Discover How To Strategy Your Meals To Free Up Your
Learn How To Strategy Your Meals To Maximize Your Time
Meal preparation and bulk cooking are both fantastic techniques you can utilize and modify to fit your households needs. The idea behind this is basic. The concept is that you cook and or prepare your meals ahead of time and then preserve them by either freezing or fridgerating them. Likewise, meal planning you can cook one large meal and get 2-3 other meals out of it! The secret here is to make every meal you cook count!
When you are going to prepare a family favorite, double, triple, even quadruple the dish if it will keep in the freezer. Sound terrific doesn't it? Why not offer yourself a much-needed break-- cook ahead today so you can relax tomorrow!
The initial step in meal preparation is always the most challenging. To make it less difficult I suggest that you grab the following products: Pen, paper, your personal recipe collection or your preferred cookbook and fix-it right plumbing a comfortable chair.
Start by making a note of a list of your preferred meals and intend on preparing a grocery list that will coincide with your list. Now, since we are talking bulk cooking here if you normally would dish out one pot of spaghetti plan to serve 2 (that would suggest that you will need to double the dish so be sure to modify your shopping list appropriately) It will take the very same amount of time to cook just a little extra preparation is needed.
Next you can use a blank calendar and merely compose the meals down on the day you will serve them. I personally post my meal plan up on my refrigerator for the whole home to see. This likewise helps to prompt me for the next day of meals that will be served.
The most important tool in meal planning and bulk cooking is your freezer. If you have a little freezer, don't fret; you can fit lots of meals because little freezer space it will just require a little bit more imagination on your part. With the use of freezer bags, that you can stack flat and using some freezer evidence containers you will be amazed at how many meals your freezer can hold.
Here are a few important and commonly used meal preparation strategies and suggestions:
Multi-recipes ~ Using this strategy needs you to prepare numerous main dish meals in one day. For example, on a Sunday morning you could prepare a roast in your Crock pot, some spaghetti on top of the stove, a baked Chicken in the oven and possibly a great salad. You also could quarter and boil some potatoes, prepare some rice and some veggies (either fresh or canned). What you now have is 5 different meals that you can utilize throughout the entire week. You can consume one of the meals that extremely evening and you might Freeze or cool the rest. This strategy works effectively for some individuals and it offers a variety of dishes that you can use. I personally use this technique from time to time. I typically do my multi-recipe cooking on a Sunday and it can take up to 5 hrs to complete however what you are entrusted to is 2 weeks worth of food that you can enjoy. And notification that the meals that I use in my Multi-recipe list are simple to prepare.
One Prepare Wonder ~ With this strategy you would prepare one main dish dish that can be utilized for various meals. For example, lets state you simply baked a large turkey. You could slice a few of the turkey off and serve the breast with gravy, dice some of the turkey and prepare a turkey gumbo and utilize the rest for either a soup or turkey salad. Mind you, you do not need to prepare all of those meals on one day. After the Turkey has actually been cooked and cooled, you can freeze and refrigerate the turkey that you cut off the carcass and prepare your other Turkey associated meals at a various time.
Quick and Easy meals ~ Make certain to incorporate those fast and simple meals into your planning procedure. If your family enjoys Sloppy Joes cook up the sloppy joe meat in bulk and freeze it then all you require to do is defrost the meat, grab some buns and viola.
What about Hamburger Helper? Why not cook 2-3 boxes of it, separate it into 3 different big containers and freeze them. That concept alone allows you to prepare 3 meals in simply 30-minutes.
Designate a meal for a particular night ~ Every Friday night in my house is either Pizza or hamburger night. The concept here is to pick any night of the week and simply designate a meal to go with that night. I always make sure that I have lots of Frozen Pizzas with a variety of toppings on hand in my freezer. The very same fix-it right plumbing company contact chooses those Turkey burger patties (my family does not consume much hamburger). The concept behind this procedure is that you now have one nights meal currently planned. You can also stockpile on that meal when the products are on sale. If you see Frozen pizzas being offered in bulk, get them up!
Love your leftovers ~ This is among my favorite parts of meal planning as it permits you to use your creativity. At least every other week or two be sure to go through your fridge and take stock of what you have in there. When you integrate 2-3 leftovers, you may discover that you have a meal right there. You can use left over pasta from spaghetti to prepare a pasta salad, remaining spaghetti sauce and just a couple of pieces of chicken can be a terrific dish to top with cheese and location in the oven. Again, with a little imagination you can make your leftovers work for you!
Use the sales paper ~ everybody enjoys a good sale and I utilize the sales paper to assist me in my meal planning. When I see our Family favorites on sale rather of purchasing one, I will buy 3-4 of the exact same items and just come home and prepare the meals or freeze the food that I acquired. My household and I like Chicken. When I find whole chickens on sale Ive been understood to acquire as much as 5-6 at a time. Keep in mind that I have a family of 6 and in my household of six; there are 3 teenagers (and you understand how much they can consume). By going shopping like this, I actually conserve hundreds and hundreds of dollars a year in food alone!
Helpful supplies
Labels/ freezer bags/Freezer-proof containers: Be sure that you have all of your freezing and refrigerating needs on hand. When keeping food in freezer safe containers be sure to place a label on the container with the name of the meal and the date the meal was prepared.
Crockpot: This handy appliance is my friend in the cooking area. When utilizing a crockpot you actually prepare the meal, location it in the crockpot, Set it & Forget it. It is a hands totally free cooking experience. I cook whole chickens in my crockery pot and then slice the chicken as much as freeze and utilize for sandwiches, enchiladas, chicken salads, chicken soup, chicken stew. as you can see the possibilities are endless.
As you can see, meal planning is a money, peace of mind and convenience-- what else could a hectic mother ask for?
Now, lets get Cookin!