Homeschool Meals – Time Saving Tips to Get Supper to the Table

Homeschool Meals – Time Saving Tips to Get Supper to the Table 

You’ve rushed around all day and now it’s supper time! Oh no! What will you do? When you homeschool, you make three meals a day for your family. Between Heart of Dakota homeschooling and providing breakfast, lunch, and snacks, supper can take a backseat simply because you’ve run out of time. If you find yourself in this predicament night after night, use these time saving tips to get supper to the table successfully!

Take Two

If you’re making one casserole, make two instead! Just double the recipe and freeze one for later. Put tinfoil on the casserole you are freezing, and use a permanent marker to jot simple ‘to the table’ directions. For example, I make two Pizza Pasta Casseroles. We enjoy one for supper, and I freeze the other one for another supper later. My directions I write on the tinfoil say: Thaw. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Anyone can follow these directions! I also like to note the date I’m freezing it on the tinfoil. So, next time you’re making a casserole, double it up and “Take Two”!

Bulk Cooked Meat

If you’re browning one pound of fresh burger, brown two pounds instead. Freeze one of the pounds for later. Instead of buying one pound of fresh chicken, buy it in bulk. Bake large sheets of it, and then cube it. Or, put it all in a few crock pots and shred it. I like to freeze cooked cubed and shredded chicken in 2 or 4 cup increments, as most of my recipes call for these amounts. I just use a 4-cup Pyrex cup to measure it. Freezer gallon bags work well! I just label the bag with a black permanent marker, such as 4 cups cooked, cubed chicken and date it 11/20/23. Then, I add the chicken, flatten out the bag on the counter to get the air out, and seal it. Having bulk cooked meat ready-to-go in the freezer saves SO MUCH time! Buying in bulk not only helps you get supper to the table successfully – it also saves money! So, that’s another plus!

Stack Cooked Meat 

Once you’ve labeled, filled, and flattened your bulk cooked meat freezer bags, stack them flat in a tinfoil or freezer safe pan. This saves space, fits nicely in the freezer, and makes it easy to find the cooked meat you need for your supper meal. I find Costco’s bulk fresh boneless chicken breasts make about four 4-cup bags. This stack of 4 freezer gallon bags fits in 1 Costco tinfoil pan, filling it just about perfectly to the top. Some of my recipes call for cooked cubed chicken and some call for cooked shredded chicken. I like to have 1 tinfoil pan of cubed chicken, and 1 separate tinfoil pan of shredded chicken. This way, I can quickly find the kind I need for the supper I am making!

Be Your Own Prep Cook

Prep cooks chop ingredients and do any prep that will save the head cook time. Well, be your own prep cook to save the head cook (also you) some time! As a prep cook, chop your carrots, peel your potatoes, cube your butter, thaw your meat, tear your lettuce, wash your strawberries – do whatever prep you can to save the head cook some time later. I like to be my own prep cook because I can do it whenever I have time in my day. Early in the morning, I may set my meat in the fridge to thaw. Between homeschooling kiddos, I might peel and cube my potatoes (making sure to then submerge them in water and refrigerate them). When my sons watch their Constitutional Literacy video, I might run cold water over my frozen shrimp, or tear and loosely bag a head of lettuce. When supper comes and I become the head cook, I can get supper to the table in no time!

Teach Kiddos to Be Prep Cooks

You don’t have to be the only prep cook in the house! As head cook, it’s okay to assign your prep cooks some tasks. Just make sure you’ve given them age appropriate tasks. Cutting with knives, boiling water, or peeling with a sharp peeler might be tasks reserved for more mature prep cooks. No matter the age, all prep cooks appreciate the flexibility of choosing the time they prep. Many prep tasks can be done the night before, or at least several hours before the meal. Kiddos make excellent prep cooks and learn much in the process! They also appreciate it when supper makes it to the table on time.

Someone Else Can Set the Table

Many “get supper to the table” tasks need an adult to do the work. One task that even young children can learn to do well, however, is to set the table. They can practice by setting the table for lunch, which usually feels less rushed than supper. Look at this as a teaching opportunity! Show kiddos how to properly place glasses, plates, bowls, silverware, and napkins. You can even draw a simple sample on a piece of paper for them to use as a model. Then, assign someone to set the table for supper, making sure to let them know what you’re making, so they can set the table accordingly. Also let them know a time you expect the table to be set.

Another Set of Hands Helps

When the clock is counting down and it’s time to get supper to the table, another set of hands truly helps! In fact, you can proactively plan for this by assigning a different child to help you with supper each night. My sister does this and has enjoyed it immensely! Each night a different child helps get supper to the table, and each knows their night to help ahead of time. Put on some happy music you both like, and dig into making supper together. This can be fun!

Older Kiddos Can Cook Too

If you have older children, they can cook too. If you have multiple children, they can choose one night to make supper altogether, as long as they understand the oldest (or the one most capable in the kitchen) is in charge. Or, if you have one oldest child who can make supper solo, ask that son or daughter to choose one night to make supper. When you make your grocery list for the week, ask them to add to the list what they need to make their supper. Now, our two oldest sons each make supper one time a week, most weeks. They ask me to show them how to do this or that in a recipe I’ve made often. Then, I become another set of hands that helps! They’ve asked me to type my recipes they want to have a copy of themselves. This way, they’ll have their own family cookbook with their own favorite recipes!

