Double Your Meals

When you get home from the grocery store there are several things you can do to make your month easier and reduce the waste of ingredients.

1. DICE AND CHOP INGREDIENTS: Dicing ingredients ahead of time is key. I diced in a food processor a bag of onions and stored them in an air tight container to have on hand when the recipe calls for diced onions when I am prepping my meals for the week . Leftover onions can be used during the week for salads,tacos or any other meals needing fresh onions. I also did this with 3 heads of garlic and all of my herbs for the month. Any herbs that I did not use in my meal preparation for the month, I froze in an airtight container (appropriate size minimizing air space) so that I could use them at a later date without having them spoil.

2. MAKE DOUBLE BATCHES OF MEAT: Make a Basic Meat Mixture is great for more than one recipe. Use it for meatballs, meatloaf and extra meat for tacos. Make an extra meatloaf for next month. It is one less meal you need to add to your meal plan next month and it is one less meal you have to prepare. 2 for 1 Dinner. While you are making your meat base, fry up some extra ground meat and make Taco meat to freeze. Having a late night home- grab it out of your freezer and microwave it. Make mini meatloaves and freeze them for nights that you might not have everyone home to eat, but still have to make dinner for a few.


3. PREPARE DICED VEGETABLES AHEAD OF TIME: Make extra salad and keep in the fridge for a side. Use a salad spinner to get excess moisture out. Have veggies cut up ahead of time to steam. If you have a rice cooker/steamer you can make your rice and steam your vegetables at the same time. 2 for 1 deal.

4. MAKE MESSES ONCE: Making meats like bacon is messy. Make extra and freeze it for a later recipe. Just defrost and microwave it for a few seconds to make it crispy again. Make a mess only once.

5. MAKE EXTRA INGREDIENTS FOR A LATER DAY: Double the amount of rice you make. Freeze half. When ready to use, reheat in the microwave and add a hint of water to add moisture.

Comments (2)

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Bundle your Meals
What a wonderful article and website (helpful downloads are great). Planning and buying in bulk is convenient but is good stewardship by saving money and time. People will be amazed at how little they will buy at the store each week by bundling your meals.
Here are some of my tips:
If I make an item that requires alot of time and ingredients like lasagna, shephard's pie, chicken caccitore, then I will make 1-2 extra and freeze the extra. Defrost in fridge 2 days prior and ready to go.
If I roast a chicken on Sunday, I will have carrots, celery, onion, water in pot ready for the chicken and will boil while we eat. Then, chicken soup is cooked while we eat dinner. I put in a freezer bag. When ready to use, I pop out of freezer-put into crock pot with 2 cups of water and 2 cups of brown rice.
With the rest of the chicken, I toss into enchiladas or shread for chicken tacos.
When I get home from grocery shopping with 3lbs of ground beef, I make and cook meatballs (and freeze extra); make a meatloaf (do not cook) and stick in freezer-defrost 2 days in fridge and cook using same temp. and length as I would original recipe.
Michelle , January 07, 2010
Bundle you meals
The articles and website is great! The downloads are so useful. Meal planning and budling is not only convenient but great stewardship by saving time and money. I think people will be amazed at how little they will need at the store each week by making a plan.
Some of my tips,
1. when items are on sale I make extra and freeze; especially lasagna, shepherd's pie, chicken caccitore, french meat pie. These meals are time consuming to make, but it saves time to make an extra one. Then, when ready to use defrost 2 days in fridge and follow original cooking time and temperature.
2. When I buy ground beef, I make meatballs and while they are cooking, I put a meatloaf together (in the same bowl I made meatballs in) and put in aluminum container and freeze. AND, I freeze extra meatballs too!
3. We have allergies to dairy, so I grind oats in food processor and season Toss in some raisins to increase iron and fiber.and use instead of breadcrumbs (good for dieters too).
4. When I roast a chicken, I cut up carrots, celery, onions and toss int a pot w/water. When we are eating the roast chicken, I boil to make chicken soup. Leftover chicken from dinner gets shredded for tacos or sliced for enchiladas (1/3 c sour cream, 1 can cream of chicken soup, steamed broccoli, red peppers, carrots or whatever veggies you like, 1 c cheese-wrap in tortilla shells and bake 25 mins. I make these ahead too.
Michelle , January 07, 2010

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