Premade Meals

You want to cook once for an entire week?? Why not learn some quick and easy pasta recipes instead of the whole crockpot/casserole thing. Victoria makes wonderful jarred pasta sauce and I throw in some fresh mozzerella. You can also put in veggies too if you like. I just finished eating some cavatelli and brocolli rabe. You can make the sauce for 2 meals and just boil the cavatelli fresh. There are lots of easy pasta recipes out there.

A very easy and yummy breakfast is peanut butter on toast. The yummy part is using the pepperidge farms bread. We love the cinnamon raisin here. I just got the new caramel apple bread.... cant wait to try! That and a glass of milk is perfect :)

PREMADE BREAKFAST BAKE-

butter a pyrex or baking tray.
beat 1 doz eggs
add 1lb of your prefered cheese, 1 lb of your prefered veg (we use whatever is in the crisper and chop in the food processor), a 1/2 lb of meat, or any or none of the above.
bake until the eggs are set.

cut into single serve sizes (about the size of the palm of your hand).
put between toast, or wrap in a burrito.

these can be nuked, or reheated in the toaster oven, or if you aren't too fussed, eaten cold.

we've been doing this for years. no fuss, not muss, breakfast on the go. Plus there's no daily wash/ clean up. Its inexpensive, and easy, and healthy.

If you want to, you can keep for about a week in the fridge, or freeze. Make in bulk if you'd like.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

I have just stated making freezer meals at the beginning of this summer, I am still experimenting with recipes to adjust them to what my family likes.
I found this website helpful to start:
http://www.ringaroundtherosies.net/2012/02/freezer-cookin...

I don't cook the meals ahead, just cutting up all the ingredients and throwing them in a bag, that way I put together 10 dinners in two hours on a Sunday night. The exception is ground beef or turkey, I just browned 6 lbs of that and froze it... makes for easy meat sauce or tacos...
I also don't use canned beans like many recipes call for, instead I buy dry beans and soak them the night before I freeze, then just freeze the soaked beans.
I don't make any casseroles, they take to long to warm up at night. We get home late on freezer meal evening so dinner has to be pretty much ready to eat. Our 1 Gal crockpot easily feeds us 3 with leftovers for lunch and we also have a pressure cooker that work for these meals if I forget to put them in the crock in the morning.

As for breakfast: make your own muffins and freeze them: banana oatmeal, zucchini bread muffins, bran muffins, applesauce muffins... in the morning a quick zap in the MW to thaw and a couple of minutes in the toaster: voila!
Good luck!

Look on Pinterest. There are alot of make ahead recipes on there. Also - I would suggest getting a larger crockpot. There are tons of recipes on there for crockpots also. I use mine a ton and am thinking of getting a another one. It works so well for busy days/nights. I have supper in mine right now :) As far as breakfast goes - one of my boys and my hubby love breakfast burritos. I use sausage & egg. I make them on Sunday and they last for most of the week. I put cheese on hubby's but not on DS. Out of a pound of sausage and a dozen eggs I get around 15-20 burritos using the taco size tortillas. I just wrap in saran wrap or foil and keep in the fridge. They heat in the microwave and are good to go.

Subscribe to the magazine Real Simple. I LOVE IT! Each month they have 10-15 "easy" meals that are really good and don't contain ridiculously exotic ingredients. Tonight, I'm making a chicken gumbo from this month's issue and later in the week I am making a beef and mushroom pasta.

I would not suggest that you take an entire day to premake meals. That's unrealistic and you won't be able to stick with it. I would suggest, though, that you plan your meals for the entire week and do one grocery store trip. This will keep you on-track and aware of what you are using.

After you have purchased what you need for the week, look at your recipes and ingredients. If three recipes call for chopped onion- chop two whole onions at once. Portion it out into ziplocs and freeze the baggies. If you need those onions on Wednesday, take them out of the freezer Tuesday night.

The "prep time" is what takes so long in cooking. I really love to cook and enjoy getting into my ktichen each night (with my 4 yr old) and making a healthy dinner. I have learned over the years that careful planning and prepping/freezing cuts down substantially on nightly cooking time.

Easy to make/freeze/reheat:
- Stuffed shells: I do mine with "less cheese and more stuff"... ground turkey, little bit of part skim ricotta, diced peppers, diced onions, sliced (canned) black olives, squash, etc).

- Pork Loin: I roast several at one time. We eat one that night and the others cool completely, slice thinly and freeze. When we are ready to have the frozen, I take a bag out of the freezer the night before and the warm it (wrapped in foil) at 300 degrees; just add egg noodles and a frozen veggie and you have a meal!

