I have a long commute from work. By the time I get home the last thing I want to do is cook a meal for an hour. What can I do to escape the drive through. We want to turn over a new leaf and save money on the new year. Signed, Janis in Chicago.
Dear Janis,
I can totally relate to your problem. My family arrives home late during the work week. We have an active three yo to watch while I cook and I'm old. By that time of day, my get up and go has got up and went. My solution may help.
The grocery chains usually offer a loss leader of protein each week. They usually rotate the kind if meat. I buy a months supply of that particular meat when it's on sale. Like if it's chicken, I will buy two chockens. that's enough to get us to the end of the month. I batch cook the chockens and seoarate them into eight meal portions and freeze them. If it is hamburger, I make a meatloaf or meatballs, taco meat, and crumbles. Pork loin gets cut into pick chops and a roast. The roast can be roasted off and sliced thin for BBQ pork sandwiches for a weeknight meal.
I make meal plans ahead for a week. I have a matrix that suits our family. Yours can be whatever suits yours. With a plan, I may deviate from, I at least have a plan. I don't have to think of the answer to what's for dinner!
With th protein cooked, the rest of the dinner falls onto place with little effort. I also keep a stack of pizzas I get on sale cheap to augment a really bad day. I can add meats and cheese and dinner is virtually a no brainier. Salad is always on the vegetable bin.
From a chicken , I get
- BBQ chicken pieces from the legs, and thighs. Just thaw and brush with BBQ sauce and stick in the oven with French fries and make a salad or fruit plate.
- Chicken pot pie using Bisquick crust.
- Roast chicken with mashed potatoes, and mixed veggies. ( salad)
- Chicken breast sliced over dressing from dry bread cubes, Apple, cranberries, and some chicken stock, poultry seasoning.
- Chicken soup in the crockpot.
We all know how many thousands of recipes that ground beef or sausage there are. Keep frozen veggies and a bag of salad on the fridge.
Hope this helps.
Jane
I've had GREAT luck with crock pot freezer meals. You could easily buy your meat on sale and spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon breaking up the meat into ziplock bags with vegetables and sauces. Let it thaw the night before and then cook it in a crock pot all day. I'm a vegetarian and can easily get 10 freezer meals for less than $50. Each "meal" has about 4-6 servings. It's basically the greatest thing ever.
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