You begin with a big pot of soup ro stew every weekend....and a freezer full of things like frozen boneless chicken breasts, salmon fillets, small steaks, and bags of frozen shrimp.
And then remember to make lists of the fresh produce things you need and stuff like milk, cheese etc and be sure DH has a list.....and does the shopping for them.
Linda C

A little work on the weekend will help you immensely for the rest of the week.

First, buy various meats and put them in freezer containers or zip lock bags in meal sized portions with marinade. That way, you can take one out in the morning, and by dinner time it will be defrosted and nicely marinated for the grill. You can also chop veggies, and put them in a zip lock bag or microwave container with a pat of butter and some herbs, or some capers and garlic (add a bit of lemon juice just before cooking), and your veggies will be ready to zap as well...or put in a pan on the grill next to your meat.

Every time you make any dish that can be frozen, make more than you can eat and freeze a meal to be zapped on a night you're just too tired or late to cook.

Remember that almost any kind of stew can be turned into a soup for another meal by cutting the pieces smaller, and adding a bit of stock...and maybe a handful of frozen peas or corn or greens to "freshen" it up.

On the weekend, if you're browning meat to make beef stew, brown extra while you're at it to toss into another pot for a different dish...double your production in just a few extra minutes. For example, you've browned your stewing beef in two pots. Now, chop onions for the stew pot, and dice some for the other pot, in which you'll make burgundy beef instead. Equal parts red wine & beef stock, with a dash of thyme and marjoram. Make one roux to split between them.

Keep a few shortcuts around. Jars of a decent brand of spaghetti sauce, salsa, stock, cans of beans, "cream of" soups, etc.

Did you have chicken pieces on the grill for dinner with egg noodles and veggies on the side? Cook extra of everything, and in the morning...or the next morning, assemble a simple casserole of the cooked chicken, pasta and veggies, with a jar of tomato sauce, a jar of salsa, or a can of "cream of" soup, and it can be zapped or put into an oven to warm. May not be exotic, but it beats McDonalds because you're just too harried to cook!

That's the ticket, to train yourself to think ahead. A little extra time one evening, and you're inspired to make a stir fry? Chop extra veggies and put them into the fridge for a no fuss vegie herb saute side dish the next night.

If you keep a few good salad dressings around, you can either buy premixed bags of salad or make your own on the weekend (if you tear lettuces instead of cutting them, wash and spin them well, and store them in tupperware or plastic bags with a paper towel, they will last at least several days). Then, any leftover grilled meats (purposefully grill a bit more than you need!) can go on top of greens for a salad meal...lots of other leftovers can be used that way as well.

At first, you will have to consciously think of ways you can extend your cooking one day or night into two or three meals, but with a bit of practice, you'll do it automatically.

The rice cooker will be a boon, because so often, fast cooking adds calories. So, you can cut some by eating plain rice as the side rather than mashed potatoes or pasta or something that requires added fats. Also, a rice cooker can be used for much more than just rice. A quick Google of "rice cooker meals" turned this up for you.

Good luck! :D

Here is a link that might be useful: rice cooker recipes

I spent a couple of years living in one place and working on another. I came home on weekends and did a marathon in the kitchen on weekends to leave food for the gang that was appealing and easy. I froze a lot of menu items in one serving containers.

I always cut up a big bin of fruit salad each week. It was always consumed. I also left a bin of crudites to munch on. Also gone. The fact that the work was done made the fruits and veggies an easy choice.

Freezer Friends: (1- and 2-serving size containers)

* Sloppy Joe Meat, BBQ Beef in single-serving plastic containers. Sliced Deli Meats in 1-serving portions wrapped in fold-lock-top sandwich bags and stored in a plastic container (I also freeze homemade sandwich rolls individually in foil pop-up sheets.)

* Taco Meat - but used for tacos, tostados, taco salad - I always have a vacuum sealed container of fresh greens and a vacuum sealed container of grated cheese in the refrigerator. Also keep a supply of flour tortillas in the refrigerator or freezer and taco shells in the cabinet.

* Spaghetti and meat sauce - just boil pasta and heat sauce

* Ham buns (homemade dinner rolls with slices of deli ham wrapped in pop-up foil sheets - heat and eat)

* Stir-fry beef or chicken. I pre-make my own, but it now all comes ready-to-cook from the freezer case. Chop a few veggies or add from a bag from the frozen food section.

* Sliced Roast Beef/Pork (vacuum-sealed in portions). I also freeze dollops of mashed potatoes and vacuum seal them in a single layer. Add a tossed salad and fruit....whole meal deal.

