Discover How To Strategy Your Meals To Free Up Your
Learn How To Strategy Your Meals To Maximize Your Time
Meal planning and bulk cooking are both terrific methods you can use and customize to fit your households needs. The concept behind this is basic. The principle is that you cook and or prepare your meals ahead of time and then preserve them by either freezing or fridgerating them. Also, meal preparation you can cook one big meal and get 2-3 other meals out of it! The key here is to make every meal you prepare count!
When you are going to prepare a household favorite, double, triple, even quadruple the dish if it will keep in the freezer. Sound terrific does not it? Why not provide yourself a much-needed break-- cook ahead today so you can relax tomorrow!
The first step in meal planning is always the most challenging. To make it less challenging I recommend that you grab the following products: Pen, paper, your personal dish collection or your favorite cookbook and a comfortable chair.
Start by making a note of a list of your favorite meals and intend on preparing a grocery list that will accompany your list. Now, because we are talking bulk cooking here if you usually would serve up one pot of spaghetti prepare to serve 2 (that would indicate that you will have to double the recipe so be sure to alter your wish list appropriately) It will take the same amount of time to prepare just a little extra preparation is needed.
Next you can utilize a blank calendar and just 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 also helps to prompt me for the water heating technology tips next day of meals that will be served.
The crucial tool in meal planning and bulk cooking is your freezer. If you have a little freezer, do not stress; you can fit lots of meals in that little freezer space it will simply call for a little bit more creativity on your part. With the use of freezer bags, that you can stack flat and the use of some freezer evidence containers you will be amazed at the number of meals your freezer can hold.
Here are a few essential and commonly used meal planning strategies and suggestions:
Multi-recipes ~ Utilizing this method needs you to cook many main course Preparing Pipes for Winter meals in one day. For instance, on a Sunday morning you might prepare a roast in your Crockery pot, some spaghetti on top of the stove, a baked Chicken in the oven and maybe a great salad. You likewise might quarter and boil some potatoes, cook some rice and some veggies (either fresh or canned). What you now have is 5 different meals that you can use throughout the entire week. You can eat among the meals that really evening and you might Freeze or cool the rest. This method works effectively for some people and it provides a variety of meals that you can utilize. I personally use this technique from time to time. I usually do my multi-recipe cooking on a Sunday and it can take up to 5 hrs to finish but what you are entrusted to is 2 weeks worth of food that you can enjoy. And notice that the meals that I use in my Multi-recipe list are simple to prepare.
One Cook Wonder ~ With this strategy you would cook one main course dish that can be utilized for various meals. For Instance, lets state you simply baked a large turkey. You might slice some of the turkey off and serve the breast with gravy, dice a few of the turkey and prepare a turkey gumbo and utilize the rest for either a soup or turkey salad. Mind you, you do not have to prepare all of those meals on one day. After the Turkey has actually been cooked and cooled, you can freeze and cool the turkey that you cut off the carcass and prepare your other Turkey related meals at a different time.
Quick and Easy meals ~ Make sure to integrate those fast and easy meals into your planning process. If your household enjoys Sloppy Joes cook up the sloppy joe meat in bulk and freeze it then all you require to do is thaw the meat, get some buns and viola.
What about Hamburger Assistant? Why not prepare 2-3 boxes of it, separate it into 3 separate large containers and freeze them. That concept alone enables you to prepare 3 meals in just 30-minutes.
Designate a meal for a particular night ~ Every Friday night in my home is either Pizza or hamburger night. The concept here is to pick any night of the week and simply designate a meal to choose that night. I constantly ensure that I have a lot of Frozen Pizzas with a variety of garnishes on hand in my freezer. The exact same opts for those Turkey burger patties (my household does not consume much ground beef). The concept behind this procedure is that you now have one nights meal already prepared. You can also stockpile on that meal when the items are on sale. If you see Frozen pizzas being sold wholesale, grab them up!
Love your leftovers ~ This is among my preferred parts of meal planning as it permits you to utilize your creativity. At least every other week approximately make sure to go through your refrigerator and take stock of what you have in there. When you combine 2-3 leftovers, you might discover that you eat right there. You can utilize left over pasta from spaghetti to prepare a pasta salad, leftover spaghetti sauce and simply a few pieces of chicken can be a fantastic meal to top with cheese and location in the oven. Again, with a little creativity you can make your leftovers work for you!
Use the sales paper ~ everyone likes a good sale and I utilize the sales paper to assist me in my meal planning. When I see our Household favorites on sale rather of buying one, I will buy 3-4 of the same products and just come home and prepare the meals or freeze the food that I purchased. My household and I love Chicken. When I find whole chickens on sale Ive been understood to buy approximately 5-6 at a time. Remember that I have a family of 6 and in my family of 6; there are 3 teens (and you understand how much they can take in). By going shopping like this, I actually conserve hundreds and numerous dollars a year in food alone!
Labels/ freezer bags/Freezer-proof containers: Make sure that you have all of your freezing and cooling needs on hand. When keeping food in freezer safe containers make sure to place a label on the container with the name of the meal and the date the meal was prepared.
Crockpot: This convenient appliance is my best friend in the kitchen. When utilizing a crockpot you actually prepare the meal, location it in the crockpot, Set it & Forget it. It is a hands complimentary cooking experience. I prepare whole chickens in my crockery pot and then slice the chicken as much as freeze and use for sandwiches, enchiladas, chicken salads, chicken soup, chicken stew. as you can see the possibilities are endless.
As you can see, meal preparation is a cash, sanity and convenience-- what else might a hectic mama ask for?
Now, lets get Cookin!