JES Restaurant Equipment Blog Preventing Burnout in the Kitchen

We've all been cooking at home this year more than we have in the past. While this can be good on many levels, it can also increase the possibility of burnout in the kitchen. To prevent this from happening, here are several helpful tips you can employ to keep kitchen burnout at bay. Keep it fun. While it's always a good idea to keep a list of recipes you can rely on, rotating through the same meals can still get old after a while. Keep cooking fun by experimenting with new recipes and ingredients every so often to ensure that you (and your tastebuds) don't get bored. Make dinner a family affair. If you cook dinner for your family every night, bring everyone in to help. There's no rule that says only the adults have to contribute to making dinner. Regardless of age, everyone can help bring a meal together. Depending on the age of the children, have them help by chopping up vegetables or cooking the rice. If they are too young to help prep ingredients or cook part of the meal, have them set and clear the table before and after dinner or have them read the recipe directions out loud so you don't have to constantly refer back for the next step.Take turns cooking. If you have a partner or family, create a schedule where everyone takes turns making dinner so that the task doesn't always fall to the same person. If you live by yourself, consider meal prepping a few meals ahead of time that can be placed in the freezer for the days you don't feel like cooking or the weeks that are crazy busy. Another option would be to make space in your budget for takeout once or twice a week. Regardless of how many potential cooks are under the same roof, knowing that there is at least one night built in to your week where no one cooks can also ease the burden of figuring out what to make for dinner and who is going to make it. Stick to a list. Figuring out what to make every night can become burdensome even for those who love cooking. Prevent burning out that love of cooking and wearing out your favorite recipes by creating a menu for the week ahead of time. This will not only take away the decision-making each meal but can also be beneficial when preparing to go to the store. By planning out your meals for the week ahead of time, you can know exactly what needs to be purchased at the grocery store as well as cut down on any leftovers or excess ingredients by choosing recipes that have overlapping ingredients. Fit your meals to your schedule. While a nicely prepared, sit down meal is nice, there's no rule that says this must be the norm every night. If work is going to be incredibly busy this week or there's three different afterschool activities all on the same night, plan around this so that making dinner isn't an additional stressor to your schedule. Whether this means eating out that night or making simpler meals for the week, make sure that you are adjusting your meals to your schedule and not rearranging your schedule to accommodate the meal.Take advantage of one-pot, one-sheet, and slow cooker recipes. Recipes that require one pot or one baking sheet are great because they are typically simple, fast, and tasty. They are also especially great for nights you don't have the time or energy to make anything more elaborate. Crockpot recipes are great for similar reasons as you can add all the ingredients to the slow cooker in the morning, turn it on before going about your day, and dinner is ready and waiting when you return at the end of the day. Relax. Whether you're cooking dinner for your family or just yourself, dinner is still just dinner. It's okay if dinner is a little late or if you had to make a last-minute menu change because at the end of the day the details like whether or not dinner was served promptly at 6pm don't matter.