Skip to main content

Monday Motivation: Planning ahead with freezer meals


Hopefully you've got a handle on your decorations, cards, and gifts. Now to handle the busy schedule that inevitably fills up quickly around this time of year.




When the schedule is hectic, especially around dinner time, our tendency is to stop by the drive-thru for a quick bite to eat. The dollars add up as quickly as the calories do when we fall back on the fast food.



An alternative is to prepare food ahead of time and stock your freezer to be prepared. I got a head start on the process at Thanksgiving when I froze a few extra side dishes to have on hand.


Now I'm thinking ahead to make a few extra entrees and side dishes to freeze. I try to make a double batch of dinner a few times a week and freeze half for later use.


Here are a few of the meals I plan to cook extra of:

Entrees:
1. Chili
2. Soup
3. Enchiladas
4. Spaghetti sauce and meatballs
5. Quiche
6. BBQ chicken

Side dishes:
1. Sweet potato casserole (from Thanksgiving) to serve with kielbasa
2. Stuffing (from Thanksgiving) to serve with roast chicken
3. Applesauce -to serve with pork chops
4. Refrigerator bread dough (lasts 5 days in the fridge)
5. Baked banana bread and pumpkin muffins

I fill in the rest of our menu with fresh veggies, rice, potatoes, and crock pot main dishes. A great blog for crock pot recipes is found here. Check it out.
Labels:

Comments

  1. southerninspirationDecember 7, 2009 at 8:21 AM

    Great idea! would you share your refrigerator bread dough recipe, please??? Sounds good!

    Suzanne

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sheri O.December 7, 2009 at 3:06 PM

    Would love to have your enchilida, quiche, and BBQ chicken recipes!

    Then I will be all set!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I'd love to know what you're thinking. Please feel free to leave ideas and comments.

Popular posts from this blog

How To Make Your Own Exercise Bike For Next To Nothing

Remember back in April when I had a kidney transplant?  Well, the kidney is doing great (thanks, Cathy , for taking such good care of it when you owned it).  There was one little glitch, however.  During surgery, the retractors they used caused some nerve damage in my right leg.  When I woke up from surgery, I couldn't move or feel my leg.  The docs felt like the feeling would come back but the paralysis had them stumped.  A visit to a neurologist ruled out a stroke and a CT scan showed some fluid which was pressing on L4 and L5 (medical talk which means I couldn't feel or move part of my leg).  The prognosis is good and I'm recovering pretty quickly.  In fact, I've left my cane behind and I'm walking freestyle without falling.  My next goal is to be able to drive. I've been itching to get back to exercising (physical therapy doesn't count) because my medication causes me to gain weight and I need to burn some calories.  Running? - n...
45 comments
Read more

A Designer's Secret For A Taller Bed

  Several years ago Hubs and I spent almost a year looking for a bedroom set that we both loved.  He wanted clean lines and dark wood.  I wanted curves and a "tall" bed.  Of course, there was no perfect bedroom set but we were able to compromise on a set that we both liked.  My main wish was for a bed that I could "climb up into".  The problem with that wish was that most of the "tall" beds were four poster beds and Hubs was not in the mood for that.  We found a Thomasville bed on display at a local furniture store and it fit the clean lines that Hubs wanted and it was "tall"  enough to suit me.  The problem was that once we received the bed we ordered in our home, it wasn't as tall as I had remembered it being.  My heart sunk!  I went back to the furniture store to look at the display.  Their bed was much taller than our bed.  Hmmm. . . what was different? I got nosey and lifted up the comforter on the ...
10 comments
Read more

Plans For A DIY Exercise Bike Stand

  Thank you to so many of you who emailed me about plans for the DIY Exercise Bike Stand .  I apologize that it has taken me so long to get the measurements to you, but they are finally here!   The wood was purchased at Home Depot and the bike pegs were purchased at Walmart in the bike section.    The bike we used for this project is a 24" 12 speed bike (I'm a shorty).  I used the hardest gear while riding, but this set-up does not allow you to really get much resistance (for building muscle).  It was great for getting my legs moving after some nerve damage.  I also wanted to burn calories and get my heart rate up and this did the trick.    If you have any questions, just shoot me an email.
40 comments
Read more