- Meatloaf: Same as above- make two at a time, slice, freeze and then reheat. Add sides and you're done

- Chicken tenders: making them from scratch takes a really long time, so when I make them I make TONS of them. I freeze them raw and then bake at 425 for 20 minutes, flip and another 20 minutes (from frozen) and then cool them on a baking rack so they don't get soggy

- Pulled Pork: google a recipe and you'll likely find a good one. Again, make a really big batch b/c this freezes and defrosts easily! Add coleslaw and a veggie and dinner is finished in 10 minutes.

- Beef Stew: The Better Homes and Gardens Slow Cooker cookbook is amazing! We use the "Super Simple Beef Stew" recipe (and the Creamy Chicken Chowder) probably twice a month when the weather gets chilly. You can make a large batch and then freeze 1/2 in a large ziploc. Defrost in the fridge and warm in the crock pot.

- Mashed potatoes: Another side dish that is a pain to make, so make a huge thing when you do. Portion it out into ziplocs and defrost when you need them! I like to defrost mine in the fridge overnight and then put into th slow cooker in the morning with about 1/4 cup of milk and some butter. As the potatoes melt, they rehydrate with the milk and butter. Stir occassionally, but by dinner time they should be ready!

Lately I have been cooking enough to freeze when I am cooking it. For example, a big pan of enchiladas freezes well. Then while you are reheating on another day, pull together a quick salad/veggie and a side of rice. Should take less than 15 mins. We do the same with Lasagna too. Our favorite is premade potpies. We do chicken pot pies and make four at a time. They don't take all day and you can freeze them for months! Plus, they are super cheap to make too! I also will do a big batch of rice and use it all week in recipes like Chicken fried rice, enchiladas, and also as a side to whatever we have as a main dish. It isn’t much but it is a way to cut down where we can. I don't know that I would sacrifice too much weekend time to slave away cooking all day but I also understand your dilemma.

my best trick for dinner quick is to do the following

I get large packages (5 + lb size) of ground beef at places like sams club. I bring it home and brown it so it is done) drain it pretty good and then package into small containers I like the ones from gladware. I put it into about 1lb sizes (they make square or round containers that hold about a 2 cup size) I then stack these in the freezer. when I get home late from work just pop one in the micro to thaw and your ready to make tacos, spag, sloppy joes, chili etc

I also always make several extra boneless skinless chicken breasts when I am making those in the oven. then the extras I chop/dice up and throw in ziplock in the freezer. then your ready for soup, enchiladas, casseroles etc on the fly.

as far as breakfast goes. my kids always like waffles with peanut butter and jelly I would fold them in half like a sandwich and they loved them

For breakfast my kids have tons of options: cereal, poptarts, frozen pancakes, waffles, pancake sausage sticks, protein bars, oatmeal, grits, toast, etc. If the sitter WANTS to cook for them, she is more than welcome to and has on occassion made them omelets or french toast. My hubby likes sausage biscuits, so I make enough of those on Sunday to get him through the week. My kids like them sometimes too.

Dinners I just plan ahead. We are SUPER busy at night (not getting home until 7 or later) so I don't have an hour or two to cook. Tonight I am using leftover chicken breast and adding it to stuffing, adding some veggies, putting some cream of chicken soup on it all and baking it. 10 minutes prep time, 20 minutes cook, and we're good. Plus it's an EASY clean up.

Tomorrow I am making a chicken and rice casserole (first time, it's a recipe from my mom), and taco's in a pasta shell. That will get us through Thursday when we won't be home until 7 or so. We can simply reheat in the microwave. I'll send you any of those recipes if you want.

Otherwise, get a bigger crock pot! I love mine and use it all the time. You can make almost ANYTHING in there...it's yummy, easy, and many are very healthy.

Good luck!

I think casseroles take too long to heat up. We don't get home until 6:15, and my youngest needs to be in bed by 7:30. I need something that can be assembled and heated and on the table in 15 minutes. On Sundays, I pre-make a bunch of brown rice, pasta, and boil/shredd some chicken, and grill some steak, or make meatballs. I steam a bunch of veggies. I buy good bread at the store. I try to make enough that the kids can take left overs for lunches. Mostly, I vary the herbs or cheeses to keep thing interesting, but that doesn't require a lot of prep. This becomes:
Monday - chicken/rice soup with bread, fruit
Tuesday - chicken w/ ginger, rice, steamed veggies.
Wednesday - chicken or steak quesadillas, salsa
Thursday - chicken, w/ pasta & veggies, add a little parmesan or mozzarella cheese
Friday - frozen pizza and salad - Mom's night off

This means that the prep I do each night is mostly assembly, reheat in 1 pan or microwave. Once a week, I feel is OK to short cut with a can of healthy soup, or a frozen pizza, or mac N cheese. It's a nice break for all of us! Pasta sauce also freezes well, and you can hide good veggies in it (see jessica seinfeld's book); same with browned turkey sausage or ground beef).

