Find out How To Plan Your Meals To Maximize Your
Learn How To Plan Your Meals To Maximize Your Time
Meal preparation and bulk cooking are both wonderful strategies you can make use of and customize to fit your families requirements. The idea behind this is simple. The concept is that you cook and or prepare your meals ahead of time and after that protect them by either freezing or fridgerating them. Also, meal preparation you can prepare one big meal and get 2-3 other meals out of it! The secret here is to make every meal you prepare count!
When you are going to prepare a family favorite, double, triple, even quadruple the recipe if it will keep in the freezer. Sound wonderful does not it? Why not offer yourself a much-needed break-- cook ahead today so you can unwind tomorrow!
The primary step in meal planning is always the most tough. To make it less challenging I suggest that you get the following products: Pen, paper, your individual dish collection or your preferred 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 coincide with your list. Now, since we are talking bulk cooking here if you generally would dish out one pot of spaghetti prepare to serve 2 (that would mean that you will have to double the dish so make sure to modify your shopping list appropriately) It will take the very same quantity of time to cook just a little extra preparation is needed.
Next you can use a blank calendar and simply write the meals down on the day you will serve them. I personally publish my meal plan up on my refrigerator for the entire house to see. This likewise helps to trigger me for the next day of meals that will be served.
The essential tool in meal planning and bulk cooking is your freezer. If you have a little freezer, don't stress; you can fit lots of meals in that little freezer space it will simply require a little more imagination on your part. With the use of freezer bags, that you can stack flat and using some freezer proof containers you will be surprised at the number of meals your freezer can hold.
Here are a couple of vital and extensively used meal planning techniques and ideas:
Multi-recipes ~ Utilizing this technique requires you to prepare numerous main course meals in one day. For instance, on a Sunday early morning you could prepare a roast in your Crock pot, some spaghetti on top of the stove, a baked Chicken in the oven and perhaps a nice 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 various meals that you can use throughout the entire week. You can consume among the meals that extremely evening and you could Freeze or cool the rest. This technique works very well for some individuals and it provides a wide variety of dishes that you can use. I personally utilize this strategy 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 left with is 2 weeks worth of food that you can take pleasure in. And notice that the meals that I use in my Multi-recipe list are easy to prepare.
One Prepare Wonder ~ With this technique you would prepare one main dish recipe that can be utilized for different meals. For Instance, lets say you simply baked a big turkey. You might slice a few of the turkey off and serve the breast with gravy, dice a few of the turkey and prepare a turkey gumbo and use 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 been prepared and cooled, you can freeze and refrigerate the turkey that you cut off the carcass and prepare your other Turkey associated meals at a different time.
Quick and Easy meals ~ Make sure to include those fast and easy meals into your planning procedure. If your family likes Careless Joes formulate the careless joe meat in bulk and freeze it then all you need to do is thaw the meat, grab some buns and viola.
What about Hamburger Helper? Why not cook 2-3 boxes of it, separate it into 3 separate large containers and freeze them. That idea alone allows 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 opt for that night. I constantly make certain that I have lots of Frozen Pizzas with a range of garnishes on hand in my freezer. The same opts for those Turkey burger patties (my household doesn't eat much ground beef). The idea behind this procedure is that you now have one nights meal currently planned. You can likewise stockpile on that meal when the products are on sale. If you see Frozen pizzas being offered wholesale, grab them up!
Love your leftovers ~ This is one of my favorite parts of meal preparation as it enables you to utilize your creativity. At least every other week Visit the website or so make certain to go through your refrigerator and take stock of what you have in there. When you integrate 2-3 leftovers, you might discover that you eat right there. You can use left over pasta from spaghetti to prepare a pasta salad, leftover spaghetti sauce and just a couple of pieces of chicken can be a terrific meal 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 loves a good sale and I use the sales paper to assist me in my meal planning. When I see our Household favorites on sale instead of purchasing one, I will acquire 3-4 of the same products and simply get home and prepare the meals or freeze the food that I bought. My household and I enjoy Chicken. When I spot whole chickens on sale Ive been known to buy as much as 5-6 at a time. Keep in mind that I have a household of 6 and in my family of 6; there are 3 teens (and you understand how much they can consume). By shopping like this, I really save hundreds and numerous dollars a year in food alone!
Labels/ freezer bags/Freezer-proof containers: Be sure that you have all of your freezing and cooling requirements on hand. When storing food in freezer safe containers make certain to position a label on the container with the name of the meal and the date the meal was prepared.
Crockpot: This useful appliance is my best friend in the kitchen. When using a crockpot you actually prepare the meal, location it in the crockpot, Set it & Forget it. It is a hands free cooking experience. I cook entire chickens in my crock 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 planning is a cash, sanity and convenience-- what else could a hectic mother ask for?
Now, lets get Cookin!