Meal Planning
So, I’ve been working sporadically on my latest iteration of meal planning. I am lacking quick emergency dinners. What do you use for those nights when dinner flops or when you come home with only 20 minutes to get dinner on the table?
Also, what things do you like to keep in your freezer? I have burnt myself out on big-production freezer meal cooking over the last few years, but would still like some staples to keep in the freezer. Right now my list includes black bean chili, meatballs, and stuffed baked potatoes. I also keep packs of cooked meat (shredded chicken or browned ground beef) on hand, generally.
I’m looking for some more things to round out that list. Once I have what I want to do, I’ll put the shopping list, recipe, and ideas for using the item on one sheet.
I want to do that for all the things I prepare in bulk, like granola, as well. But I’m still in the “So, what do I make?!” phase. :)
While we’re at it, how about afternoon snack ideas? My ideal is no-preparation and no-sugar, but ideals are difficult to achieve. :)
I try to keep spaghetti sauce and cooked beans (black and kidney) in my freezer.
Pete’s fav is ground beef, browned and a bit of spaghetti sauce added, rice and shredded cheese. takes 25mins, once the rice is done, dinner is ready. mix it all together on a plate! easy, and Asa likes it too! nice and cheesy!
snacks, goldfish crackers, pretzels, raisins, blueberries, cereal. We have lots and Asa knows what he wants!
I just started cooking beans in big batches and freezing them this year. I’d done it once or twice, but I’ve started not buying canned beans and just going on freezer supply. It works as long as the freezer does. ;)
That sounds good, Zoae! And it sounds like my kind of recipe. :) Do you make all that snack stuff into a mix or keep it separate?
The snacks just sit in the “snack” cupboard, FULL of snacks, Asa just picks out what he wants. things with sugar, are up high. He is not to big on mixing, so just one thing at a time. I love the IKEA cups, they are the most often used snack cups. hold just the right size too!