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.

    April 4th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: Cooking Tricks & Tips, freezer meals recipes | 8 comments

    Quick Meal Recipe For Beef Stroganoff

    Quick dinner recipes are all I seem to look for these days.

    I want something simple, quick and cheap.

    This recipe for beef stroganoff has all three.

    It’s a simple recipe as it only requires 4 main ingredients.

    It’s one of those quick dinner recipes in less than 30 minutes from start to finish.

    And it is cheap, so of course it belongs to my $5 dinner ideas collection.

    This cheap meal only costs $4.38 to prepare, now that’s a cheap family meal!

    Quick Dinner Recipes – Beef Stroganoff

    Quick Dinner Recipes

    Quick Dinner Recipes

    Personal Cookbook
    Prep Time: 5 min
    Cook Time: 20 min
    Serves: 4- 6

    Cheap Cooking Ingredients:

    • 1 lb. ground beef
    • 1 pkg. (16 oz.) egg noodles
    • 1 can cream of mushroom soup
    • 1 cup sour cream
    • 1 small onion chopped (optional)
    • 1/4 tsp. garlic salt
    • 1/2 tsp. salt
    • 1/4 tsp. pepper
    • 1 tbsp. oil

    Easy Dinner Directions:

    1. Cook noodles according to package directions.
    2. While noodles are cooking, brown hamburger, chopped onion(optional), garlic salt, pepper, salt in oil over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain if there is excess fat.
    3. Add cream of mushroom soup and simmer 5 to 10 minutes. Add sour cream just before serving over drained noodles.

    For a quick healthy meal add some steamed broccoli and a whole grain roll. If you want a healthy meal you can substitute the egg noddles for white or brown rice.

    Here’s another quick dinner recipe using ground beef? Check it out: East Meatloaf Recipe

    February 6th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , | Category: Dinner Recipes, easy ground beef meals | 4 comments

    Easy Meatloaf Recipe

    I have found an easy meatloaf recipe that you are going to love and if you looking for a cheap meal idea then this is it.

    I try to make meatloaf often for the fact that ground beef is inexpensive and filling.

    The only downfall to a great meatloaf is the bake time.

    I’m in a hurry these days and most nights I want quick dinner ideas prepared and on the table fast or we would be eating at 8:00pm, which in my house is bedtime for the kids (YEAH!!)

    So how do you make an easy meatloaf recipe? Simple, mini meatloaves baked in a muffin pan.

    I know, I asked myself the same thing, why didn’t I think of that one!

    The bake time is cut in half.

    And of course the possibilities of what you add to the recipe are endless.

    A shout out to Kraft Kitchens for coming up with some of the best food recipes.

    And at less than $5 to prepare this is a cheap family meal for dinner!

    Marvelous Mini Meatloaves

    Easy Meatloaf Recipe

    Easy Meatloaf Recipe

    Credit: Kraft Kitchens
    Prep Time: 5 minutes
    Bake Time: 30 minutes
    Yield: 6 servings – 2 mini meatloaves each

    Cheap Cooking Ingredients:

    • 1 lb. ground beef
    • 1 pkg. stove top stuffing
    • 1 cup of water
    • 1 tsp Italian seasoning ( I use dry spaghetti packet)
    • 3/4 cup spaghetti sauce
    • 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese (any variety of cheese will work)

    Easy Dinners Directions:

    1. Mix meat, stuffing mix, water and seasoning until well blended.
    2. Press evenly into 12 muffin cups sprayed with cooking spray.
    3. Make an indentation in the center of each meat loaf using a spoon then fill with spaghetti sauce.
    4. Bake 30 minutes or until cooked through, top with cheese and bake 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted.
    5. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

    There you have it, a simple ground beef meal that was less than $5 to prepare. Add in a side salad and some french bread for a complete healthy meal idea.

    Looking for something different? Okay here is another great $5 quick meal idea: Easy 3 Can Soup

    February 4th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Category: Dinner Recipes, easy ground beef meals | 6 comments
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