[KansasTerri]

Are people still interested in this thread? As a handicapped person I am keenly interested in making jobs easier, and I am down to about an hour in the kitchen.

While I do spend about an hour, there are just the 2 of us and that helps. My BIG thing is efficiency and using meals that are a snap to prepare. For instance I mix the cornbread in the pan that I will cook it in, and I just set it on the table with a spatula so that people can serve themselves. I DID buy a 2-handled frying pan because it is prettier: I saw Wanda using one on Deep South Homestead and I liked it. By mixing everything in the frying pan I eliminate a mixing bowl and small savings of time will add up.

When I do something like raw vegetable strips, then I like to make enough to last a couple of days. It is much more efficient. I do the same with salads and such, and often I do this with side dishes as well. And, making a big pot of stew is almost as fast as making a small pot of stew, and it will give me two main courses instead of one

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I start the day spending 5? minutes taking care of the chickens, and when I wash up in the kitchen sink I then take care of any dishes in the sink: I do try to save steps. And throughout the day when I am at the kitchen sink then I move any dishes into the dishwasher and wipe things down if it needs it. My kitchen is rarely perfect but it is not really untidy either.

After the chickens are fed and the eggs taken care of, I will set out anything frozen that needs to thaw: it is no use putting this off because if I am tired then I will fix canned chili from my preps instead. I KNOW that I will, I ALWAYS go for instant meals unless the meat is already out and thawed. And so I set the meat out first thing before I do get tired.

And while I cook I also clean up. While ground beef browns I will take care of everything, start any side dishes, and often decide what I will fix tomorrow. And I will stir the beef every now and than while I work.

But MOST IMPORTANTLY, I have a long list of meals that take little prep time and uses few dishes, and that is mostly what I cook. The EASY meals, LOL! Anything that needs hovering over, like bread, is done on a day that I feel creative.

Easy meals:

Breakfast. Eggs and fried potatos, or eggs and bacon (I fry the package of bacon and set some aside for later) or packets of instant oatmeal or cereal

Lunch. Usually either leftovers or sandwiches. Possibly 5 minutes to prepare and set dishes in the sink

Dinner. Spagetti with ground beef sauce and raw veggies. Preferrably the veggies were cut up the previous day but veggies can be sliced while the water comes to a boil. Again, I slice enough for a couple of days.

Tacos: ground beef with seasonings and cheese. Shredded lettuce, tomatos, etc on the side. AND if I shred the lettuce for tacos then I also chop more lettuce for the next night’s salad.

I chop the lettuce for salads instead of tearing it as it is very much faster and easier.

Other dinners: baked beef, pork, or chicken.A potato on the side and already-made salad or veggie strips from the fridge. Or brown hamburger and mix with cooked noodles and some sauce (ragu, OR milk with grated cheese, etc) Black eyed peas: cook the peas with spices, allow the water to reduce to where it looks ready to serve. And I mix the corn bread in the pan that it will be cooked in as I do not turn the corn bread out: I set it pan and all on the table with a spatula.

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Of course when I bring produce in from the garden that ALSO takes time, but I do not include that in my daily hour or so in the kitchen. So, I spend day after day preparing apples from my trees for the freezer and the dehydrator, but now I have apples to make fried apples (about 10 minutes of cooking time while you tidy the kitchen f it still needs it).

I also do not count the time that I spend in snapping green beans or shelling peeling and blanching carrots, but having those baggies of frozen veggies waiting to be dumped into a pan are serious time savers when I am cooking