Freezer Mashed Potatoes -
5# potatoes - cooked and mashed (I only scrub them, but they can be peeled if you like)
Add: 6 oz. cream cheese, 1 c. sour cream, 1/4 c. butter, and chives or spices if you like.
Using an ice cream scoop, dollop potatoes onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and quick freeze. Vacuum seal for longer storage time.

* The meat for Ground Beef Stroganoff frozen in 1-cup containers. Boil the pasta of choice and top with the meat mixture.

* Chili - can be a meal or a topping on baked potatoes or the mixture in a taco salad.

-Grainlady (who cooks infrequently and survives out of the freezer for her daily "bread")

Pasta takes less time to cook than rice or potatoes. Cook extra linguine the night you plan to have Italian meat sauce (from your freezer) and park the extra cooked pasta in the fridge. Two nights later, make chicken or beef lo mein, throwing the pasta in hot water a minute just to heat it and make the lo mein:

1/2 lb. sirloin steak or chicken breast, cut into thin strips
1 TB peanut or canola oil, divided
2-4 fresh cloves garlic, minced or jarred garlic
1 cup sliced celery, cut on the bias
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
chopped fresh or frozen spinach
opt. thinly sliced onion and/or green bell pepper

stir fry beef/chix in half the oil until beef has lost pink color or chix is cooked through - remove to plate and reserve

stir fry vegetables in the rest of the oil until crisp tender

add in beef/chix and cooked linguine noodles

stir in 3-2-1 sauce:
3 TB soy sauce, light (thin)
2 TB oyster sauce
1 TB toasted oriental sesame oil
1/2 t. sugar

heat all in pan until hot and sauce is into ingredients well

serve hot
~ source: Jane Brody's Good Food book

When you shop, come home and cook up everything you bought, and package in meal-sized portions. You do all your chopping at one time (saves a lot of time and clean-up) You can have a roast, a chicken and a casserole all going at once in the oven (saves time, energy and $$$$$$$$!).

When you plan one meal, make it double-sized and plan to use the leftovers as something else. BBQ beef or chicken can be used the next day to top a baked potato or on a pizza. Creamed Dried Beef one night? Mix the leftover gravy with cooked pasta or sliced potatoes for a casserole the next. Ham one night? leftover ham can go into an omelette, or a ham salad melt. Grilled chicken or steak tonight? tomorrow, the leftovers get sliced and put on top of a meal-sized salad.

Make up a big pot of ground beef, cooked with tomato sauce (not seasoned) and--optionally--onions. Pack in ziplock bags and freeze. With the addition of various spices and simple ingredients it can become any number of different things (CHILI Powder for sloppy Joes); Garlic and Italian seasonings for a quick spaghetti dinner; paprika, vegetables and noodles for an easy goulash.

When time is short, don't forget the supermarket salad bar. Great place to pick up cleaned and cut up vegetables for using in recipes (if you don't mind the few extra cents you pay for them).

Cheese sauce freezes well--I always have several pints in the freezer. Can be used for Welsh Rarebit, Mac and cheese, scalloped potatoes, etc.

Don't forget, on those days when it's just too much trouble to do a lot of cooking, you can always make pancakes or french toast for dinner. Top with some fresh fruit (utilize that supermarket salad bar, if you have to) and, if desired, add some bacon or sausage. Oh, when I buy bacon, I cut the package in half crosswise, and then wrap about 6-8 half slices together. The packages get put into a ziplock bag in the freezer. 6-8 half slices is really enough for DH and I to make a meal of, and we're not tempted to overeat something we love, but that isn't really that good to eat in large quantities--LOL. The frozen bacon can go right into a hot frying pan, and after a few minutes, you'll be able to start peeling off the slices.

Don't forget about crockpot meals too.
Google for LOTS of recipes, but even if you just toss some meat in there in the morning, you can microwave some veggies and a potato, or serve with whole grain bread.

In order to minimize trips to the store, you can freeze:
Milk
Cheese (makes it crumbly, but still good for baked dishes)
Casseroles (lasagne, enchiladas, etc).
Cooked meats (as mentioned above).
Bread

Keep a container in the freezer for those bits of leftovers and when it's full, make soup!! You can save meats, veggies, rice, potatoes, etc. Toss it all in a pot, add a can of tomatoes, seasonings and let simmer (I like to add a little brown gravy mix too, not enough to thicken, but it adds depth of flavor, especially to a beef based soup).

And..............NO GUILT about eating a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich once in awhile!!

