Until now, I've never been big on "cooking ahead" or "freezer food" (at least not freezer food that was homemade and already completely prepped). But for the last few years, my mother-in-law has inspired me. Each time we visit, I notice she has all of our meals pre-cooked, this even includes Thanksgiving. She'll fill up the grill with chicken and pre-cook bulk amounts of chicken for use in soups, chicken salads, shredded topping for baked potato, etc.. Long story short, she's an inspiration to me in the kitchen. It just seems so much more efficient, on so many levels.
You can take inventory on what you have and what you need, buy only what's necessary, cook it all at once where nothing will get wasted, use the minimum amount of energy for cooking, minimum amount of total time cooking and cleaning, and you end up with "instant" meals that are completely homemade and healthy (if planned that way). To top it all off, if you're an avid gardener, this also provides a way to freeze / store excess produce.
I found several websites that provide some good ideas for meal preparation in this manner:
http://pregnant.livejournal.com/17071127.html
http://onceamonthmom.com/
http://www.offthegridnews.com/2012/11/02/how-to-create-garden-fresh-freezer-meals/
http://www.marthastewart.com/274277/freezer-friendly-foods
http://freezermealsforus.blogspot.com/
Now to plan this week's meals....
Turkey and Brocolli Pretzel Calzones
Turkey Tortilla Soup
Feta Stuffed Meatballs
Turkey Shepards Pie (Yum!)
Chicken casserole:
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