Make Ahead Meals - Allen,TX

Boil pasta (short type) in water and cook til "al dente" (don't overcook), drain well and eat it with fresly made tomato sauce (boil fresh ripe tomatoes, drain, peel and mash them in the pot with the immersion mixer, adding e.v. olive oil, salt, a pinch of sugar - takes acidity away - and LOTS of fresh basil leaves - chopped - boil until it reduces and thickens). Make LOTS of tomato sauce so you can freeze it and more pasta than you can eat on that night. SO you have now extra pasta seasoned with tomato sauce (which you'll bake the day after, just add more tomato sauce and mozzarella, mix and bake) and ready to use extra fresh and light tomato sauce to thaw and use for other dishes. Buon appetito!

Google "Once a month cooking" and you'll hit the jackpot of information!

Betty Crocker makes little magazines with tear out recipe cards... I pick them up ALL THE TIME in the check out line at the grocery store. Most of them are easily prepared, don't take a lot of time/ingredients, you can freeze them, or use the leftovers to create something totally different the next time. I live by these recipes!! I'm too busy to make gourmet meals every night!! ;)

I make lots of hamburger, (actually, I usually use ground turkey).

Saute onion and garlic in a little olive oil, add in ground hamburger meat and season. I freeze it in gallon freezer bags. You can turn it into meatloaf, chilli, tacos, soup, spaghetti, shephards pie, lasangna...

Also, I'm horrible at wasting vegetables. So, I prepare them, chop them and freeze them in small bags. Just last night I made spaghetti with bell pepper and onion I had chopped and ready to go in the freezer. Lots of veggies/herbs can be frozen like this. I wrote a blog post with several links to good articles on how to do it:
http://littlelovables.blogspot.com/2010/02/soul-salsa.html

I would get a make ahead meal cookbook, lots of good ideas in there.

Hi E.,

I hear ya about the struggling to get a healthy/semi-healthy dinner on the table FAST. I've been just throwing things together....last night was rice pilaf (out of the box) + shrimp. My family seemed to like it and it was easy. I also try and do a little bit of what the other ladies do and precook some chicken/ground turkey (my oldest DD will not touch ground beef).

One thing you can do is make a meal one day, and serve leftovers the next day. If you don't like eating the same thing two days in a row, make something like a roast in the crockpot and use the leftover roast in a casserole or stew the next day.

I haven't gotten used to cooking for just two, now that all the kids are gone, so we eat leftovers all the time... I love not having to cook every day!

I do the same thing of cooking a bunch of hamburger and putting it in zip baggies in the freezer. I also do that with boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the crock pot with a little seasoning and put that in serving size zip bags. Then I use either the hamburger or chicken in all kinds of recipes from soups, salads, sandwhiches, enchiladas, tacos, pastas, etc.

Also, I don't cook at all in the summer because its HELL hot here! My latest favorite find is tostadas! I buy the premade shells, can of refried beans (heated in micro), shredded lettuce and shredded cheese. Hubby and the kids LOVE them and they are so fast and easy, and cheap!

I also only cook Mon, Tues and Wed. I make enough on each of those days to eat leftovers on Thurs. Fri is family movie night and we have frozen pizza and salad. Depending on our plans on the weekend depends on if and what I cook.

Speaking of salad, I keep a big tupperware container of salad made in the fridge so we always have salad with dinner or if we want tuna salad or chicken salad or something for lunch its already to go.

Hope you find some things that work for you! Good luck!

One of the things that helps me is having a few things on hand, like:
* frozen, cooked, cubed or shredded chicken (you can use your crockpot to do a bunch of boneless skinless breasts, or buy precooked bags in the freezer section)
* cooked ground beef (I buy a 5# tube and simmer it in a pot on the stove, stirring with a spoon to break it up), frozen in meal-sized amounts.
* frozen veggies & fruits. always have a big bag of mixed veggies in the freezer. Can sub canned veggies, but they are generally not as healthy/full of nutrients.

Some simple recipes:
Chicken Pot Pie
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/hearty-chicken-pot-pi...
You can use a pie crust (from the freezer section) for a bottom crust (I like this better). Instead of the Bisquick topping, you can also use canned biscuits.

Pasta bakes are easy to make ahead & freeze. Next time you make pasta (we use whole wheat), make a double batch and cook it al dente. Then, throw together this casserole & put it in the freezer. We often add 1 cup of cottage cheese, mixed in with the noodles, in addition to the other cheese:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/pasta-bake/detail.aspx

One thing I've used a few times that was really tasty and so so easy and convenient was buying the mixes from Homemade Gourmet. I'm sure you probably have a rep in your area - just go to HomemadeGourmet.com. They sell all kinds of seasoning mixes for everything from entrees to sides to salads to desserts & more! The thing I used the most is their packages of seasonings that are larger and come with recipes - you simply buy your meats, add the mix and a couple of simple ingredients you probably have at home anyway to a gallon size freezer ziplock bag and freeze until you are ready to use it! Some things you will put in your crock pot, you may want to grill some, and some you will bake - many give you a choice of how you want to cook it. It is so easy and has been a lifesaver in the past. As a matter of fact, since you got me thinking about it, I may go buy some now! Some of my families favorites (off the top of my head without looking!) have been the Cilantro Lime Mix, The Kansas City BBQ Mix, The Sunday Potroast Mix, The Mozzorella Meatloaf Mix, and I know there are more, but I'm not looking at the site, so I can't remember the names - sorry! I would give it a try. I will warn you though, I don't know what your budget is, but it isn't exactly the cheapest solution out there - but boy it sure does save you a hec of a lot of preparation time, and "what are we having tonight?" time! And its delicious food your family will love.
And NO I'm NOT a rep for this company :)