After a long day at work, chances are you often come home drained, tired, and in desperate need of some relaxation time. Unfortunately, downtime is not always possible, and coming home doesn’t necessarily mean the work stops… there’s cooking and cleaning to do, and for parents, there are kids to take care of.
What you can do is try to make some simple changes to reduce that evening stress – one way you can do this is by taking the stress out of cooking! Below we have provided you with five easy ways to make dinner a breeze and create more time for yourself to relax and kick your feet up after a hard day’s work.
WATCH: 6 tips for meal prep.
1. Substitute your chicken
If you’re looking for an easy way to save time and energy after a long day at work, you can substitute your chicken for Ingham’s delicious frozen chicken range. With 100 per cent Australian chicken meat, these frozen products are a great replacement for various chicken meals.
Some of the most delicious and versatile Ingham’s products include their Chicken Breast Schnitzels, Crumbed Chicken Chipees, Sweet Chilli Chicken Tenders, Tempura Chicken Breast Nuggets, and their Original Chicken Breast Nuggets.
2. Keep your leftovers
Another way to make dinners easier during the week is to keep your leftovers. Better yet, make a bigger batch of food so you have extra servings for the following evening or even for dinners weeks later. As long as you have a freezer, you can store your extra meals until you need them. This is the best and healthiest option – say goodbye to spending money on microwavable meals that aren’t healthy and don’t fill you up!
3. Prepare your dinner early
If you’re always rushing in the evenings, the best thing you can do to save time and have a stress-free night is to prepare your dinner early. This could mean preparing a salad or cutting up vegetables for dinner after you’ve had breakfast (if you have time), then, when you get home from work, all you have to do is cook it up!
4. Use a crock-pot
Another thing you can do is to invest in a crock-pot. With a crock pot, you can either prepare your dinner in the morning or the night before and set a timer so your meal is ready when you get home from work. It is the perfect way to reduce the stress of trying to get dinner prepared and cooked as soon as you arrive home and instead gives you a chance to breathe!
5. Choose easy recipes
The best thing to do to make dinner a breeze is to choose simple recipes. You don’t have to sit over a hot stove for hours to produce a delicious meal. All you need is 20 to 30 minutes and you can have a full, healthy, and tasty dish on the table.
Below are just some of our delicious recipes that are ready within 30 minutes or less:
- Pad See Ew Chicken
- Thai Pork and Beans with Noodles
- Chicken and Chorizo Quesadilla
- 5-Ingredient Sweet Chilli and Lime Chicken Noodle Salad
- Creamy Linguine with Prawns
- Fresh Spinach and Chickpea Curry
