Make Ahead Meals Class

On Friday when I posted I mentioned that I'd made my first trip to Costco last week and purchased a bunch of food for making 30 meals.  Now, why would I need to make so many meals?  Actually, the food wasn't all for me.  In fact, only 10% of it was.

I've written about it here and there, but I don't think I've ever posted in detail about the meals that I prep ahead of time and then bake or cook in the crock pot the day we're going to eat one.  Back when Sienna was a baby, friends introduced me to a place called "Dinners by the Dozen" where I could go and follow their recipes to put together meals to freeze.  I instantly fell in love with the idea since afternoons and dinnertime always are very hectic at our house.  Flash forward 4 or so years and "Dinners by the Dozen" has closed it's doors, but I am still making meals in advance to freeze and even using some of my favorite recipes from there.

I've shared with my friends and family how wonderful it is to do meals this way and as a result, many of the moms in my preschool parents group wanted to know more about how to start prepping meals ahead of time.  So, last Thursday I hosted 9 moms, plus myself, for a little "class."

I estimated that we could make 3 meals for $25 and that each meal would feed a family of 4-5.  I have to admit, after I chose which recipes we would use and started making my shopping list, I was pretty worried that I would spend over budget.  With $250 in hand, I went to Costco and Walmart where I was able to get every single ingredient and supply for our meals and I ended up spending only $247 and change!  Here is what my kitchen looked like after my big shopping trips:

That's a LOT of meat in the fridge, eh?

I shopped on Wednesday and Thursday, then made sure the kitchen was clean and ready for everyone Thursday night.  I asked everyone to bring a mixing bowl and spoon just to make things easier and for fewer of my dishes to get dirty. 

We made Thai Style Pork, Crock Pot Rotisserie Chicken and Stuffed Shells.  These three family favorites of ours are all from recipes I cannot take credit for.  I need to thank my friends Lisa and Virginia for giving them to me!

I tried to explain to my friends that almost any meal can be made ahead of time and frozen.  I think of all the meals that I see in the freezer aisle of my grocery store and the possibilities are endless.  I think that until you actually try to make a few things, freeze them, and then cook them later, you don't understand how simple it really is.

It took a little over 2 hours for 30 meals to be fully prepped in my kitchen.  And since we purchased ingredients in bulk, the average cost per serving ended up being $1.66.  Now tell me where you can get a healthy meal for $1.66!  I'm going to be filling my own freezer with new meals after Christmas and by shopping with my new Costco membership (woohoo--and I promise they're not paying me to mention them--I just love that store SO MUCH) I'm going to be able to make additional meals for my family for that low cost.

I'm glad I got to share my time and a little bit of knowledge with these friends, and I'm grateful for all of their help cleaning up at the end of the night.  It was a fun and productive evening for me, and I think they all would agree!

I'm also glad to share now with each of you.  Below are the 3 recipes we made together, as well as five additional recipes that can be made ahead of time and frozen until you're ready to use them.  I am planning to break up more of my recipes into the "now / later" format and post them soon.  I hope that this will help more of you to try making ahead some meals and then having dinnertime run more smoothly as a result :)

