4 Simple Back-to-School Cooking Tips for Busy Families

HelloFresh Canada

Adjusting from carefree summer days back to a routine schedule can be stressful. To help families with the transition, Irene Ngo, Head of Culinary at meal-kit subscription service HelloFresh Canada, shares her four food prep tips to get you eating at home more, and ordering take-out less.

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Photo: HelloFresh Canada

Back-To-School Cooking Tips: Prep Your Produce ASAP

This might be the last thing you want to do after you get home, but when it comes to back-to-school cooking tips, it’s a time saver during the weekends. Nothing sucks up time more than having to do long food preparations and deal with hungry children at the same time. Devote some time after shopping to wash and dry your produce so it’s ready to go straight from the fridge when you start to cook.

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Back-To-School Cooking Tips: Stock Up on Frozen Vegetable Purée

It’s not just for babies! If you’ve got a blender or food processor, buy some extra veggies and whiz them up with a little water until very finely chopped. Freeze the mixture in ice cube trays and transfer them into re-sealable bags.

If you’re using store-bought pasta sauces, making meatballs or even baked goods, you can sneak a little veggie-carrots, zucchini and broccoli- into the recipe without the little ones ever knowing! And you didn’t even have to break a sweat.

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Photo: Shutterstock

Back-To-School Cooking Tips: Keep Easy-To-Grab Snacks Around

When you’ve pre-prepped your produce, cut them into bite-sized pieces and keep them refrigerated in re-usable containers. This not only creates a quick after-school snack solution, but also doubles as an easy-to-pack lunchbox snack. For an extra-fun treat, pair pre-cut fruits with chocolate pudding for a kid-friendly and portable “fondue.”

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Photo: HelloFresh Canada

Back-To-School Cooking Tips: Batch Cook

If you can spare a few hours during the weekend, cooking in batches can save you a lot of time during the weekdays. Freezer-friendly and hearty meals are especially handy, like this Smoky Beef Chili recipe.