I have been doing freezer meals. Basicallly, one day of prep and grocery shopping and I get 10 meals that I just have to defrost the day before and toss in the crockpot. I made them during pregnancy for the first few weeks and they have been a lifesaver.
Post by everafter07 on Mar 5, 2015 18:52:13 GMT -5
I usually prep crockpot meals after DD goes to bed, put it in the fridge, and pop it into the base in the AM.
We have a lot of quick stuff too, breakfast for dinner, pasta, pan cooked fish and sautéed veggies, stir fry over rice cooked on the weekend, wraps/sandwiches...
Tacos Meat sauce Rotisserie chickens Crock pot stew and or soups
I'm totally late to the frozen veggies party, but they are so cheap and you can't beat how easy thy are. I've actually been roasting them and they come out pretty tasty.
I spend 3 to 4 hours Sunday afternoon cooking 3 to 4 meals with enough leftovers to get us through the week. It's awesome to walk in the door at 6 PM with an hour until bathtime and only have to nuke dinner
We usually eat 2 premade meals per week - frozen pizza, frozen lasagna, etc. We also eat a lot of pasta and canned sauce. I typically buy a big premade salad that lasts 2 meals.
Other go-to quick meals include: sweet and sour chicken stir fry with rice (fry julienne carrots and chicken breast. Dump in a concoction of vinegar, brown sugar, chili powder, soy sauce. You can add a bit of ketchup, mustard, and /or BBQ sauce too). It's fast, easy and pretty fool proof. 20mins
Slow cooker chicken. When you get home from work, boil potatoes and carrots/broccoli, whatever. 15 mins.
Chili : throw all ingredients together in a pot: kidney or baked beans, ground beef, canned corn, canned diced tomatoes, canned or fresh mushrooms, green pepper, celeri, onion, spices. Add water if it's too thick. 20mins
Breakfast for supper
We have more time consuming dinners on the weekends.
Make batches of different pesto and freeze. Throw on pasta with a protein and a veggie and you're golden. Super easy, super delicious, and kid-friendly. You can also use a batch to cover chicken with and bake or make wraps.
Seriously, this is how I get my kids to eat kale. Because otherwise they aren't into it.
My kids also love egg in the hole. Cut a circle out of a slice of bread. Melt butter in skillet. Place bread and bread round in skillet, add egg (break yolk if you like) and add any seasonings you want, cook until finished. I serve this with fresh veggies and fruit for a super easy dinner with Greek yogurt on the side. Sometimes I throw bacon in a cast iron skillet and put it in the oven for 15-20 minutes too for a super easy meat side.
I make pizza dough (you could also buy from Trader Joe's or the like) and freeze along with batches of homemade marinara (likewise, just keep a jar of your favorite in the pantry). I also like to make little containers of toppings and freeze. Pepperoni or sausage, bell pepper, olive, onion, shredded cheese. Pesto also comes in handy here because pesto pizza is delicious, especially with chicken.
Make a huge batch of taco meat and refried beans and freeze in dinner-size portions. Keep a package of tortillas in the freezer so that you have some available. We always have lettuce or spinach, sour cream, hot sauce, and olives in our house, so tacos are a quick and easy meal if I have everything else in the freezer.
Do you have a Costco by you? Their rotisserie chickens are amazing and only $4.99. We're also a fan of the Normandy style frozen veggies. I second tacos and meat sauce. Usually I just bake some protein like a chicken breast or salmon fillet and then roast asparagus or saute zucchini.
Rotisserie chicken with frozen veggies and minute rice
Crock pot stuff - I prep at night and stick in the fridge. Then I put the heating element part in the middle of the kitchen floor so I remember to turn the damn thing on in the morning.
Breakfast for dinner.
Any time I make a laborious casserole type meal over the weekend, I make a double batch and freeze the second platter. Things like lasagna, ziti with veggies, enchiladas, etc.
Simple pasta dishes like linguine and clams, pesto with shrimp or chicken, veggies with garlic, oil and cheese.
Also thin sliced chicken cutlets and pork cutlets cook up very fast.
Tacos Meat sauce Rotisserie chickens Crock pot stew and or soups
I'm totally late to the frozen veggies party, but they are so cheap and you can't beat how easy thy are. I've actually been roasting them and they come out pretty tasty.
Tell me more about roasting frozen veggies. I always plan to use more frozen veggies but can never make them taste good. Do you thaw first?
Also, I don't think it gets much faster than a piece of salmon, a box of couscous, and some frozen veggies or a salad - seriously 10 minutes from start to finish.
Tacos Meat sauce Rotisserie chickens Crock pot stew and or soups
I'm totally late to the frozen veggies party, but they are so cheap and you can't beat how easy thy are. I've actually been roasting them and they come out pretty tasty.
Tell me more about roasting frozen veggies. I always plan to use more frozen veggies but can never make them taste good. Do you thaw first?
I haven't been thawing but I have been meaning to try it to see if it makes them taste more like fresh. Straight from frozen they come out a little bit softer than fresh veggies, but I like them a hell of a lot better this way than steamed. I brush with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and bake at 425 for 30-40 mins.
Saturdays I try to cok real meals. Sunday I try to do a quick meal to eat that night and a real meal to put in the fridge for monday. Then on Tuesday I make something that can feed us Wednesday too. Thursday is usually takeout or rotisserie chicken. We make pizza on friday.
