Cook one big meal on a weekend day, and while you’re cooking the meat for that meal, cook extra to use during the week. If you’re roasting a chicken for Sunday dinner, roast two instead, then after your Sunday dinner, pull the other one apart, store in fridge. Use half for chicken fajitas or something on Tuesday, the other half for a big spinach salad (use bagged, pre-washed spinach) with roasted chicken on Thursday. Roast three pounds of pork loin on Sunday. Have half for Sunday dinner, cube the other half and use in other recipes two other nights. When chopping veggies for Sunday dinner, chop extra and store in the fridge (if they need to be used like fresh veggies, like in a salad) or freezer if you’re going to toss them into something you’re cooking.
Things like chopped onions and chopped green and red peppers can often be found in the freezer section of vegetables. Pre-chopped fresh veggies can be found on the salad bar. Yes, it’s more expensive than doing your own, but cheaper than having to order in because you don’t have the time/energy to cook.
If you’re cooking something it’s easy to double the recipe on, do it. Meatloaf, chili, spaghetti sauce, stews, lasagna all lend themselves to making double batches in about the same amount of time as a single batch, and you can freeze half to use on a busy night.
If you don’t have plenty of freezer space, consider buying at least a second-hand freezer. This will make your life infinitely easier.
Pre-planning meals takes some time and effort, but once you get in the habit, it’s really pretty easy!
I was thinking of grilling up a ton of meat on the outdoor grill also, and freezing it cooked. I’ve even got a rotisserie attachment and I could grill some whole chickens.
Mmmm. Rotisserie chicken done on the grill rocks! As for cooking meat ahead of time, that reminds me of one other tip: when you buy ground beef, buy a big pack (cheaper per pound) and cook it all up in a big Dutch oven as soon as you come home from the store (unless you’re planning on making a meatloaf out of some of it, of course!) Then, divide it into ‘meal size’ portions in zip top bags, and freeze them. This makes it super-easy to pull out a bag of ground beef for pasta sauce, tacos, beefaroni, etc. And, it only dirties one pot instead of dirtying one every time you need to brown some beef! I always add some salt and pepper, and maybe some diced onion while I’m browning it.
That is a great idea (for someone else :)). I always buy ground turkey, which is already in frozen 1-pound rolls. It only takes a few minutes to thaw in the microwave. This is in fact what I used last night for spaghetti, though I did go all time-consumy on the pasta sauce and diced onion, green pepper and garlic along with canned diced tomatoes and tomato paste. I knew I should have just used jarred sauce but I couldn’t help myself. I probably added 15 minutes to prep time fooling around with the sauce. And the bread. Had to chop fresh parsley. It’s growing right there in the pot. Had to.
I forgot to mention that even the crappiest convenience food dinner looks, smells, and tastes better with a loaf of fresh hot bread, and with the no-knead recipe, you can have it every single day for a whopping 2 minute investment. It’s recommended to punch it down, shape it, and let it rise for 2 more hours, but if you don’t mind a more rustic shape and texture you can skip that and just plop it straight into the oven.
I’m having this same problem. My son just started playing football and they have practices from 6-8, three nights a week, which is right at dinner time for us. Last night, we did the hot dog thing (I agree…blech). Today, I’m going to make a quiche. It only takes a few minutes to put together, although it takes awhile to bake. I’ll make it at lunchtime and put it in the refrigerator. It’s good warmed up later with a salad and my kids love it.
Arrgg don’t say fresh bread to me, CCC! I gained like 10 pounds when I busted out the bread maker the last time! Now I force myself to only make it at the holidays and for special occasions.
Now that band camp is over and evening rehearsals are only one night a week, it’s not as hectic as I thought it was going to be, actually. But faster dinner prep is definitely my goal if I’m going to get my butt outside and get my walk in. I’m waaay happier if I can walk or run around the park for an hour.
