The Costco Connection - September/October 2009

Get the kids involved

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• Have kids take out ingredients and equipment so they learn where things are.

family proud by providing healthful meals while spending a little time together to share the events of the day. Most, however, feel this is virtually hopeless. Well, it’s not!

Why? Because
it takes the task off your mind, which is 90 per
cent of the battle!

• Start kids young, giving them mixing and assembly tasks.

Here are the five rules for the five-minute dinner miracle:

• Kids are more likely to eat a meal that they make.

In the last 13 years I have written five best-selling meal-planning books. I teach that modern-day meal planning is key to taking the weight off your mind when it comes to making dinner, but so is a little trick I came up with called the “ five-minute, night-before, dinner miracle.”

1. Brown ground beef, chicken or lamb and freeze it flat in a zippered freezer bag; this allows even a child to accomplish an assem-bly-only dinner, with pride, before a parent arrives home.

• Start kids with easy meals that become their signature dish.

• The more you praise kids, the more they will cook.

• Reward the meal maker or helper by releasing them at cleanup.—SR

2. Cut, chop, marinate or boil something in advance for a child to assemble; you’ve added to his or her repertoire.

Between my books and my show Fixing

Dinner on Food Network ( www.foodtv.ca),

it’s caught on. People of all situations, even people who hate to cook, suddenly find their dinners coming together.

3. Spice a beef or pork roast that’s large enough to bake all day in the oven while you are at work; you’ve bought yourself peace of mind, extra meal starters and lunches.

fit as can be, wouldn’t you try it? So, try the five-minute dinner miracle yourself. You may be shocked to see where it takes your health, while saving you a bundle and enriching your family time together. C

4. Double up on something that is easy to freeze; you’ve bought yourself an emergency backup.

Costco member and author Sandi Richard is an award-winning Food Network host and repeat guest on the Today show. Her Web site is www.cookingfortherushed.com.

PHOTODISC

Believe it or not, a silly five-minute prep may be just what you need to get back to the dinner table.

5. Incorporate a slow cooker into your list of essential weekday tools; you’ve bought yourself the tenderest ribs and an array of fabulous stews and soups in minutes.