Most of us moms and dads end up spending way too much time in the kitchen. Whether we are making breakfast in a rush, lunch to go, dinner for the family or you are tackling the kids’ lunches, it sometimes just gets old.  Of course there is the exception, those awesome people out there that just love to cook any chance they get, but not everyone loves it.  With the busy lives that we all lead, even those of us that love to cook are often looking for ways to cut back on the amount of time that we spend in the kitchen.

How do you accomplish this?  I have figured out that there are some things that you can do to cut back on your kitchen time and build on your family time.

Check out how you can spend less time in the kitchen with these tips:

Meal Prep.  Set aside a couple of hours on the weekend to prep your meals for the week.  Even though you have to take that amount of time during the weekend, it really does cut back on your overall time spent in the kitchen.  I like to take this time to prep lunches for the us and breakfasts are quicker this way too!

Meal Plan.  If you have your meals planned in advance, you are less likely to spend a lot of time standing in the kitchen trying to figure out what to cook.

Use your slow cooker.  I do this 5 times a week at least.  All you have to do is spend 10 minutes or less in the mornings tossing ingredients into the slow cooker and turn it on.  Once you walk through the door after work, dinner is ready!  In addition to saving you time in the kitchen, this one is great for preventing trips through the drive thru. It’s hard to convince yourself to go out to eat when you know that you have food waiting at home.
What are your favorite time saving tricks when it comes to cooking for your family?