Deanna

I like grilled meat, particularly seafood and chicken. I would grill lots of chicken breasts and make a good rice pilaf
then make plates of this. It freezes really well and all you need to add is bagged lettuce and some tomato.
I fall into the camp of one who LOVES bagged greens of all kinds, although some brands are better than others. Have this with some frozen bread- I buy really good artisan baguettes still frozen - you have to ask for them- and store in the freezer.

Great thread. Copy and Pasted.

I also plan for leftovers. It saves another night of cooking and is good for the budget. My favorite is a grilled london broil the first night and then the second night steak tidbits on garlic bread. I just make the usual garlic bread, top with the thinly sliced steak, Worcestershire sauce and mozzarella - bake until cheese melts.

Also already mentioned but I am big on soups. I usually have some type of bean soup in the fridge for lunch for me for the week. I definitely notice a better energy level for the day when I have beans or a no-carb lunch.

If you look up Giada Delaurentis on food network site - she has alot of quick healthy meals. I make her recipes all the time.

Good luck on your new endeavor.

Try to remember that it is fine to eat the same foods over and over. You don't have to have lots of variety or exotic ingredients. If you want chinese or indian, go out.
This forum can easily make you want to try lots of new and interesting foods.

Lots of great suggestions for what to cook, but I don't think anybody has mentioned the 'paperwork'. Keeping track of what's in that freezer can be one of the biggest challenges. For this project to work over the long haul, you really need to set up some sort of system. Doesn't have to be real sophisticated -- just reasonably accurate. Most of these suggestions are just common sense and you've probably already thought of them. But it never hurts to have a reminder, right? :)

First, you need to label each container so you'll know what's in there. After it's frozen, it's often hard to tell what it is, especially when it's an ingredient rather than a completed dish. Are those "nuggets" in the ziplock bag chicken or catfish? And did you brown that ground beef plain or with Tex-Mex seasonings? And if it's a casserole, you don't want to have to peel off the foil to see if you're having lasagna or pastitsios for dinner.

Dating everything is always helpful since most things taste better if eaten within a few months of freezing. And in some cases, of course, dating is absolutely essential to avoid spoilage. Broth is a prime example. Like several have said, keeping broth in the freezer is one of the real secrets to staying ahead in the cooking game. But beef, chicken, vegetable and shrimp broth all should be used within a certain period of time -- and the safe point for each of them is different. So do date your containers!

Also, it's *very* helpful to include cooking instructions on the label -- especially since you're anticipating that your DH will have to do a lot of this on his own. A sample label might read:

Lasagna 2/08/08
Uncover and thaw on counter for 1 hour. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 min. Sprinkle grated mozzarella on top and cook an additional 10 min., until cheese melts. Allow to sit for 10 min. before slicing, meanwhile sticking garlic bread in oven.

To avoid writing this out everytime, it's easy to set up for a label-printing program.

The other thing I think is so important is to keep a master list of what's in the freezer. Maybe tape it to the top, and just mark off stuff as it's used. Otherwise, you're clueless as to your 'resources'.

The record-keeping is a huge drag. But if you don't do it, I can almost promise you that you'll quickly get lost.

Best of luck!

sm

SM - great idea on the label templates. I've got to remember to do that in the future.

Lately it's been masking tape & a sharpie!

Thank you everyone, please keep the ideas coming. The more basic, the better :)

Buy or make meatballs:

~ heat with jarred pasta sauce over pasta

~ heat with apple jelly and barbecue sauce for bbq meatballs

~ heat with grape jelly, chili sauce and diced onion for sweet 'n sour meatballs, serve over rice

~ heat with Manwich sauce for meatball subs w/ provolone

Freezer Stash Meatballs - makes about 48

3 lb. lean ground beef (can use part grd. pork or all grd. turkey)
1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs
3 eggs
6 TB minced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 400F. Mix all in a large bowl. Shape into 1" to 1 1/2" meatballs. Arrange on two large rimmed baking sheets. Bake in oven for 10-13 minutes until no trace of pink in meat and juices run clear. Drain and cool on paper towels. Divide into 3-4 freezer containers or enough meatballs per container for your family.

Meatloaf Muffins

Make a recipe of your favorite meatloaf (or the meatball recipe above) and bake in muffin cups at 400F to 425F for about 25 minutes. Check w/ thermometer to be sure they have cooked through. Freeze extras. Serve with baked potatoes from the microwave.

Silly question - what does everyone use for containers to freeze meals for reheating? I have a vacuum sealer and use that for raw meats, etc.

What about things that just need to be reheated?

Sue

I freeze soups, stews, casseroles, etc. in plastic freezer-safe containers like Glad/Zip-Lock rigid containers. But I turn the foods out of those containers into Corning Grab-it bowls or other Corningware/Pyrex to heat in the microwave.