How to Cook a Week's Worth of Meals in a Day

With school, work, extracurricular activities, meetings and other events in our lives, the weeks tend to fill up very quickly. By the end of the day, it is hard to think about preparing and cooking dinner. Many families order in food or simply go out to eat to avoid this frustration. However, here is a way to save time, money and sanity!

First of all, you need to plan a menu. Find out what you want to eat for the week and do your shopping the day before you plan to cook. Make a grocery list and make sure that you have all of the seasonings and condiments that you will be using.

Second, make sure that you have the right kind of containers to store the food in. You can freeze meals in glass dishes that are covered with heavy duty freezer foil. If you do not have enough pans to freeze them in, simply use the dish as a holding unit. Line the baking dish with foil and when all of your ingredients are in place, freeze it. When it is frozen, remove the dish and wrap in foil. You can use freezer bags or plastic freezer containers as well.

Third, make sure you label all of your entrees. Place a label on the outside of the dish that says what the entree is, how to cook, how many servings are included and the date that it was prepared. You can write on foil or freezer bags, but you will need tape or other kinds of labels for plastic containers. Make sure that you use a permanent, water-proof marker to label the entrees.

To avoid the formation of crystals, do not put hot or warm food directly into the freezer. Place the items into the refrigerator to cool down and then place in the freezer. Try to freeze the food as soon as it is cooled down. Thaw your foods in the refrigerator for approximately 24 hours before cooking them. Avoid thawing on the counter.

There are some items that do not freeze well. Raw salad vegetables, such as lettuce, hard boiled eggs and tomatoes do not freeze well. Potatoes, rice and pasta will get mushy if frozen in liquid, like a stew or soup. Add them later on when you cook the dish. Instant tice does not freeze, but regular cooked rice does fine. Fried and breaded foods should not be frozen.

On the cooking day, clean off all counters and tables. Make sure that all of the dishes are washed and ready to be used. Fill a sink of water with soap and wash your dishes as you cook. You will be using measuring cups , knivesm cutting boards and spoons on several dishes throughout the day.

Chop, grate, slice and cube all of your ingredients at one time. Place all of these items on one serving platter if you can so that they are all accesible for the meals. You might choose to leave the meals prepped, or you can go ahead and precook them. For instance, if you are making meatloaf-you can form the meatloaf and freeze in a meatloaf dish or you can go ahead and cook it. Then, on Wednesday when you want meatloaf, pull it out on Tuesday and thaw. It will be ready to cook on Wednesday.