Today we actually did shake and bake chicken on our George Forman grill with thin chicken breast so they cooked really quick, cous cous, and canned green beans. it was good, healthy and from the time I opened the chicken packet till we were eating was about 15 min.
I spend 3 to 4 hours Sunday afternoon cooking 3 to 4 meals with enough leftovers to get us through the week. It's awesome to walk in the door at 6 PM with an hour until bathtime and only have to nuke dinner
I would love to see examples of your Sunday afternoon recipes!
Post by loskadoodle on Mar 5, 2015 20:48:43 GMT -5
Stir fry Polish sausage and pierogi We grill a lot. Add a veg and "baked pot" in the mic. Tacos Salmon bakes in 20 mins. Wf has an awesome coconut mango sauce that I slap on right before baking.
I keep either store bought pizza crust (Mama Mary's) or make a few batches and freeze (sjh722 she has a great recipe). Throw on the counter in the morning. Add toppings when you get home and bake.
I do mini meatloaves in muffin tins too. If you remember to thaw hamburger/turkey/whatever you prefer they take like 20 minutes. You can even make a batch ahead and freeze. I don't because I have a personal thing against refroze cooked hamburger but it's fine.
I let the grocery store help me too. If it comes prechopped or premarinated in the fresh section I've probably bought it. It's more $$ but it's so fast, so easy, let's me make my normal recipes in 1/2 the time etc. I can also keep things fast but still healthy this way. I use the same grocery store 99% of the time so I know by this point what works with what, what's good, what's okay, what isn't which saves time too.
I'm looking forward to grill season. 20 minutes and done no mess. My summer menu is pretty much exclusively rotate grilled meat options, change up the grill veggies/make a salad, crusty bread/bake a potato and fruit salad.
We eat tons of salads doctored up however with a side of breadsticks too. Especially in the summer.
I know about 10 grilled cheese variations.
Do you have Schwan's where you live? It is expensive but the food is decent and "fun." I usually do a stockup order once a month from them.
We do: Grilled cheese/quesadillas Tacos (DH is charge of prepping meat, I make the beans/other fillings) Crockpot meals (prepped night before) Meals in a box, like hamburger helper ( ) Soups/Salad
We also buy a lot of simmer sauces (Indian-flavored ones). Then we sautee an onion and add 2 cans of chick peas, plus steam-in-bag broccoli. Serve over steam-in-bag frozen brown rice. This is probably our quickest meal, as the only non-microwave cooking is sauntering the onion and heating everything until the sauce is warm
This is so lame, but can someone give me a play-by-play of how you make quesadillas?
With 2 frozen veggies. The whole meal takes about 10 minutes of actual work, and it's cheaper and less unhealthy than takeout. Also, and this is a big one - you can cook the chicken from it's frozen state, so there's no worrying about taking something out of the freezer in the morning. Yes, I am that addle--brained and that lazy
Other favorites are spiral sliced ham and 2 frozen veggies, pre-seasoned chicken breast pan-fried with 2 frozen veggies...you get the idea. We eat a lot of frozen veggies in this house.
You get me. In our house we call them chicken kievs although most of the h time I buy the broccoli and cheese kind. We also eat a lot of fast meals like meatball subs made with frozen meatballs and jarred pasta sauce, or eggs with breakfast sausage and frozen peppers and onions.
We do a lot of frozen veggies. I buy giant bags of organic frozen veggies at bjs. I also try to take a day and marinade a bunch of chicken and steak then pack them in pairs and freeze them. Then I just bake or grill them.
I keep either store bought pizza crust (Mama Mary's) or make a few batches and freeze (sjh722 she has a great recipe). Throw on the counter in the morning. Add toppings when you get home and bake.
I do mini meatloaves in muffin tins too. If you remember to thaw hamburger/turkey/whatever you prefer they take like 20 minutes. You can even make a batch ahead and freeze. I don't because I have a personal thing against refroze cooked hamburger but it's fine.
I let the grocery store help me too. If it comes prechopped or premarinated in the fresh section I've probably bought it. It's more $$ but it's so fast, so easy, let's me make my normal recipes in 1/2 the time etc. I can also keep things fast but still healthy this way. I use the same grocery store 99% of the time so I know by this point what works with what, what's good, what's okay, what isn't which saves time too.
I'm looking forward to grill season. 20 minutes and done no mess. My summer menu is pretty much exclusively rotate grilled meat options, change up the grill veggies/make a salad, crusty bread/bake a potato and fruit salad.
We eat tons of salads doctored up however with a side of breadsticks too. Especially in the summer.
I know about 10 grilled cheese variations.
Do you have Schwan's where you live? It is expensive but the food is decent and "fun." I usually do a stockup order once a month from them.
Would you please share the freezable pizza crust recipe! I've tried so many and never have success! Thanks!
Can of soup over baked potatoes. New england clam chowder (or any creamy soup) over cooked pasta Frozen chicken tenderloins in BBQ sauce, or shake n bake, or other sauce in oven with frozen veggies and microwaved baked potatoes Salad kit with leftover chicken and garlic bread or knots Fried egg sandwiches Pb and j Cereal :-)