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