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Quick Tips For Make Ahead Meals

If your living paycheck to paycheck like me then you must know by now how important it is to prepare make ahead meals.

If not then your food budget can be difficult to maintain and cheap cooking is no longer as simple as it needs to be.

Having a selection of make ahead meals in the freezer will help you:

  • stay within your monthly food budget
  • comfort you as you drive past your favorite fast food chain and best of all
  • eliminate the “what am I going to make for dinner” thoughts that consume most of your day

When I first started out with the idea of preparing make ahead meals, it wasn’t that easy. I was making things harder than they needed to be.

I just needed a few simple tips and now I breeze through my meal planning.

For those just starting out with the idea of make ahead freezer meals, here are some quick tips, cheap cooking suggestions and fast ideas to help speed the process up.

Betty Crocker’s Great Tips for Quick Cooking:

  • Burgers: Make extra hamburger patties or meatballs and freeze in resealable freezer bags up to 4 months.
  • Ground Beef: Brown extra ground beef and freeze up to 3 months.
  • Meat and Poultry: Cut raw meat into strips or cubes; arrange in a single layer on cookie sheet lined with foil and freeze until firm. Put into resealable freezer bags and store up to 9 months.
  • Cooked Chicken: Cook extra chicken and cut it up. Put into resealable freezer bags and store up to 4 months.
  • Pasta and Rice: Cook and drain extra pasta or rice. Drain and toss with a little olive oil or vegetable oil to keep from sticking together. Put into resealable storage bags and refrigerate up to 5 days or freeze up to 6 months.
  • Veggies: Chop, slice or dice fresh veggies; arrange in a single layer on cookie sheet lined with foil and freeze until firm. Put into resealable freezer bag and store up to 1 month.

    • Having a few extra minutes to spared during dinner can make or break the evening. Taking a few extra minutes NOW will save valuable time LATER!! Here are some great make ahead meals recipes that are simple to prepare, cheap to make and delicious every time.

    Cheap Family Meals Best Freezer Meal Recipes

    My Mom’s Goulash – My Poverty Meal

    Simple Ground Beef Chili Crockpot Recipe

    Broccoli and Cheese Soup

    Good ‘Ole Spaghetti

    Those are just a few of the popular Make Ahead Meals on this site…Browse all the categories above and I guarantee you will find some of your favorite recipes to prepare ahead of time and freeze.

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    April 4th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: Cooking Tricks & Tips, freezer meals recipes | 8 comments
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    8 comments to Quick Tips For Make Ahead Meals

    • Quick Tips For Make Ahead Meals - Meal Planning - Cheap Cooking … | OurBrownies.com
      April 4th, 2009 at

      [...] rest is here: Quick Tips For Make Ahead Meals – Meal Planning – Cheap Cooking … Tags: casserole-kitchen, cheap-cooking, cheap-family-meals, cheap-meals-made-easy, crockpot-meals, [...]

    • Meg
      April 19th, 2009 at

      Awesome tips! Thanks!

      Meg’s last blog post..Buitoni Wild Mushroom Agnolotti

    • machelle
      April 19th, 2009 at

      Hi Meg, Thanks for checking Cheap Meals For Your Family out!!

      Hope the article helps and great giveaways on your blog – everyone go check it out….http://www.megansmunchies.com

    • Jodie
      July 30th, 2009 at

      When I double the meal ingrediants to make another batch for next week how do I freeze the entire meal without it gettin freezer burnt do I put it in tubawhere or something

    • machelle
      August 3rd, 2009 at

      Hi Jodie….Ya there are Tupperware products made for the freezer. I buy mine at the dollar store. You can also buy the aluminum baking pans (also at the dollar store) and cover with tin foil.

    • Lise Hippert
      January 15th, 2010 at

      Thanks for this great read. I definitely liked every little bit of it. I have you bookmarked and will be checking back.

    • Chad Bergantz
      August 15th, 2010 at

      I have the BEST quality meat, seasfood, chicken & pork for CHEAPER than your local grocery store. I will also hand deliver or mail the product to you no matter where you live in the country. I will beat ANY price at your local grocery store. This is great for anyone, but especially for large families. If you would like to see our products and prices, please give me a call on my personal cell at (949)630-7174 any day of the week from 11am-11pm. I will be happy to help you and your family save money on your food budget. Ask for Chad.

    • Jane Levington
      May 19th, 2011 at

      Thank you for your tips. This is a great help for busy individuals like me. Cooking in big volumes during week ends can really save my time during working days to cook. I will just heat them in microwave before eating.
      Jane Levington´s last [type] ..Boracay Outdoor Adventures

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