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It's such a cliched scenario that it makes me cringe a little to even bring it up, but it happens even to the best of us from time to time -- we find ourselves with a scant ten minutes to get dinner on the table for the family, and panic is setting in.
Modern family life tends to run at a frenetic pace. On any given day my modest family is navigating through both adults' full-time employment, two sets of homework, after-school activities, and doctors' appointments, and I would be lying if I told you dinner was always on the table without a fuss.
Fortunately, I've (so far!) been able to keep evening activities to a minimum, but even so, yes, there are days when I find myself with twenty minutes to get everyone fed and out the door. And that means ten minutes to make the meal, followed by ten minutes to squawk "chew faster!" I'm not proud.
On good days, I avoid panicking during those ten minutes because I've been an excellent planner earlier in the day or week. So when things are going well, I spend those ten minutes doing one of the following:
1) Defrosting something from the freezer.
2) Turning off the crock pot (which, natch, contains the meal I prepped before breakfast) and putting together a salad.
3) Throwing food on the grill or complimenting my husband on his ability to cook with fire like the manly man that he is.
On the not-so-good days, I don't panic, but dinner isn't really my finest moment. Ahem. In a pinch we generally have breakfast for dinner, as eggs are quick, easy and nutritious, and pancakes tend to be a crowd-pleaser.
On the completely discombobulated days, well, I wish I had a better plan. Fast food en route or "here, eat this cereal bar and we'll have dinner after [insert activity here]" doesn't happen too often, but I wish it never did.
Assuming you've not managed to pre-plan to where you have dinner ready to go in the crock or the freezer, but you have a relatively well-stocked fridge/pantry and ten minutes to get cooking, here's some sites to check out: The Kitchen Playground, Jason's Fit Kitchen, and Minnmoms.com all have entire categories dedicated to 10 Minute Meals.
Would you rather see how it's done? Check out Stacey Hawkins, the Time Savor Gourmet or Merci Salice's 10 Minute Meals on YouTube.
Personally, I've got my eye on this stir fry from Home-Cooking Rocks!; while I'm fond of all of the ingredients as-is, the wonderful thing about stir-fry is how adaptable it is to whatever you have on hand (and it's quick, too).
How do you get dinner on the table in ten minutes or less?
Related link: Don't let your need for speed lure into a health trap: Discovery Health's list of the top five "fake healthy" foods.
BlogHer Contributing Editor Mir also blogs about issues parental and otherwise at Woulda Coulda Shoulda, and about the joys of mindful retail therapy at Want Not.
