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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.

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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

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