Prepping meals for the week? Ideas for make ahead meals

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  • coullmom
    coullmom Posts: 133 Member
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  • rcalvert1
    rcalvert1 Posts: 117 Member
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  • LittleMiss_WillLoseIt
    LittleMiss_WillLoseIt Posts: 1,373 Member
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  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
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    Just scored a HELL of a deal at the grocery store today! "Manager's Special" whole turkey, only .69 cents per pound! Ive got my oven heating up right now, I just purchased my mirepoix and fresh herbs... gonna be setting up the pot for the bones and herbal mirepoix when all the meat has been pulled...

    OHHHHHHH dont know if I can restrain from munching on fresh oven-roasted turkey.... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
  • Masq
    Masq Posts: 191 Member
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  • 4d9r
    4d9r Posts: 111 Member
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    Bump for later! Great ideas! :flowerforyou:
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
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    Create your own frozen dinners (Sparkpeople.com)
    http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=762

    Fantastic Frozen Dinners (Sparkpeople.com)
    http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=585

    Make Ahead Meals (A Blog)
    http://makeaheadmeals.blogspot.com/

    Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms
    http://www.makeaheadmealsforbusymoms.com/

    These are some of the things I managed to find. The first two just give you some tips, the other two some good recipes.
    Thanks for all the input Everyone!:flowerforyou:
  • healthybabs
    healthybabs Posts: 531 Member
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    I do alot of prepping on the weekend.

    Fruits - wash and cut up pineapple, watermelon, slice strawberries. Sometimes I just make a huge fruit salad. Fruit that is not cut up and ready to eat in the fridge won't get eaten in my family. I use the small snack bags which hold about 1/2 cup to portion it out for lunches.

    Vegetables - I wash and cook things like green beans & carrots so they are ready to reheat. I wash and chop up things like kale and chard so I can just grab handfuls and give them a quick saute. I also roast root veggies in the fall/winter such as sweet potatos, parsnips, carrots (peel/chop/a little evoo and salt and pepper/roast on 400* oven until cooked thru/cool and store for later in the week). I buy pre washed packages of romaine for salad. Just take out and chop. I also buy pre washed baby spinach to use as a salad, stir into eggs, or give a quick saute.

    Meats/Fish - Take all out of their store packages if you buy them in styrofoam containers. Wash/ trim and marinate it in glass storage containers. If the package has more than you need, freeze in a zip lock with some marinade. When you go to use it, it will already be marinated. I always cook twice as much as I need per meal so I can use some for left overs such as burritos, or a chicken and pasta casserole which I can have during the week.

    Things I make and freeze - I don't do alot of that since I do so much prep on the weekend it is not really necessary, However, when I make the following I make enough to freeze a batch....Chicken Enchiladas, Lasagna, Stuffed Cabbages or Stuffed Peppers. I also freeze alot of garden items such as corn cut from the cob, homemade apple sauce, tomatos chopped up with some fresh basil (ready for a quick sauce or soup), sliced peaches, strawberries and blueberries.

    Hope this helps
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
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    Loving all these Ideas...

    My husband and I always sit down on Saturday and plan our our meals for the following week....It is usually determined by what protein we have in our freezer...We try to use our crock pot two or three times on the weekend, once for a weekend meal and the other times to cook ahead a protein to eat later on in the week, such as chicken, a whole turkey breast (yes, in the crockpot, oh so tender), chili, right now he even has some ribs going, yes in the crock pot! Then on Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning we go to the grocery store and get any fresh veggies or fruit we need for the week. We cook ahead or prep anything we can, takes an hour out of our time on the weekend, but makes the week run so smoothly.

    As for freezing, like the other said, I always have cooked ground turkey/onion, cooked shredded chicken, chili, in my freezer in portioned bags enough for my husband and myself for dinners.

    I eat the same thing every morning for breakfast, so that doesn't take a lot of prepping, I just buy enough of what I need for the month and then it or put it in our extra fridge....Basically every morning I eat sandwich thins with sargento ultra thin provolone slices melted on top with a little spinach/artichoke hummus and an ounce to two ounces of some type of meat (turkey breast or ham) on top. I also have egg quiche "cupcakes" in my freezer for another quick breakfast if I need it. My husband likes to eat those.

