Part of being a Fascinating Womanhood *Domestic Queen is to prepare nutritious, tasty, on time meals for one’s family. Mrs. Andelin wrote on page 259 of the 2007 edition of Fascinating Womanhood, the following about the importance of meal preparation:
“Of all the domestic tasks other than the care of little children, the most urgent is feeding the family. Other things can wait.”
The family diet is of unfathomable importance. Each member’s health, happiness, and well-being is in many ways related to what he or she eats and drinks. A great many physical health problems can be avoided by eating nutritiously. Mentally, feeding one’s family healthy, wholesome, good meals is very nurturing; it relates the message in so many ways that the homemaker cares about the members of her family, including herself.
Mrs. Andelin shared information on how to be successful in meal preparation. Again, I quote from page 259 of the 2007 edition of Fascinating Womanhood:
“To succeed, allow enough time. It takes time to cook a good meal. Don’t skimp by preparing something in a last-minute rush. Instead of setting a time to serve the meal, set a time to begin preparation.”
An excellent way to prevent a last-minute rush is to prepare the majority of meal items for the day very early in the morning while the small children are sleeping. Here are some examples:
Salads. These can be prepared and put in the refrigerator for lunch and supper. Salads can include lettuce based salads or potato, egg, tuna, and similar salads.
Whole grain breads, biscuits, rolls, matzoh, other bread-types of food. You can prepare enough for breakfast, lunch, and supper, or just one or two meals, depending upon your preference.
**Legumes. These can be cooked on the stove top or in a crock pot. One can cook enough of these to last two meals. For lunch, plain beans cooked in water with salt and onions can be served; for supper, a homemaker can add some chili powder and tomato paste to make the beans into chili!
**Vegetable or other non-creamy soups. These can be made in the morning for quick reheating for lunch and supper.
**Meat or poultry. A crock pot is ideal for making roasts that can be started in the morning to be completely cooked in time for lunch and supper. A chicken can be boiled or baked, deboned, and cut into pieces for a quick pot pie, chicken soup, tacos, burritos, pita stuffing, or a casserole for lunch or supper.
Desserts. Pies, cakes, and many desserts can be made in the morning.
Baked goods. Lasagna, casseroles, and other such baked goods can be made for the day and reheated at specific meal times.
Snacks. Make veggie, fruit, and cheese trays ahead of time and refrigerate.
By having such foods ready to go for daily meals, a homemaker can really cut-down on meal preparation time during the day; it doesn’t take nearly as long to make side items to go with the foods above or similar foods. This can be very helpful to a homemaker with small children, helping her stay on track with healthy family meals and her family’s nutrition, but also allowing her more time to ensure that her small children have the direct supervision they need during the day. It’s a solution to the problem of wanting to cook healthy, homemade, wholesome meals, and finding the time to do so with small children in the home. It can also save money by not having to pick-up fast or convenience foods because a homemaker gets behind on time during the day, not to mention the healthcare costs that eating healthy saves!
Weekly Assignment
How much thought, planning, and work do you put into daily family meals? If daily meals for your family deserve more of your time and effort, then make meal preparation a priority this week. Take mental note of your family’s reaction to having healthy, good, meals on time. Also stop to think about how you feel in making this effort and doing this. While it may be physically tiring until you get used to it (especially if you’re not fond of waking-up and starting your day very early), the rewards are wonderful and many. Doing the right thing and assuming rightful responsibility feels good inside and builds character; it makes life so much better and fulfilling.
If members of your family are sick and you are barely able to care for yourself and them at this time, at least try to give some mental attention to the subject.
If you have a copy of Fascinating Womanhood, regardless of the edition, read or re-read what Mrs. Andelin has written on this subject for more information.
*I prefer to use the term “Domestic Queen” in my writings rather than using the term ”Domestic Goddess” that Mrs. Andelin used in her writings. Both refer to the same thing – a homemaker par excellence!
**These foods are great to cook in crock pots.
I would also encourage ladies to chop veggies one day a week or so and freeze them! I do that with our vegetables, and it saves sooo much time. I can just pull them out in the morning to defrost for that evening’s dinner!
I really need to get around to reading FW – it’s on my list!
Blessings,
Luci
Hi Luci,
Thank you for the time-saving tip!
I don’t think that you’ll regret making the time to read Fascinating Womanhood. The earlier in marriage a wife reads it, the better. It’s an amazing book.
Sincerely,
Nikki (a.k.a. Mrs. Wayne Hunter)
I do this, but not consistently. When I DO make the morning time for food prep, the rest of the day is so much better.
I actually first read this tip in a homemaking book from 1920–and it works!
I agree, Roxanne, about the rest of the day being so much better when many foods are prepared and or cooked early in the morning. I hadn’t read of the tip in any homemaking books before, but read of it in The Book of Proverbs.