Stuffed Shells Now:  1lb. ground beef or turkey 1 med. onion chopped 1 clove garlic, minced 8 oz. mozzarella cheese ½ cup Italian bread crumbs 1 egg ¼ cup chopped parsley (either fresh or dried) 1 box of giant shells cooked according to pkg instructions 2 small or 1 large jar spaghetti sauce Brown meat, onion, garlic.  Drain grease if any and cool.  Stir cheese, bread crumbs, parsley and egg into meat mixture.  Spoon a little sauce into your pan.  Fill cooked shells with meat mixture.  Place shells in pan in a single layer, pour rest of sauce over all of the shells.  Cover with foil and saran wrap to freeze. Later: Take pan of shells out of freezer 48 hours before baking and thaw entire time in refrigerator. Bake @ 400 for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.	Thai-Style Pork Stew Now:  2 lb boneless pork loin cut into chunks 2 red peppers cut into strips 1/3 cup teriyaki sauce 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper 2 teaspoons minced garlic Place all ingredients, uncooked, into a freezer bag.  Freeze. Later: Take pork out of freezer 24-48 hours before cooking and thaw entire time in refrigerator. Cook in crock pot on low setting 8 hours.  Optional:  You may shred the pork and stir in ¼ cup peanut butter (we don’t ever do this step and we love the way it turns out without PB). Serve over rice garnished with chopped peanuts, sliced green onion and / or juice from a lime.
EASY Rotisserie Chicken Now:  1 whole chicken McCormicks Rotisserie Spice (jars of it available in spices section of your grocery store) Rinse the chicken and put it into freezer bag.  Shake rotisserie spice onto it evenly and generously moving the chicken around as needed to coat entire exterior.  Freeze. Later: Take chicken out of freezer 24-48 hours before cooking and thaw entire time in refrigerator. Cook in crock pot on low setting 8-10 hours.  Do not add any additional water or other liquid to chicken when cooking.  The juices from the meat will be plentiful enough and your chicken will be very moist and delicious!	Pepperoncini Beef Now: 1 beef roast 1 jar pepperocinis (available next to the pickles or in the Italian section of your grocery store) Put beef roast into freezer bag.  Pour entire jar of pepperocinis over it, liquid and all.  Freeze. Later: Take beef out of freezer 24-48 hours before cooking and thaw entire time in refrigerator. Cook in crock pot on low setting 8 hours.  Using tongs, remove pepperocinis just before dinner and save them on a cutting board.  Meanwhile, shred beef using two forks.  Set aside any of the meat that you are serving to children or others who do not like spicy foods at this time. Chop the cooked pepperocinis and put them back into the shredded beef.  Mix well. Meat goes well in hoagie topped with cheese and A1 sauce, in tacos shells with fixings, as a nacho topping we’ve found
Autumn Chicken Now:  1 pkg frozen artichoke hearts 1 14oz can whole mushrooms (we use fresh instead) 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1 6.5oz jar marinated artichoke hearts ¾ cup white wine ½ cup balsamic vinegar Place all ingredients, uncooked, into a freezer bag.  Freeze. Later: Take chicken out of freezer 24-48 hours before cooking and thaw entire time in refrigerator. Cook in crock pot on low setting 8 hours Serve over noodles and sprinkle with paprika.	Shredded Chicken Tacos Now:  3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1 jar any salsa 1 packet taco seasoning Place all ingredients, uncooked, into a freezer bag.  Freeze. Later: Take chicken out of freezer 24-48 hours before cooking and thaw entire time in refrigerator. Cook in crock pot on low setting 8 hours.  Shred chicken with two forks. Serve in taco shells or over nachos with all the traditional fixings.
White Bean & Kielbasa Stew (From Real Simple Mag.) Now:  14 oz kielbasa, halved lengthwise and sliced into ½ inch thick pieces 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes 1 large onion, chopped 6 cloves minced garlic 1 teaspoon dried rosemary Place all ingredients, uncooked, into a freezer bag.  Freeze. Later: 1 lb. dried white beans (great northern or navy) 6 cups baby spinach Take stew out of freezer 24-48 hours before cooking and thaw entire time in refrigerator. Pour stew into crock pot, add 1 lb. dried white beans (great northern or navy).  Cook in crock pot on low setting 7-8 hours.  Just before serving, stir in spinach.  Serve with bread.	Zesty Chicken Sandwiches Now:  3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1 ½ oz pkg onion soup mix ¼ teaspoon garlic salt ¼ cup Italian salad dressing ¼ cup water Place all ingredients, uncooked, into a freezer bag.  Freeze. Later: Take chicken out of freezer 24-48 hours before cooking and thaw entire time in refrigerator. Cook in crock pot on low setting 8 hours. Shred chicken with 2 forks. Serve on buns or in pitas with lettuce, cheese, sour cream or ranch salad dressing.

Any questions?  I'm happy to answer them!!  Please, please let me know if you end up using any of these recipes.  I find my recipes in a variety of places and can't take credit for any of these, but I will take credit for telling you that you'll love them if you try them!

Happy cooking friends :)