For breakfast, if we're in a rush, we take cereal in baggies and a banana, with a sippy cup of milk. Or a muffin, banana and milk. It's the same as if they were sitting at the table. You could also hard boil and shell eggs for easy to-go protein options.

There's a subscription service (meaning you pay for it) called Saving Dinner that has lots of good meal ideas. They have a series of freezer meals - you prep and bag a bunch at once, put them in the freezer, then then day you want to cook one you toss the bag in the fridge in the morning and then when you come home, throw it in the oven and dinner is cooked in about 30 minutes. Pre-assembled but note pre-cooked is the key to having fresh tasting freezer meals.

Another option (and you can find this via google or pinterest) is to prep 5 crockpot meals at once. You put all of the ingredients in a freezer bad and then when you want to cook one, dump the contents of the bag (still frozen) into the crock pot and then several hours later, dinner is waiting. A 1 gallon crockpot is plenty big for an average size family. I cook for 6-8 people in my 5qt and there is always room to spare.

Personally, I find that by the time you get out the frozen things and thaw them and/or reheat them you don't end up saving much time, if any.

But washing and shopping veggies for the week can save time. Also, if you know you are going to be making casseroles that require precooked chicken then roast a whole chicken and save the meat for use later.

Here's a website that might help you:
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/recipe_slideshows...

I don't make "meals" ahead but this is what I do. I will admit I'm a little "out" there when it comes to food. Fro the most part, I try not to use canned foods and don't use a microwave.

I buy meat when it's on sale. And a lot of it. I will portion the meat into freezer bags in 1 pound. I will have 3-4 pounds "raw" at any time (this will be 2 meals as I cook with 2 pounds. The rest, I brown (sometimes with onions sometimes not) and put into freezer bags (1 pound) and freeze.

I will put chicken pieces in a crockpot and cook for an entire day. This is so much cheaper then chicken breasts (boneless) and it is much more flavorful. I debone the chicken and freeze in 2-3 cup amounts.

I said I don't eat canned so I make my own beans - I cook them in the crockpot as well. Drain and freeze. Black beans, chickpeas, red beans, kidney beans. I am experimenting right now making refried beans. I don't do a large amounts. Freeze in 1/2 cup amounts because that's what I eat on a salad, etc.

Meal time:
In the morning before work pull out what you need, it's thawed (for the most part) when you get home and the majority of the cooking is done.

chili: browned hamburger (preferably) with onion, beans - add tomatoes and seasoning. I prefer this in the crockpot.

Spaghetti - browned hamberger, add sauce - cook noodles

I cook a lot in the crockpot - so I will throw the frozen chicken pieces in with everything else.

We have a lot of food allergies, so I make my own cream of mushroom soup and I will mix it with the browned hamburger and it's ready for tater tot hotdish or add sour cream and salsa and you have enchilladas.

My husband loves those cheap frozen beef and bean burritos - they have to be horrible as they are full of weird ingredients. I make them (refried beans, hamburger, cheese - I put them in a whole wheat shell, wrap individually in wax paper, place in a freezer bag and freeze. He can reheat one at a time.

We don't have a lot of time for breakfast, but do have time to drink smoothies. We have allergies so ours is almond milk, pomogranite juice, frozen fruit - I've added some protein powder. It could be as simple as yogurt, frozen fruit and a little milk or juice. I've made egg bake "muffins" - I haven't froze them, but they would last all week. I also make breakfast burritos: brown hash browns (loose, not patty), brown breakfast sausage (the tube, not links), scramble some eggs. I try to have it be more egg then hash browns and sausage. Wrap in a whole wheat (you said healthy) put a little cheese wrap in wax paper, place in a freezer bag and freeze.

If you want any recipes - let me know!!

I LOVE my crockpot! This weekend I cooked 4 meals on Sunday. I bought a 7 pound package of chicken breasts from Sam's Club and I made the following...

