Cooking once for the whole week.

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withhumor

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 10:49 am

As a working mother, I have to prepare in advance to ensure we have warm nourishing (cost efficient) meals every night. Cereal and tuna and salad just doesn’t cut it.

I’ve been doing this for a while now. On Sunday’s I cook up a storm and we have food for the week. I’m running out of menu ideas though, does anyone have any good ideas which will allow for preparation in advance, cooking only the day that you need it?

For example, I peel and cube potatoes and leave them in water in the fridge. It’s perfectly fine and then I can cook it on the day that I want to use it.

I also sauté onions and vegetables and toss it with meat, chicken, rice or pasta or plain, on the side of the main dish.

I make chicken cutlets and bake it 2 days later, and even then, we can eat it up to 3 days later.

I love my crock pot but I am a bit sick of these overcooked meals right now.

HELP.
Thanks

chocolate moose

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 12:14 pm

maybe you should make friends with the tuna sandwich, then. we don't think tuna and fries - or other sandwich type dinners - are so bad once or twice a week.

pasta is good for one night. leftovers from shabbos another night or 2. you can make chinese food in 30 minutes and other dinnners too.

lubcoralsprings

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 12:18 pm

withhumor if that works for you I think what you are doing is great. It probably saves you a lot of time and energy.

Tefila

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 12:43 pm

I do that with pasta for the kids. I will cook up enough for approx two three days and as long as it is not seasoned it will still taste edible when I serve I will add a cheese sauce, veg meat sauce etc. Potatoes sty preety well in a plastivc bag as opposed to water too for up to three four days before going brown. And I peel it on the sunday so I have it for the week to do whjatever with them saves time during the busy week for sure. Same with challah dough I make on a Sunday in advance and then devide it week by week and only take out one plastic wrap loaf that I will need for that week and defrost it on the Thursday, bake on friday.

amother

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 12:51 pm

Meatball batter (is that how you call it?). I make a huge batter, then divide them up in plastic bags/containers, and freeze them. On the morning of, I remove container from freezer, let it sit on counter, When I get home from work there's tomato sauce (or whatever sauce u use) sitting in the pot (prepared before going off to work), I turn on the flame, form the balls, toss them into the pot, and in twenty minutes I have hot nutritious meatballs.
I use the same batter to make what we call "fleish latkes", I think other people refer to it as shnitzel or fushet, not sure. It takes just a few minutes and oh what a healthy snack. I take leftovers along for lunch the next day! (If there's any left!)
Now, the spaghetti, I've never tried doing it in advance but I would imagine it's a possibility.
Cutlets can be dipped into whatever mixture you have and frozen before cooking. For dinner, just remove the frozen uncooked cutlets and fry (or bake). No mess with eggs etc. cuz it's all been done ahead of time.
I freeze potato blintzes as well. I make a big batch and freeze.
BTW, my meatballs are made with chicken, not meat, but we still call them 'meat'balls.

Tefila

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 1:17 pm

Great thread keep those helpful tips coming. I so neeeeeeeeeed them Smile

You see my husband doesn't mind if I do it this way and truly he is not a fussy or demanding eater but he doesn't like the idea of freezables ready food, so this seems a good compromise 8)

withhumor

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 1:33 pm

Clarification for those of you who are becoming nauseas by thinking I bake chicken on Sunday for Friday night!

I cook on Sunday’s for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On Thursday I cook fresh for shabbos and we eat shabbos food on Thursday nights….

Tefila

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 1:37 pm

Withhoumour I never misunderstood I know what you are saying the preparations are what you do earlier.Ditto except the past which actually ios two days not three and warmed up and served accordingly Wink

chocolate moose

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 4:32 pm

With, why do you have to serve a full meal each night? What about leftovers?

I woudl never eat the Shabbos food on Thurs night; it's for Shabbos!

withhumor

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 4:46 pm

We absolutely love fresh chicken soup so we have that on Thursday night, and haven’t you heard that cholent is best on Thursday nights? Al taam v’rayach… so we have soup and for the kids I put in a chicken bottom into the cholent which they love. The adults just nosh around… because there’s not much time to cook a dinner after cooking for shabbos after my work!

