The best tip I have for making dinner faster and for being prepared for making something quick in a pinch is buying a bunch, making and freezing it. Once a month I go to Sam's Club and by giant tubes of ground beef, big packs of pork chops and chicken. I bring it home and cook it up or divide, prep and freeze.
How do you start and what do you do first? I start my ground beef first. Of course you could use ground turkey if you want. You can't put it all in one pot (it's about 10 lbs) so I cook about 2 lbs at a time. While each batch is cooking I divide up the other meats into portions perfect for our family, rinse them, pat dry and package into meal servings. I can usually get 4 meals per packet of meat, like chicken drumsticks or pork chops. After each batch is cooked, I use a strainer to let each batch of ground beef drain the last bit of grease onto a baking sheet with about 4 paper towels on it and let it cool before putting it into quart storage bags. When you store the meat in freezer bags you can lay them flat to freeze, saving freezer space. I don't pre-cook hamburger patties, but I do shape them up and put them in packages big enough for a meal. I also use freezer paper and aluminum foil.
I do my cooking the same day I go to the store after the kids go to bed. Regan is notorious for touching anything that is up on the counter and then licking her fingers. Gross. I just won't put my sanity through cooking it when they are awake.
I make plain ground beef for things like hamburger helper (don't judge me its so yummy), taco meat (I use the McCormick taco seasoning, I like it way better than the Taco Bell version) and meat for spaghetti sauce. It makes making dinner so much easier when you don't have to make the meat. You can even add the taco or other seasoning if you do that batch last. My husband makes the best grilled rosemary pork chops and barbecue drumsticks, all I have to do is have the meat prepped and ready. Hmm and I only have to prep once a month! Once you see how much faster your prep time is with pre-cooked and pre-prepped meat you'll have a hard time making it any other way and you'll save money by buying it in bulk.
You might also like my Chicken Bruschetta Melts.
How do you start and what do you do first? I start my ground beef first. Of course you could use ground turkey if you want. You can't put it all in one pot (it's about 10 lbs) so I cook about 2 lbs at a time. While each batch is cooking I divide up the other meats into portions perfect for our family, rinse them, pat dry and package into meal servings. I can usually get 4 meals per packet of meat, like chicken drumsticks or pork chops. After each batch is cooked, I use a strainer to let each batch of ground beef drain the last bit of grease onto a baking sheet with about 4 paper towels on it and let it cool before putting it into quart storage bags. When you store the meat in freezer bags you can lay them flat to freeze, saving freezer space. I don't pre-cook hamburger patties, but I do shape them up and put them in packages big enough for a meal. I also use freezer paper and aluminum foil.
I do my cooking the same day I go to the store after the kids go to bed. Regan is notorious for touching anything that is up on the counter and then licking her fingers. Gross. I just won't put my sanity through cooking it when they are awake.
I make plain ground beef for things like hamburger helper (don't judge me its so yummy), taco meat (I use the McCormick taco seasoning, I like it way better than the Taco Bell version) and meat for spaghetti sauce. It makes making dinner so much easier when you don't have to make the meat. You can even add the taco or other seasoning if you do that batch last. My husband makes the best grilled rosemary pork chops and barbecue drumsticks, all I have to do is have the meat prepped and ready. Hmm and I only have to prep once a month! Once you see how much faster your prep time is with pre-cooked and pre-prepped meat you'll have a hard time making it any other way and you'll save money by buying it in bulk.
You might also like my Chicken Bruschetta Melts.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! It means so much to me!