Quick dinner meals to prepare for the week?

andeemoon

Does anyone have any tips or tricks for getting a healthy dinner on the table fast during the week? It's a struggle working 9-10 hours per day, rushing to pick up my daughter from daycare, and getting home to prepare dinner. Frequently, I find myself stopping by a local fast food place just for something quick and convenient.

I know I'm not the only one in this situation. :-)

PitBullMom_Liz

Do all your prep work on the weekend and stick stuff in the freezer. Or become very friendly with your crockpot. :-)

hilarysgiants

I am in the same situation. I try and cook as many casseroles on the weekend as possible and freeze them. Then, I will put them in the fridge (the day before) and let them start to thaw. Then, the night we eat it, I just pop it back in the oven to finish cooking or nuke in the microwave. I also try and use my crock pot a lot, but hard when I am out of the house for 10 hrs b/c a lot of recipes are for 8 hrs and then start to burn. IF I can, I will add some water/chicken stock or put the chicken in frozen and that seems to help so the food is not ruined.
I also plan ahead for our meals, so I make sure I have enough time to prepare or start the food prep the night before.
Good luck!

indygal76

I have been finding recipes from the Eat Yourself Skinny & Sparkpeople website. You could always put chicken, salsa and more into a crockport in the morning and once you got home, dinner would be done. I use my crockpot a lot!

I hope those websites help! You could always prepare food on Sundays for the week. Cut up vegetables, grill meat and etc. I hope some of these suggestions help! Kudos to you!

jsjaclark

Crock pot - I made chicken tacos yesterday (someone had posted the recipe on here) - chicken breast, 1 package low sodium taco seasoning, 1 jar salsa. Put in crockpot and cook on low 6 - 8 hours. Shred chicken and serve with your favorite toppings. I also put bell pepper and onions in the crockpot.

I think there are some websites that have many crock pot recipes. If I find other good ones, I will post.

Amandajp79

I just started this yesterday but my plan is...

Cook 5lbs of chicken. Plain, just a little spray. This way I can use if for whatever as the week goes on. Stir fry, Chicken Salad, Quesadillas, Wraps, Plain over Salad, etc. I also use different Mrs Dash products to spice it up. So easy and it saves me from sabotaging myself with fast food!!! :flowerforyou:

cmaxmor

I would say to precook all of your meat on the weekend then toss it into whatever you want to eat. Chicken breasts can be stir fried with rice, shredded for tacos/burritos/quesadillas, chopped for salad...... ground beef can be heated in sauce for pasta, made into tacos, whatever...... we really like those zatarans jambalaya rice boxes. You can add whatever meat you like.
Also, prechop all your veggies so you can just put them raw on the table for people to snack on while you are making dinner. I am always surprised by how much my kids eat if it is just sitting out without comment from me.