Anyway, we all need this nice warm comforting meal, we wait for it. kids are hungry after along day at school/yeshiva, and dh and I are starved after stuffing with yogurt and banana all day. By the time it comes to supper time, everyone wants to dig in to something hearty.

Besides, it doesn’t have to be a ten course meal. Just a good piece of protein and a side dish is good enough, but I have to prepare it in advance, hence this post.

chocolate moose

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 5:03 pm

With, I realize everyone's situation is different, but let me tell you how I do things.

We always eat dinner at 7 PM in our house and the groc. shopping is done on Tues nights.

Sunday night is leftovers from Shabbos, and I usually make something meaty to supplement it, like meatloaf and a veg. soup.

I also make a big salad since that's my lunch for the week, and our vegetable for Monday night.

Monday night I make a big milchig meal. Such as ziti, and I boil the noodles Sunday. I work until 5:30, will get home about 6 or 6:15 the latest, add the sauce and cheeses, and serve it by 7. With the salad, as above.

Tues, I go right from work to the groc store, and serve an easily cooked dinner like baked shnitzel, cousocus from a box, and steam veggies like broccoli. OR I make something easy like a Chinese stir fry, as I said before. (Rice goes in a steamer or takes just 20 minutes in the microwave).

Wed I have an early shiur so it's sandwiches, made from the rolls or bread I bought on Tues. We rotate between turkey cutlets, burgers, hotdogs, etc., with baked fries, frozen corn or canned beans, etc. Believe me, it's a hearty enough dinner!

Thurs I get a few things for Shabbos right after work and start cooking; my fridge isn't big so the leftovers all get put out and used up.

We love the Shabbos soup, too, With, but the expensive, just for Shabbos food is just that - just for Shabbos! Extra soup goes into the freezer for the next Shabbos.

withhumor

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 5:09 pm

I make a 16 q. pot of chicken soup every Thursday,. I only fill 8 qts. With water but the rest has 2 packs of chicken bones, only about $2.30 a pack. I also put one pack of drumsticks for Friday night meal. Otherwise, the rest is vegetable and it totals to about $12. That’s not a lot and it’s heavenly. I like your idea about ‘sandwiches’ being an official thing. My kids would like that because they can pick the inside, plus cole slaw and cucumber salad on the side (which can be prepared in advance). I shop on Wednesday’s though so usually it’s Wednesday’s for salad and bread with it. Thanks for sharing.

chocolate moose

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 5:59 pm

I just tell it like it is. If I know we are eating sandwiches, I make sure to have fresh bread. No one complains.

amother

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 5:59 pm

As far as I am concerned sandwiches aren't a supper.

chocolate moose

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 6:01 pm

it's not just peanut butter, amother. for example, this wed night we had:

burgers with fresh buns
hot dogs with fresh buns
baked fries
pickles
fresh corn
canned beans

there was enough for two nights, and another lunch for me!

amother

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 6:03 pm

I would never serve such unhealthy things like hot dogs. Just to reiterate what I said, sandwiches are not suppers. When your dh comes home it's preferable to have a hot healthy meal, not a sandwich.

amother

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 6:06 pm

chocolate moose wrote:

I am glad I don't live in your house. It sounds like military camp!

Tefila

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 6:09 pm

Amother

chocolate moose

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 6:10 pm

DH works a full day and comes home slightly before me. There's no way to "have a full meal waiting". I work full time and commute too!

Anyway, we don't just eat banana and yogurt all day, like the OP. We eat salad, bread, fruits, and other foods. We aren't dying by 7 PM!

Having a huge heavy meal at night can also border on the unhealthy.

Oh, and amother? If you don't like any of these dinners, you can always take frozen pizza, scramble eggs, or take leftovers from another night. There's always plenty of food !!!!

I regiment it so it's easy to have a variety of food in the house. I always know what to count on when I go shopping...it's something I learned from a super-organized friend!

BrachaVHatzlocha

Sun, Feb 04 2007, 6:18 pm

amother wrote:

I would never serve such unhealthy things like hot dogs. Just to reiterate what I said, sandwiches are not suppers. When your dh comes home it's preferable to have a hot healthy meal, not a sandwich.

If someone's husband doesn't mind, why shouldn't they take the easy way?
I fed the kids leftover chicken and rice tonight.
I'm going to make grilled cheese with salad for my husband! Smile

He likes it, so why not??

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