    For example, this week we are having a light chicken and pea risotto, Pasilla chiles stuffed with chicken and rice, Spaghetti with turkey meatballs and vegetable pasta, grilled tilapia over salad. Right now the chicken is marinating in the fridge, my husband will grill it in a bit, then I will divide it in half...half will be for the risotto, the other half will be chopped up fine to be part of the stuffing for the chiles.... my husband will premake those and have them in the fridge so all we have to do is warm them up the day we need them. Turkey meatballs are already in my freezer( made them for another meal a couple weeks ago), so all we have to do that day add to the sauce and cook......We will cook the noodles the night before..... And as for the tilapia, all we have to do is defrost the fish the night before.....

    I am very lucky to have a husband that doesn't mind cooking. In fact he is the cook a majority of the time in our home. We try to plan the meals so both of us help out with it, so it doesn't get put on just one person, as we both have full time jobs....

    I hope this helps!
    Brilliant teamwork!! Love all the variety as well.:drinker:
  • guacamole17
    guacamole17 Posts: 109 Member
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  • sdhd
    sdhd Posts: 13
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  • tracikearns
    tracikearns Posts: 138 Member
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    Love all the ideas!
  • Riarose72
    Riarose72 Posts: 7
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    Wow cooking all the meat in a crock pot, Shredding and freezing. What a great idea. Not only would it save on time but the meat would be so tender.
  • RosscoBoscko
    RosscoBoscko Posts: 632 Member
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    Some great ideas. Cheers.
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
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    I know this is about dinner, and I've seen a lot of great dinner ideas that I'm going to try. But, I just made breakfast and lunch for the week. I generally eat those two meals at work, and need it ready to go into the thermal tote in the morning. So, I filled muffin tin with potatoes, bacon, eggs, and cheese for portioned breakfasts. We had some this morning, and there's enough for my breakfasts for the week. I also made tuna salad and put it in half cup size containers to make sandwiches for the week. I have just discovered the whole muffin tin cooking idea, and am going to try that more and more. I think meatloaf tonight.

    Actually no, this isnt solely for dinner. .... I am very well known for cooking up big batches of turkey and chicken, and prepping vegetables so I can have a big salad in the morning after my workout.... The only time I eat actual breakfast-foods would probably be Sundays when I cook a big breakfast for my husband and I.

    Ive also been known to grab myself some homemade soup from the freezer. Just reheat on the stove and VOILA! A hearty hot healthy breakfast!!!!
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
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    I know this is about dinner, and I've seen a lot of great dinner ideas that I'm going to try. But, I just made breakfast and lunch for the week. I generally eat those two meals at work, and need it ready to go into the thermal tote in the morning. So, I filled muffin tin with potatoes, bacon, eggs, and cheese for portioned breakfasts. We had some this morning, and there's enough for my breakfasts for the week. I also made tuna salad and put it in half cup size containers to make sandwiches for the week. I have just discovered the whole muffin tin cooking idea, and am going to try that more and more. I think meatloaf tonight.

    Actually no, this isnt solely for dinner. .... For me, I am very well known for cooking up big batches of turkey and chicken, and prepping vegetables so I can have a big salad in the morning after my workout.... The only time I eat actual breakfast-foods would probably be Sundays when I cook a big breakfast for my husband and I.

    Ive also been known to grab myself some homemade soup from the freezer. Just reheat on the stove and VOILA! A hearty hot healthy breakfast!!!!

    Also - two nights ago, I roasted up a 20+lb turkey.... made up a batch of southwest turkey salad, made a broth (have some next to me right now), and when I get home today, Ill be prepping to make my turkey vegetable soup!
  • sherisse69
    sherisse69 Posts: 795 Member
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  • melodylyn73
    melodylyn73 Posts: 505 Member
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  • Fairysoul
    Fairysoul Posts: 1,361 Member
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    I like to make a pot roast in the crock pot one day and then make a soup with the leftovers...
  • zenchild
    zenchild Posts: 680 Member
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    Soups are easy and are often better after they sit for a day or two. During winter Sundays I'll make chicken noodle soup (posted the recipe yesterday), black bean soup, lentils, chili, red beans and rice (I make the rice the day we eat it), clam chowder, whatever. I also like Indian food. I can get 2 dinners and 4 lunches out of a pot of vegetable vindaloo. Roasts are also easy. My project this winter is homemade bread.
    During the summer we just prep as much as possible on the weekend. Meats are cooked, vegetables chopped. If I want tacos all I have to do is microwave the tortillas and beef, pull the cheese, salsa and cabbage out of the fridge and it's ready.
    Anything that reheats well works fine.

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