Always Be Prepared!

Let's face it.  We all have days when we wander around the kitchen, opening the cabinets, fridge, and freezer repeatedly wondering what to fix for dinner.  I could make this but I'd have to do that first.  Browning the beef will take too long for tacos.  Yadda, yadda- you know where this is going because you've been there, too.

The best way I've found to overcome this is by always having main ingredients already prepared and ready to pull from the freezer in a moment's notice.  I recommend taking one day and using it to get as much done as you can without losing your sanity.

Meats are pretty easy.  Just brown up some ground beef and place it in freezer bags- a pound per bag.  You can also do this with ground sausage, ground turkey, etc.  Also, you can flatten the bags once they're closed which will accomplish 2 things.  One, they'll lay flat in the freezer, thus make for easier stacking.  And two, it'll thaw faster once removed from the freezer.

Veggies can be prepared for freezing as well.  Dice them and lay them out on a baking dish and set it in the freezer.  Once frozen, transfer the veggies into freezer bags or other freezer containers.  You now have quick, easy go-tos for last minute cooking.  An added bonus is that you can also use these ingredients for last minute omelets and fritatas when you have unexpected overnight guests.

For other items that you don't necessarily want to precook, just separate everything into meal size portions and freeze them.  For instance, if you know you'll need 3 chicken breasts for a certain recipe, put 3 breasts in a freezer bag so it'll be ready to thaw & prepare.  But if you know that a recipe calls for 3 diced, cooked chicken breasts, go ahead and dice and boil them before freezing.

If you can use 1 afternoon a month getting everything ready to use you'll be amazed at all the time you'll save the rest of the month.