Fix it and forget it meals

The last thing on my mind when I get home from work is making a healthy balanced dinner for myself and my family but that is crucial to creating healthy eating habits for my children and lunches for myself and my husband so here is how I get around it.

I hardly ever make anything from "scratch" who has the time for that. Let someone else do the dirty work and spend your time making it yours. My crock pot is my best friend. It can cook whole chickens, pot roasts, & pork with all the trimming, soups, stews and even lasagna. Just prep in the evening and store in the fridge. In the morning put it on low and go. You can even prep ahead and freeze whole meals ready to put into your slow cooker. Meat for soups and stews can be pre-cooked and frozen ahead of time. Vegetables can be pre-cooked and frozen in small batches. A tomato sauce from a jar tastes OK. but throw in some fresh garlic and herbs to jazz it up and you have a great base. I put in jars of diced tomatoes and leftover vegetables to bump the nutritional value and make it more complex and freeze that too so it can be ready in a flash.

 I use a ton of tastefully simple meal ideas for my prep ahead meals. For instance. Their perfectly potato soup makes a great pot pie filling. Just add leftover cooked chicken and a bag of frozen mixed vegetable. Dump that into a pie filling. It makes one large or make 7 small individual pot pies and freeze for individual use.

However, my go to is prepare and freeze ahead in bulk.  Everyone has their staple go to meals. I tend to lean towards Italian dishes with lots of pasta and meat dishes with some type of sauce and with all the great garden produce coming in this year it is hard not to take advantage of my time and freezer space and prepare for the busy work nights to come. One night a week I put the boys to bed and cook/bake. This week is eggplant parm and eggplant lasagna. I oven fry the eggplant and then make trays of each until the eggplant is gone filling my freezer with healthy meals for the winter months to come. Zucchini becomes breads and muffins. Peppers for sausage and peppers. Tomatoes become fresh sauce. This creates a great taste of summer in fall and winter.

All these things I have mentioned and many, many more can be made in bulk and frozen to be used at a later date. Making those hectic weeks and days still ending at home around the table for a healthy meal instead of in the drive-thru.