Last night I had salmon and broccoli. On hand: one fillet of frozen, vacuum sealed salmon (commercial bought; I don’t have a vaccuum food thingie, though I’d like one), a bag of “steam in the bag” frozen broccoli, some Soy Vey Very Teriyaki marinade, Lemon and Herb pepper/spice mix.
The night before, I tossed the salmon in the fridge to thaw. When I got home, I opened up the salmon and poured in some of the teriyaki sauce. Resealed in a ziploc and then went to mow the lawn. (You could probably marinade either a) all day or b) for 20 minutes or so, whatever you have time for. I knew I needed to mow, so I set up the marinade to work beforehand.)
After I finished mowing, I plopped the salmon in a baking dish (reserving some of the marinade for dipping) and baked at 425 for 15 minutes (which was probably too many - it was a little overdone). Halfway through the baking, I nuked the broccoli according to the package directions. Plate up the salmon, pour any marinade still in the baking dish over it, spoon up some broccoli and sprinkle the veggies with the Lemon\Herb spice mix. Tasty and healthy!
Too bad the Mister doesn’t like salmon. He’s on a business trip this week, so I’m just cooking for me. Seafood and Indian all week, baby!
The chickens will be absolutely delicious, and are very versatile.
As for the ground beef, for each pound, dice up about half to a whole medium onion, half a bell pepper, and one rib of celery. Mushrooms are also tasty, but optional. This mixture will work with just about anything. Yes, the celery works in pasta sauces, too. It even works on pizza toppings. You can also precook some ground sausage, if you use it a lot. I started doing this when I saw a demonstration of precooked sausage crumbles, and the demonstrater claimed that it was easy to keep in the freezer, and to pull out what you need when you need it. I realized that I could do that myself, without paying a premium.
I’ve started using a lot of ground turkey, as I find it easier to digest than beef. As long as I don’t expect it to taste like beef, it’s actually pretty good. My husband and I like turkey loaf, or turkey patties, seasoned well with poultry seasoning. We buy it refrigerated, not frozen, in packs just like ground beef.
I forgot to put in my plug for EatingWell, my favorite magazine and cookbook publisher. Here is a list of 20 minute meals, here’s a list of 15 minute meals. Sounds like a lot of your problem is that you want to do a LOT, do it fresh and such. EatingWell fulfills that void, I think, the desire to make an elaborate meal.
I took a look at these websites, and tonight, when I am doing menu planning, tend to consult them a lot! The recipes that I looked at (the 20 minute ones) seem to use the same trick again and again: Don’t use meat that takes a lot of prep/cooking time! For instance, it takes 45 minutes to bake bone-in chicken breasts, but if you get the boneless kind, it’s 6 minutes per side in a med-high skillet, almost 1/4 the cooking time! Chicken tenders, which are very thin, cook even quicker, 3-4 minutes per side. A whole pork loin takes maybe 90 minutes to bake, but slice it into medallions (or have the butcher do it for you at a full-service market), and you can pan-cook them in no time! Buy scallops, or shrimp that are already de-veined, and they take just a couple minutes per side in a pan or on the grill.
I love Welsh Rarebit! I made it a couple of weeks ago for my elderly mother. Her appetite is now very poor, but she wolfed this down. Edit; my recipe doesn’t have cayenne or beer.
My husband came home from a skiing trip with a salad ingredients in a lerge plastic pottle thingy. I cooked up couscous,added tinned tuna & served.
Cous cous is just wonderful for turning out quick meals.
Ellen, have you tried quinoa yet? If not, you should - it’s my favorite grain now. Cooks up much better and MUCH quicker (15 minutes!) than rice, it’s a complete protein (the only grain that is that I know of) and has plenty of protein and fiber. I use it in place of rice, barely, couscousc, etc. It has a light, nutty flavor, and is extremely filling. You can find it in the bulk section of good/pricey grocery stores and at natural food stores. I’ve even seen it at Costco. It’s just $3/pound at Whole Foods.