Baked Chicken with Parmesan and Rosemary - This is a shake and bake type package that Kraft sells. At Rainbow foods, it is in the aisle right next to the shredded cheese. You stick your chicken in the package and shake it up until coated.

Crockpot Pizza Chicken
My recipe is similar to this one but I used garlic powder instead of fresh garlic and I just sprinkle on a small amount of parmesan cheese before serving it.
http://busycooks.about.com/od/chickenrecipe1/r/pizzachix.htm

Crockpot Chicken and mushrooms
My hubby likes mushrooms but I pick them out.
Put Chicken breasts into the crockpot. Cover with Cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup. Add 1 small onion - diced. Add some sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle on some garlic powder. Cook for 6 hours on low. Server over rice, noodles, or mashed potatoes.

Balsamic Chicken with peppers and onions
I bought a Balsamic marinade and put the chicken in that for several hours. Then I cooked it on the grill. I sauted onions and red, green, and yellow peppers. I searved it all over rice.

Whether you need to freeze them depends on how fast you will eat the meals. My daughter is in the 'only chicken fingers' stage, so she ate meal #1 pretty quickly. My husband and I ate the other meals... one on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and the rest we ate for lunches.

I would suggest you buy a crockpot that is big enough to fit a meal for your family. They are so handy to have because you can throw all the ingredients into it in the morning and it is ready when you come home. I have a triple crockpot, so I can make 3 meals at one time. Which comes in really handy so I don't have to cook daily. I got ours at Walmart for about $40.

Breakfast...protein bars...buy on sale at GNC

I make a huge pot of spaghetti sauce, meatballs and sausage and freeze in meal size containers, then just thaw, heat and boil pasta when I want to serve

Did not read all the other posts, but here is what I would suggest. Thaw out a bag of chicken breast, a lb of ground turkey, chicken or beef and one other meat. This should give you more than enough options for easy meals during the week. Plan based on the meats. Maybe one week you are making Chicken Chili, Ground Turkey Burgers, Beef Tacos, Pork Chops and Grilled Chicken. Do what you can to those meats - marinate them, bag them for 1 meal, cook them 1/2 wya through, etc and then bag or put them in tupperware. Then your meals will be 1/2 done on any given day of the week. All you have to do is add a veggie or two and a starch.

If you want it completely premade, I'd suggest things like chili (i make one with chicken breast, diced tomatoes, ranch seasoning, cumin, onion, black beans, corn and cream cheese), taco meat, sloppy joes, etc. Stuff that is easy to make/put in the fridge or freezer :)

For breakfast, we do a lot of the premade breakfast sandwiches. They are not the cheapest, but it works for us on the run. My kids even like them. You could make them yourself - English muffins, cheese, ham or turkey or sausage. You could easily cook the sausage and put it in a tupperware on Sunday and make a sandwich each day out of it!

You've gotten a lot of great answers -- some new ideas I'm going to have to try. I agree that Pinterest is an awesome reference. I also have a Betty Crocker Slow cooker cookbook, which I love! I use the slow cooker A LOT! And, I only have a 5 qt, which makes plenty for my family of 4. I intend to start a little more weekly meal planning and get some slow cooker meals together in bags to freeze ahead of time, which would be super easy (you could also take a half hour or so at night to prepare it, then just stick it in the fridge overnight). Most casserole recipes can be adapted for the slow cooker, so I wouldn't go to too much trouble freezing those. But browning hamburger, turkey, sausage, etc. is a great way to save time.

For us, on Saturday, I'll make pancakes (from scratch, not bisquick) or french toast for breakfast so I make tons extra. Once cooled, wrap them in wax paper and freeze in ziplocs. During the week, I can pull out a few and microwave for 30 seconds to a minute and done! Add fruit (that you can prep on the weekends - slice up and store in fridge. The Tupperware fridgesmart containers keep them fresh for at least a week. Or just slice an apple or two, bananas, etc.) and milk and it's a quick and healthy breakfast that will get them through the morning. They won't necessarily eat that every day for breakfast, though. Cereal & fruit/yogurt, peanut butter toast are other quick options. I've seen the recipes for mini omelets that you can bake and freeze, too, but haven't tried them (yet!).

Good luck! Try not to overwhelm yourself with trying to do too much at one time! You can "build up" your freezer stock little by little.

My new quick go to for breakfast is yummy breakfast sandwiches al lot like a McGriddle. Cooked sausage patties, Eggo Cinnamon Toast Waffles and a slice of cheese. Dip in syrup if you like.

M