Healthy Meal Planning and Preparation That Is 'Energy-efficient'

http://www.menus4moms.com/ is another site that helps you plan a weekly menu. I don't always like all of the recipes that they suggest for the week, but I do get some good ideas from their suggestions. One thing that I like is that they suggest cooking a little extra of something you eat one night to use for a later meal. I've been trying to get into the habit of doing that so that I not only have less work to do later in the week, but it also saves money since food doesn't go to waste.

Here are a few things I do that make life a little easier:

*I almost always plan for at least one night of leftovers each week. Leftover night is usually the night after we have something big like lasagna or a casserole. I also plan for one meal out on the weekends.

*When we grill, I will have my husband grill extra chicken breasts (marinated in Italian dressing first) and then I keep them in the freezer. I cut them up before freezing and then pull them out the night before for an easy addition to a salad or wrap.

*Wash produce as soon as I get home from the grocery store.

*Have a few quick and easy meals that you can pull together in a jiffy without having to thaw something or buy special ingredients. Works great for nights when you end up getting home later than you planned.

*We like salad with our dinner, so I make one big salad at the start of the week instead of making individual salads at each meal. As long as it is covered and airtight, it usually keeps for at least a few days.

*Meal plan! I usually plan specific meals to cook M-F and then the weekends are a little more up in the air since we have more time. If I'm going to be using the same ingredients for multiple meals (say, chopped onions) I go ahead and chop enough for each of the meals while I'm at it.

*Save new recipes for the weekends or nights where you have extra time to cook.

Not sure if that helps or not, but hope you can get a good system going soon. Meal planning has been my biggest time and money saver. I didn't plan a few weeks ago and ended up making at least 3 extra trips to the grocery store and I probably spent at least $50 more on groceries that week. Ugh.

I love Leanne's SavingDinner recipies...especially the freezer ones. You do all the prep work for the week ahead, freeze it (LABEL IT! LOL) and then on that day, you cook it. Since you have a willing "prepper helper", this is ideal! The recipies are healthy and include nutrition, etc. There is a small cost for them, but it's well worth it.
http://www.savingdinner.com/mega_menu_mailer/dinner_freez...

If you want to check out some free recipies, go to this site.
http://www.savingdinner.com/menu_mailer/free_dinner_menu....

I have not subscribed to the menu mailer...mainly because of my family being very picky and liking only a few different foods. I get to try one "new" recipie a week. LOL.

What I did was to sit down with my family and find out what foods they like and make a list. Then, I have a week magnet on my fridge that I write what's for dinner on, so they know what we're having for dinner each day. Then I make my grocery list for what I need to make those meals. (I don't plan for the weekend as we keep those mostly schedule-free and that's when I try my new recipies and prep for the week.)

Since Tues and Thurs are activity evenings, I need to have something that can be heated in the microwave as we have about 45 min between walking in the door and out again. I usually have leftovers or Spaghettios or PB&J sandwiches those nights. So, when planning your menu, be sure you take into account the schedule for the week.

(I work FT outside the home, have 2 boys (4&6) and their dad doesn't help much around the house, so I know it's not easy to "bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan", etc." All I can say is, I'm SO grateful for the help FLYLADY.NET et al have given me over the years to enable me to actually succeed at home and at work...for FREE!)

A friend of mine sells Homemade Gourmet items and they are exactly what you are looking for. They make it easy to meal prep ahead of time and make several meals at once to throw in your freezer. Her website is www.homemadegourmet.com/minnesota You can check out the catalog online. You can email her if you want to host a home party or place an order. Her email is ____@____.com Tell her that S. referred you to her business.
S.

Several people have mentioned this, but I think it is the best advice - MAKE A MENU :) I started it when it was just my husband and I (we were both working crazy hours) and it made our lives SO much easier.... of course it is perfect when you have kids. I sit down on Sunday mornings and make a menu for the week and try to get my husband and son to help come up with a meal for each day (my son is only two, but sometimes he has good ideas). Once I have a list of meals, then I make my shopping list.

Another huge help for me is I get Cooking Light magazine. I try to go through the magazine monthly (or as often as I have time - sometimes I end up doing two at once) and pull out the things that look good and I file them by main ingredient. Then, if I am having a hard time coming up with a weeks worth of meals then I get out the "chicken" folder and look for easy/good recipes. This helps me a ton. Some weeks I make more new meals than others but it's fun to have someplace to just look through rather than a cookbook.

Good luck!
J.
SAHM to 2 year old Charlie and 8 month old Joey

Here's a few shortcuts that I've made for myself that really help. I designated Friday nights Pizza night because by then I'm sick of cooking and planning for the week. Sometimes we make pizza, sometimes we go out, sometimes we do takeout, sometimes we have Frozen. My family LOVES looking forward to the kind of Pizza we'll have on Friday, and I look forward to not planning that one extra day. :)

If browning meat, I brown a few pounds and seperate it into small 1 or 1/2 lb size bags for the freezer. Same with chopped onions and italian sausage.
When I make Lazagna, or other baked casseroles, I make 2 pans of it, or I put 1/2 of what I make into a freezer dish for later. (those ziplock take-n-toss containers work great for stuff like this. Just make sure the ones you buy seal well) Large amounts of left overs I put into our freezer for later. Small amounts of left overs go to work with my huband and I for lunches. This will help you avoid having a left over day in your week. I personally don't like eating food that has been sitting in my fridge from 4 days ago. Scary.

Start making a list of all your favorite meals and ones that you are comfortable making and are easy to make on a weeknight. Then, start adding to your list by looking up recipes and checking with your friends. Talk to people at work about what they're having for dinner and start sharing cooking ideas. Some of my most favorite meals are ones I got from friends. Then, make a mini grocery list for every meal. Eventually, you'll have a huge list of meals to choose from. (I just went with the main dish because I can whip up a side dish very easily) Hang the list it on your fridge and at a glance, you will have a list of the ingredients so that you can do a quick check in your fridge/cupboards to make sure you have everything you need to make it. Then, plan ahead by taking things out of the freezer and putting them in the fridge to thaw ahead of time so that when you come home from work, it's ready to cook. I did this and now I have approx 50 meals that I rotate into our supper routines without having to repeat any meals.

Also, if you plan ahead...you can take meat out of the freezer up to 4 days ahead of when you're going to eat it. Chicken, steaks, fish, etc. When you take things out, think ahead a few days and just pull a few things out to thaw for the week ahead. Then, when it comes to thinking of those last minute meals, they will be alot easier if you have a main dish in mind.

By planning ahead, you'll save yourself alot of stress and time. I'm home by 5:15 and I can usually have a meal on the table by 6:15. Done eating at 6:45, plenty of time for a walk, or play and still get to bed at 8.

Hope these things help you. Good luck.

I don't cook much, but I know a few meals that freeze really well, and like to make a double batch when I do cook and freeze one for next week. Meatloaf, tater tot hotdish, spaghetti sauce, chili, lasagne.