Plan Around Seasonal Ingredients
Planning your menu in harmony with the season will loosen some purse strings.
You’ll find in-season produce aplenty at your local farmer’s market. Your fruits and vegetables will be fresh because they don’t have to travel far. And since supply is abundant, expect the prices to drop.
These ingredients don’t have to be the star of the show. You can find online inspiration to incorporate them into your menu. You can use them with what’s already in your pantry.
If new recipes overwhelm you, stick with what you know. You can always steam or stir-fry your seasonal greens and serve cut-up seasonal fruits for dessert.
Cook Nice and Slow
Who doesn’t want to make a delicious, nutritious meal you can set and forget? And why do separate dishes when you can toss all your proteins, carbs, and fibres into one pot?
You can make cheap and tough meat cuts taste fancier with a slow cooker. It requires minimal effort and skills to cook heavenly-smelling stews and fork-tender roasts with it. Not only would you save on energy, but there are fewer dishes to clean up.
Make a batch enough to feed a crowd and leave plenty of leftovers for the family. You’ll thank yourself for it.
Skip Elaborate, Handmade Food
You don’t have to make everything from scratch. Just imagine all the prep work and cleanup. It will send you rushing to your favourite bakeshop around the corner.
Pick up something you can store in the fridge or reheat. You don’t have to buy extra ingredients that may go to waste.
Jazz Up the Table
Forget those Pinterest showpieces that leave little room for the actual food. You can spruce up the dinner table without losing an arm.
Nothing transforms a table instantly like a fresh tablecloth. A crisp white one is timeless and easy to dress up. Once you have a blank canvas, it’s time to get down to the brass tacks:
- Bring out your heirloom crockery and crystal glass collection to grace your tablescape.
- Shop secondhand if you don’t have those. You’ll never know what will turn up in your local thrift store. Keep an eye out for linens, vases, platters, and dinnerware.
- Place a table runner down the middle for a polished look.
- Repurpose your old jars into flower vases and votive holders.
- If you don’t have fresh blooms in your garden (or your neighbour’s), opt for native greenery. Take a stroll down the nearby footpath and pick a few vibrant fronds.
- Weave fairy lights around your table decors for something festive.
- Put candles and foliage around the house, too.
- Complement the table setting and put on something stylish.
Prettify Your Water Jugs
Infuse your water with slices of cucumbers and sprigs of mint. This will make your guests go from H2-no to H2-Oh in no time.
Your jugs won’t just look fancy, but they’ll have tons of cleansing benefits. The best thing is that it will cost you next to nothing.
You can make this the official drink of the designated drivers, too!