Cooking Tip #1: Menu planning, a necessity

Too many times, people walk into the kitchen at 5:30 in the evening after working a long day and rummage through the cabinets trying to figure out what to make for dinner, only to end up realizing they are missing this ingredient for that or the meat they want is frozen.  Most times this ends with people ordering in or taking out.  Planning a menu ahead of time is a sure fire way to ensure this does not happen to you night after night.  Most people's first reaction to the idea of menu planning is 'I don't have time'.  If you have time to sit down to watch the half hour news or an hour long show, you have time to plan a menu.  While watching your favorite show, just look at your schedule for the week and write down what you are going to make for each night of the week.  It is as simple as that!  This way you can make sure you get the meat you need out of the freezer the night before or stop by the store on your way home to pick up that missing ingredient!