...or perhaps more like Paula Deen, given the amount of butter, sour cream, and cream cheese that is in these recipes.
Does it count for anything that all the meat is organic?
Does it count for anything that all the meat is organic?
Dinner time on weeknights has been a little challenging at our house lately. I get home about 6pm, and when I walk in the door the babies are usually very ready to eat. We each take a babe and feed them their cereal (which they are loving by the way!), then we do diaper changes and jammies and just have some quiet down time as a family, then I nurse the babies and when they start to drift off, we take them in and lay them down to go to sleep. This whole process usually takes about an hour.
It's been working really well for the most part. It feels great to have some sense of a routine, and the babies have been going down about 6:45pm-7:00pm easily. It seems to be their natural bedtime. It's also really nice for David and I to have those evening hours to ourselves, both to get things done and to spend time together.
The problem with this system is that it's about 7pm before we can get dinner for ourselves going. By this time I am usually FAMISHED (I still have a nursing Momma's appetite that is not to be reckoned with), and we are both tired so we usually end up just kind of throwing something easy together -like a Digorno Pizza, or just fending for ourselves and having a PB&J or a bowl of cereal. Not ideal, but we haven't really had much choice. The idea of starting to cook a meal at 7pm appeals to me about as much as sticking my finger in my eye. And the thought of David trying to get dinner going in the late afternoon/early evening only works out if nap time magically falls into place perfectly (i.e., both babies napping at the same time, for a long time, and late enough in the afternoon), which rarely happens. When both babies are up, he's got his hands full for sure, so cooking takes a back seat.
What's a family to do?
Cook ahead of time.
Sunday night I went to the store with a grocery list a mile long and picked up everything I would need to make 4 big meals and then freeze them. Last night after I got home from work and our bedtime routine with the twins was complete, we sat down and had a quick dinner of grilled chicken ceasar salad, and then I set to work.
I made and froze...
It's been working really well for the most part. It feels great to have some sense of a routine, and the babies have been going down about 6:45pm-7:00pm easily. It seems to be their natural bedtime. It's also really nice for David and I to have those evening hours to ourselves, both to get things done and to spend time together.
The problem with this system is that it's about 7pm before we can get dinner for ourselves going. By this time I am usually FAMISHED (I still have a nursing Momma's appetite that is not to be reckoned with), and we are both tired so we usually end up just kind of throwing something easy together -like a Digorno Pizza, or just fending for ourselves and having a PB&J or a bowl of cereal. Not ideal, but we haven't really had much choice. The idea of starting to cook a meal at 7pm appeals to me about as much as sticking my finger in my eye. And the thought of David trying to get dinner going in the late afternoon/early evening only works out if nap time magically falls into place perfectly (i.e., both babies napping at the same time, for a long time, and late enough in the afternoon), which rarely happens. When both babies are up, he's got his hands full for sure, so cooking takes a back seat.
What's a family to do?
Cook ahead of time.
Sunday night I went to the store with a grocery list a mile long and picked up everything I would need to make 4 big meals and then freeze them. Last night after I got home from work and our bedtime routine with the twins was complete, we sat down and had a quick dinner of grilled chicken ceasar salad, and then I set to work.
I made and froze...
And then today I threw this in the crockpot for dinner tonight:
I also made these for desert for the week =):
The whole thing took just under two hours, which really isn't bad given that my cooking is done for about a week and a half (a week and a half because we will eat leftovers a few nights). Each frozen pan is labeled with what's inside, the cooking directions, and what else needs to be done to the dish to complete it...."Chicken Breast Supreme cook @350 for 1.5 hours. Make rice for side dish".
Voila.
So even a dish that will take 1.5 hours to cook will be available to us on a weeknight, as I can just pull it out to thaw before I leave for work, and David can pop it in the oven about 5:30pm. He can make the rice while I am nursing the babies before bed, and after we lay them down we can have a nice meal together.
I am really hoping this plan will work out for us, and every other Sunday I can set to work on cooking ahead and freezing meals for our family. Hopefully we will reap enough benefits of having yummy meals in the evenings, and fewer baking dishes to do (as most of the cooking is already done!) that my ambition for such a project will continue.
Fingers crossed!
I would love to know your favorite make-ahead-and-freeze meal if you have one...
9 comments:
That's awesome, Kendra! Here is something to think about if you have willing participants. A group of friends and I get together every now and then for a meal swap. It's the same conceot of cook ahead/freeze ahead meals- but if 6 of us participate, I personally will make 6 family servings of the same meal, and then we get together and swap, keeping one for ourselves. It's usually less expensive to buy in bulk for one recipe. Sometimes, we do themes. We'll usually do a crock pot month during the fall/winter. In September, we are having a go at vegetarian. It works out great!
You are so amazing!! This is the best idea, I even want to start this now!! Cooking when the baby comes will be a challenge for me as well, mostly though if I will be working. And you have two babies!! I love your routine with the babies, it is so great! Keep your ideas on this coming, I love it!
I love this and I do it, too. When I worked full time I did it all the time, it was a MUST! Now I just make a few meals for the freezer here and there and it is SOOOO nice to know there is a "go to" dinner in there when I need one! Great idea, girlie. Praying it blesses your family!
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing those recipes. At the risk of sounding like a totally incompetent cook, you didn't cook the recipes before freezing, right? You just put the ingrediens together and freeze- then bake? I need to follow your lead. :) Lana
I like to cook 6 chicken breasts in the crock pot in one afternoon (sometimes just water and chicken broth, other times I also add seasonings). Then, when they're almost falling apart, I shred them and put 2 shredded breasts at a time in zip lock bags and freeze. I pull this chicken out to be able to quickly throw together a casserole, heat up on the stove with more spices for tacos, etc. I could do more at one time, but I tend to just have enough for 6 on the days I do it.
Another thing I'll do is make double of the dinners on the days I don't work, and freeze half for the next week.
Sounds like your system should work really well.
Great recipes! I also love the make-ahead plan. A couple of our favs are beef enchiladas (I use the kit + recipe from the grocery). Freezes well - on the night we cook it I throw some Mexican Rice ingredients in the rice cooker and away we go. Another is spaghetti casserole - 1 pound browned meat, 1 jar spaghetti sauce, 1/2 box fav pasta (cooked) and your favorite cheese. Mix all and put in 8x8 - well save some of the cheese for the top. Both of these are fully cooked so just reheat about 30-40 minutes at 350.
Good for you!!!!! You will feel GREAT coming home from work with a delicious dinner to look forward to, and you'll have time to snuggle your loves on top of that! Totally worth the effort.
Hey, Kendra, I was going to try the Creamy Italian Chicken, and I got a little confused on the Italian seasoning package. Is it the Italian dressing mix? Cause that's the only Italian package that I could find today. If you get a chance, could you let me know? I know you're super busy, so no hurry, but I'd like to make it soonishly. It sounds YUM!!!
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