cooks very well keeps the heart of her man at home.

Initially, I used to spend three to four hours preparing lunch or dinner for my family. Sometimes my husband calls to find out if food is ready and most of the time he falls asleep. I was not finding the excess hours I spend in the kitchen funny. I had to work on myself for improvement.

Here are some practical steps to follow:

1. Plan your meal properly. Meal planning* is essential because;
• It helps to ensure that the meal meets the family's nutritional requirement.
• It helps the family eat normal and at an appropriate time.
• It enables you to utilize left over meal.
• It reduces the number of hours spent in the kitchen.
2. Shopping at the wrong time: After buying the food stuffs, you should not jump instantly into cooking, definitely you will be tired and it may affect your speed while cooking.
3. Meal timetable: Make a meal timetable for breakfast, lunch and dinner and the list should be changed every two weeks. At times you spend much time deciding what should be cooked.
4. Have it in mind that your family is hungry that’s why you went to the kitchen to prepare food, so the maximum time spent in kitchen should be two hours only. 

* This includes arranging all ingredients and packaging them prior to normal cooking time.