Help with Dinner for even the Craziest Schedules
It’s not just back-to-school. Between soccer games, football practices, piano, dance, and eveything else going on in the evenings, how are we supposed to put something healthy on the table in a flash? Meal Planning! Don’t be scared — it’s not just for “Type A” families anymore. Here’s some helpful tips to take the frustration, guess-work, and even the prep-work, out of “Mom, What’s For Dinner?” Also, if you plan in advance, you can delegate certain meals to other family members!! Have a spouse that doesn’t cook? Have kids that are old enough to reach to oven dial? GREAT! It’s all planned out: dice this, mix that, or set temp and throw this in the oven and presto — anyone can cook!
1) Set aside some time before you grocery shop to gather recipes.
Search online or jot down your family’s favorites. Meal planning doesn’t necessarily mean a strict schedule for every day of the week, however it can be as detailed as you’d like.
2) Look for commonalities in your recipes.
You may be able to cook once and eat twice. Meaning, if you grill steak on Monday, you may “remake” the leftovers later in the week into steak fajitas or BBQ beef sandwiches.
TIP: If you’ve got several recipes that call for chicken, you can grill all the chicken for the week on Sunday. That way, you can slice or dice and throw ontop of a fresh salad, in a casserole, chicken caesar roll-ups, or Jordan’s Chicken Salad for school/work lunches.
3) Prep your meals in advance when possible.
After returning from the grocery store, I like to cook the entire package of ground beef or turkey all at once. Then separate into meal-sized portions and store in freezer bags. Voila! Now, all you have to do is defrost and add to your meal: homemade pizza, spaghetti sauce, tacos, casseroles, skillet meals, etc. You may also cut or dice veggies (onions, peppers, broccoli, carrots, etc) in advance. This is a great project for older kids to cut, measure, and store the correct portions for your recipes later in the week.
4) Two words: Freezeable Meals.
This option does take a little bit of time to prepare and some forethought in taking it out of the freezer to thaw before baking. But it’s a great inexpensive solution versus eating out when you have no time to prepare dinner. Check out our Freezer Meals recipes and add some of your favorites, too. You can set aside a weekend afternoon to stock your whole freezer. Or, if you’re making a meal anyway, why not double the recipe and freeze the extra meal.
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One thing that I do is if I plan to make a casserole- I always double it and make 2. If you are already in the isle getting supplies for 1, just double it. Freeze the second one and use it a couple of weeks later when you are in a bind.
I’ve been getting better at pre-prep for our meals. My favorite thing to do is…during Thanksgiving season when the turkeys are $5.99 at Safeway I buy three or four and put in the freezer. Throughout the year I will make one of the turkeys in my electic roaster, de-bone, dice and put in freezer zip-lock bags in 2 portions. I freeze them and they are so very handy to make a tasty meal for my family in 30 minutes or less.
Homemade Turkey & Noodles, Turkey Enchiladas
Freeze in 2 cup portions.
Another thing I do is buy the family pack of ground turkey or beef and cook it all down at once. Then I separate it into meal-sized portions and freeze them. It’s amazing how much time browing hamburger takes!! Hope this helps some of you shave 10 minutes off your meal prep.