Cut the Stress Out of Dinnertime with Make-Ahead Meals

By Starla Ross

A little pre-planning to getting dinner on the table can go a long way towards making hectic nights just a little easier. The benefits of eating at home are unmatched. Not only does it cost less to cook at home, but it's almost always more nutritious and healthy to cook your own food.

There are many ways to save time in the kitchen: First, consider making double batches of meals you're already planning to cook. Making lasagna? Put together two dishes. Cook one to eat that night and then freeze the other for a later date. Simmering together a pot of vegetable soup? Make extra. Save some for now, and the rest for the freezer.

Another way to save time in the kitchen is to make several meals ahead. Take a Sunday afternoon and pre-make five or more meals. You'll only be dirtying your kitchen once, and you'll be thankful on those busy weeknights when there's no time to cook. You can even cook meals once a month to cover your dinners for the following 30 days. Many cookbooks have been written on just that subject. They'll give you the grocery list, the plan, and the freezer preparation for a month's worth of frozen, easy-to-heat-up meals.

Think about freezing any leftovers you may have. Even if you have just a small amount of something, it can be frozen and reheated for an individual lunch serving. (This applies to food you've just made. For safety reasons, you should never freeze and reheat food that has previously been frozen). To save room in your freezer, consider freezing items in large, zip-loc bags. Use the kind with the sliding zipper, so you're sure the seal is together. Place the food in the bag and then lay it flat. When it freezes, you can stack 10 or more meals easily in your freezer versus ten storage containers. Many items can be stored this way, including soups and pasta sauces.

Many food items freeze well, but prepared foods (such as sauces and casseroles), vegetables, meats, breads, and some fruits freeze the best. Foods that do not freeze well include sour cream, milk, yogurt, mayonnaise, and cottage cheese. While shredded cheese freezes very well, whole blocks of cheese often crumble upon being thawed. Consider these when deciding what to freeze. Also, be sure to mark everything with a permanent black marker, noting the date and contents. And always put new food on the bottom or toward the back of the freezer, so you'll use up older items first.

If you think that make-ahead meals need to pertain to only dinner meals, you'll be surprised to learn that other items can be made ahead as well. One large batch of pancakes or waffles from a less-hurried Saturday morning can be frozen to heat up for breakfasts the following week. Just add some fruit and some juice, and it's a well-rounded breakfast in minutes.

If you don't have time to pre-cook meals, consider pre-packaging like items together. For instance, place a pizza crust, bag of pizza sauce, and small bag of cheese together in the freezer. When you want something quick, you can easily pull out your homemade pizza kit and have it in the oven in five minutes. No worrying about whether you have all the ingredients or if you'll need to make a last-minute trip to the store.

Consider pre-measuring dry ingredients for muffins as well. When you have the time pre-measure flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt for five batches of muffins. Place them in large zip-loc bags (again with the sliding zipper to prevent leakage), and lay them flat in your cupboard. When you're in a rush in the mornings, but you're hungry for something warm, just take out your pre-measured ingredients. Add an egg and milk, along with some raisins or some chocolate chips, and you can have fresh muffins in less than 15 minutes.

When you're first contemplating making meals ahead, start slowly. Begin with one or two meals and freeze those. As you become more experienced at make-ahead meals, gradually add to your planning. You'll soon find what works best for you and come to appreciate the make-ahead lifestyle. Not only will you be thankful for a warm, home-cooked meal every night of the week, but your family will thank you too.

04/03/08  By Starla Ross