No time to cook? Think again

A friend of mine once described the difference between cooking before she had children and cooking after she had children.

"Well, I used to actually cook," she said wistfully. "Now I just make food."

Gone were the days of poring over recipes with ingredient lists two columns long. Instead, she explained, making food meant boiling pasta to toss with a container of store-bought pesto, throwing frozen veggie burgers in a pan and topping them with lettuce and bottled condiments.

I climbed up my ivory tower to sit in judgment.

"I love to cook," I thought smugly. "That'll never be me."

I now have a 6-month-old son at home. And I've officially become a master in the art of eating my words.

Cooking has slid down on my priority list -- most nights I'm happy if I can get something from freezer to table. But in the short time I've had to adjust to this life change, one of my greatest challenges has been to find a happy medium.

New technology has made these types of products better than ever. Consumers can now purchase items like preroasted beets or steamed lentils that will last several weeks in the fridge. And both are very good.

Recipes for the time-pressed

Some dishes are worth a little extra work -- even when you're busy -- such as Panko-Crusted Pork Scaloppine With Mustard Smashed Potatoes. In this case, a few extra pieces of pork cooked the first night are spun into a quick arugula, fennel and apple salad with Parmesan vinaigrette the next.

The trick to this crisp pork is in the coating. In order to skip the first step of dredging the meat in flour, I make the egg coating a little thicker, flavored with mustard and sour cream. It helps the panko crumbs adhere to the pork, and provides tangy undertones in the process.

The Quick Chicken and Dumplings takes closer to an hour, but it's a one-pot dish that can be started with about 10 to 15 minutes of preparation, and then left unattended until near the end of cooking time, giving you time to change out of work clothes and sort through the mail, put the kids to bed, or unwind with a beverage.

Looking for more vegan or vegetarian recipes? Consider the Seared Tofu and Crispy Kale Salad. Leaving the kale raw is a great time-saver; it wilts slightly when dressed with the warm tofu marinade, then is finished with crunchy peanuts and slivered green onions.