Make Supper Mid-Morning or Over Lunch Break

If you have a mid-morning break, you can make supper then! I do this often, and I find it helps me out so much. I like to pick recipes that I can make mid-morning or over lunch break, so that all I have to do for supper is put them in the oven. For example, in the mid-morning I might mix meatballs, form them in balls, and put them in the pan with tinfoil on top. Then, scrub some baked potatoes, poke some holes in them, and put them in tinfoil. All I have to do to get supper to the table is put them in the oven to bake. Add a can of corn or a veggie steamer, and presto! Supper is to the table on time!

Crock Pots to the Rescue

Crock pots (or slow cookers) make delicious meals that can cook slowly for many hours. Many of my crock pot recipes offer options for varied cooking times and temperature settings. The directions might say to cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 6 hours. I find this incredibly helpful, as I can choose the option that best fits the time I have left between when I made it and when I want supper to be done. Try to find at least a handful of crock pot recipes you like – slow cooker meats or soups turn out especially tasty!

Cut Down on Foot Traffic

If you can reduce the number of steps you take, you can reduce the time it takes you to make supper. I love seeing my FitBit step tracker log more and more steps as much as the next gal, but making supper is not the best time to add steps to your day. You can cut down foot traffic by putting all the ingredients you need along with measuring cups and spoons on the counter. As you look at your recipe to gather them, put them in order of use in one place (i.e. one place on the counter). For example, if my recipe calls for 1 Tablespoon minced garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1 cup milk, I grab all the ingredients I need and their measuring devices and quickly line them up in order. I also set the trash can out near me, or a ‘garbage bowl’ on the counter. This cuts down on foot traffic, as I’m not going to the spice cupboard or the fridge multiple times. It also helps me get supper to the table more quickly because everything I need is right at my fingertips as I’m making supper.

Only One Cook in the Kitchen

If you can reduce the number of people (or pets) in the kitchen, you can reduce the time it takes to get supper to the table. Little ones underfoot, kiddos racing in and out, dogs barking, cats meowing – well, chaos makes it easy to mess up a meal. When I had little ones, I planned their in-room quiet times or naps (if I could) before supper. Having a quiet kitchen helped me focus on what I was making, and it cut down on mistakes that would have lengthened the meal prep. I moved supper time according to when I could best schedule quiet times or naps because it truly helped me so much to be the only one cook in the kitchen.

A Menu That Matches Your Week

For a menu to truly work, you need to plan it to match your week. Next to each day of the week, jot down what’s happening in your life. Tuesday nights are cheap movie night, so many times our sons and their friends try to go to the movies that night. Every other Thursday, we meet family for a meal out somewhere. Every other Friday, we host a “dinner and a movie night” for our sons and their cousins at our house. Church group outings, basketball games, group weight-lifting, board game competitions, etc. all impact when supper needs to make it to the table. Likewise, doctor appointments, errands, work, etc. earlier in the day impact supper time. I like to grab a piece of paper and list the days of the week spaced out going down the left side. Then, on the right side next to each day, I jot anything going on that day or night. This helps me create a menu that matches my week!

Simple Sides

Making the main dish for supper takes enough time already! By planning simple side dishes, you can sidestep supper prep taking too long. Salad kits, canned/frozen/steamed veggies, take-n-bake bread, baby carrots, a block of cheese and crackers, raspberries/bananas/blueberries, yogurt/granola, cottage cheese/peaches, applesauce, cheese sticks, cut apples, and the occasional chips and dip or air fryer mozzarella sticks are simple side dishes that are quick to the table. I like to jot down my simple sides when I make my menu to match my week. This saves so much time!

Leave a Note

Sometimes you could get supper to the table if you just were home to put it in the oven or to turn on the crock pot! I’ve always homeschooled from early in the AM (around about 7:30 AM) to 1 PM and then headed to work, usually until about 5:30 PM. I could get supper prepped. However, I just needed someone to put it in the oven or to turn on the crock pot! I remember my son, Riley, saying, “Just leave me a note – I can do that, Mom!” I do not know why I’d never thought of that, but I hadn’t. Let’s just say I’ve been leaving notes ever since! Sometimes my hubby follows the note, and sometimes one of my three sons does. Whoever is home is happy to help because they know supper will be to the table on time! I take a piece of copy paper and write in big black permanent marker simple notes. For example…

• 4:15 PM: Bake uncovered meatballs and potatoes at 350 degrees for 1 hour, 15 minutes.

A Few Crazy-Fast Back-Ups

Even the best-laid plans can go awry. For this reason, your menu needs to include a few crazy-fast back-ups! These are suppers, when pressed, you can pull off in the shortest amount of time. Mac and cheese, nachos, frozen pizza, chicken nuggets, frozen taquitos or egg rolls, frozen ravioli with pizza sauce – you get the picture. Not the healthiest of options, but it’s not healthy to skip supper or eat it right before bed either. These don’t make it on to my “Plan A” menu plan, but they do give me a “Plan B” if I need it! By not putting these on my planned menus, I can use them as crazy-fast back-ups now and then and skip the guilt!

I hope these time saving tips help you get supper to the table successfully!

In Christ,
Julie

P.S. For those of you talented homeschool moms who are handy with an Instant Pot, I hear they work wonders as well! I haven’t tried my hand at that yet, as the time frame never seems to fit, but I’d like to give it a whirl sometime!