Thursday, October 15, 2026

I want to help my newlywed niece Nora and I thought I would just turn it into a post! I’m sure lots of this is common sense or super obvious but it took me a long time to learn and I’m still learning! So, here goes!

Nora is ahead of the curve since she is a great cook! She is the niece that I did the cooking challenge with the summer before last. We took turns picking a recipe and then sent each other the results.

I actually enjoy cooking and Nora does, too. Nora was able to start cooking at a young age because both of her parents allowed her free reign in the kitchen. Her parents divorced when she was 3 so I think that is also part of her independence in the kitchen at a young age.

Leave Nora your best tips in the comments because I am making sure she reads today’s post!

I don’t believe it has to be the woman/wife who does the cooking, by the way. In my situation, Tom can’t cook and gets home too late anyway. I was the one who was home in the 3 o’clock hour most of my career. I think it’s nice when couples/roommates/families take turns or cook together.

Planning

Who are you cooking for? What are your/their preferences?

Get out your calendar for the week ahead. What nights will you need a quick to put together meal or leftovers? You really only need to cook about 3 nights a week if you plan it correctly – maybe less. Do you plan on doing any prepping? Do you need grab and go for school or work? Count out all of this. I even count how many bananas I will need each week. Repeat meals. It’s ok. It’s also ok to say, “this week I will have this for breakfast each day and next week I will switch to this”.

Play the “What would I order if I were in a restaurant?” game

Whenever I get “stuck” I kind of think about what I would order. I sometimes would love a chicken sandwich on a bun in a restaurant so I try to have some sort of chicken patty in the freezer and buy some buns. I have even gone so far as looking at restaurant menus to get meal inspiration.

Are you currently stopping for breakfast and coffee every morning? Just for one week try making your own at home. You get back your time and your money! The Starbuck’s bacon, egg, gouda sandwich is really popular – buy the buns they use, buy gouda, buy bacon, and make eggs and put 5 sandwiches together on Sunday to be put in the freezer or the fridge would be fine for most of the days, probably.

In my first photo, that breakfast burrito was better than most I have had in a restaurant.

Have some “take out” in your freezer instead of ordering

This can be as simple as a frozen pizza. There will always be a time when your cooking plan doesn’t work out. Another good thing is Asian food – frozen orange chicken and maybe some of the quick rice packets for a quick meal. This can be on the table faster than a delivery order can be at your door. Breakfast for dinner or a sandwich can also be a good way to handle a night you want take out.

Grocery Shopping

Pick the time and day that works best for your schedule. If you need to do pick up, great. If you need delivery, great. Do whatever works best for you. I have found that pickup and delivery can save me a lot of money in impulse shopping. It’s so easy to plan your meals and use the store’s app at your kitchen table, too.

Do not buy too much at a time

I honestly think this has been one of my biggest mistakes over the years. The most expensive food is the food that goes bad.

Your freezer can be your best friend. I freeze bread, bagels, buns, meat, vegetables, cheese, and more. You can really freeze almost anything. It will save you money and time.

Keep the fridge where you can see what you have – not stuffed full.

Now you’ve got to cook…

One of my biggest time savers is to cook ground beef for two meals at a time. I almost always freeze half of the meat. It’s so nice to pull a freezer bag of already cooked meat out to save time. I like to do tacos and spaghetti or chili. You can also do chicken for a couple of different meals. You can have breasts one night and then dice chicken and freeze for alfredo or enchiladas.

Plan for and cook what you like! Keep it simple. You really don’t need a big repertoire. Ideally, I would like to serve two vegetables but sometimes one is fine.

Sometimes I bake a couple of potatoes for a meal later in the week. This is nice to have on hand.

I keep a memo going in my phone of meal ideas I get so that they are there when I plan for the next week.

Here are some typical things I make:

spaghetti

chili

tacos

chicken enchiladas

burrito bowls

breakfast burritos

faux egg mcmuffins

sheet pan meals – kielbasa or turkey sausage, green pepper, onion, mushrooms, potato

rice, chicken, and a green vegetable – broccoli, green beans, brussels sprouts

I tried chicken tetrazzini this week and it was really good!

I love a sheet pan!

Homemade potato skins but cut in rounds:

Molly’s Lasagna recipe:

Salmon “bowls”:

Good old spaghetti – always with Texas Toast:

I love to celebrate little and big things – opening day of baseball “meal”:

St. Patrick’s Day corned beef:

Puff pastry chicken pot pie:

I enjoy trying new recipes, but I would advise to only try one new one per week and keep the others to recipes you can make in your sleep.

Sometimes a typical lunch of sandwiches can be dinner. Sometimes breakfast can be dinner.

Cooking is a lot of work when you add all the elements involved – the planning, the shopping, the putting away, the prepping, the execution of the meal, and the cleanup. Whew! I have more energy in the morning, so I did meal prep on weekend mornings when I was working. Now, I will sometimes put together elements of dinner on a weekday morning because I can. I made the entire tetrazzini in the morning and just microwaved it at dinner time. Know yourself and what works best for you. There are no “rights” and “wrongs”.

Nora, you’ve got this! I love you!

Aunt Amy