Solutions to 9 of the greatest challenges and obstacles in cooking weeknight dinners

Cooking dinner on weeknights could be a challenge when coming home late from work and already hungry. Add kids that need attention and a partner with allergies to the mix and stir, what do you get? a soup of obstacles to cooking weeknight dinners!

We all have different situations, different cooking skills and a different palate of recipes we are familiar with. The reason I started working on IngredientMatcher was mainly because I had a problem with my own weeknight cooking. I found myself staring into the fridge searching for inspiration on what to make, but after a long day at work, the creativity was not on top.

I was inspired to write this blog post after a conversation thread on The Kitchn where people were sharing their greatest obstacles in cooking dinner. What I did was to summarize all the obstacles mentioned and then doing some research to verify and complement this list of top 9 obstacles in cooking weeknight dinners (in no order of priority):

1. Lack of time
   • Preparing vegetables
   • Thawing
   • Heating up water, etc
2. Lack of energy
3. Not knowing what to cook/no plan
   • Using leftover ingredients
   • That will satisfy everyone in the family (taste, allergies, diets)
   • Not knowing what ingredients are at home
   • No inspiration for eating something new and healthy
4. Cleaning up afterwards
5. Hungry before starting to cook
6. Missing the skills to cook without a recipe or adapting one (e.g. which ingredients go well together, cooking time of vegetables, possible substitutions, basic sauce recipes)
7. Not getting the timing right
8. Shopping for groceries
9. Distractions like kids, phone calls, etc

 

 

Having these obstacles could lead to:

• Eating same old meals over and over
• Eating processed food
• Eating out
• Eating something really simple and quick (cereals, sandwich, etc)
• Taking an extra trip to the store

 

Solutions to 9 of the greatest challenges and obstacles in cooking weeknight dinners:

#	Obstacles	Solutions
1	Lack of time Preparing vegetables Thawing Heating up water, etc	Buy pre-prepped veggies Prep vegetables in advance (like in the morning or day before) or use recipes that are make-ahead meals Use smart kitchen tools like a mandoline, food processor, immersion blender, microplane, etc Cook big batches and freeze it for a quick meal Prepare some basic components like sauces that you freeze in smaller portions (e.g. in ice cube trays), you could also grate cheese and freeze it, make shredded chicken and freeze in zip-loc bags, chop fresh herbs and freeze it. Use a pressure cooker to cook things faster Load up a slow cooker in the morning and have a hot ready meal ready when you come home
2	Lack of energy	Snack on a vegetable or fruit Crank up some music Keep a list of fast and simple recipes you like Otherwise same as #1
3	Not knowing what to cook/no plan Using leftover ingredients That will satisfy everyone in the family (taste, allergies, diets) Not knowing what ingredients are at home No inspiration for eating something new and healthy	Meal planning Keep a list of dishes you really like that you can cook on a weeknight (on a paper stuck on your fridge, on a pinterest board or in some convenient app) Get to learn the basics of some typical "use what you have" or leftover dishes: Creamy soups (vegetables, broth, cream and spices) Pasta sauces (fry some pieces of vegetables/mushrooms/meat, add some liquid like dairy based or tomato based, add spices and simmer) Pasta casseroles (Macaroni & cheese with additions) Pizzas Frittata or omelettes Fried rice Pies or quiche Stews & Casseroles Keep an up to date list of the ingredients you have at home that soon will expire (keep the list on your fridge or use an app) Use the IngredientMatcher app
4	Cleaning up afterwards	Buy a great dishwasher Make more one pot meals Clean up in between the cooking steps Leave it to someone else in your family
5	Hungry before starting to cook	Snack on a vegetable or fruit Perhaps a slice of bread will beat of the worst hunger
6	Missing the skills to cook without a recipe or adapting one (e.g. which ingredients go well together, cooking time of vegetables, possible substitutions, basic sauce recipes)	Check out the great cooking infographics that are out there, like Cooksmarts or Chasing Delicious Take some online cooking courses Craftsy Skillshare Udemy Online cooking schools like:Epicurious, TheKitchn, Taste of Home, TasteMade, Rouxbe, SmartKitchen, America's test kitchen Youtube channels like Hilah cooking, FoodWishes, Gordon Ramsey, ChefSteps, Chow
7	Not getting the timing right	Read the whole recipe before starting to cook and estimate the time for each part Make a plan in advance when to do the different steps Use the "Mise en place" approach so you have all the ingredients prepared before starting to cook
8	Shopping for groceries	Keep a well stocked pantry and freezer so you always can whip up a meal even if you don't have fresh ingredients on hand Buy online and get it delivered Use meal planning and buy all necessary ingredients in one go Use an organized shopping list
9	Distractions like kids, phone calls, etc	Don't answer calls.. Have the kids involved in cooking or keep them occupied with something fun they like while in the kitchen (or even put them in front of the TV)

 

This list of solutions will be updated so please enter your email below to be notified when there’s new info.