Dinner accelerators vs full prep

[Anonymous]

As I sadly consider the new school year, I want to see if there’s anything I can do now and maybe mid-year to create meal accelerators. Has anyone heard of anything like that? As I type, I’m thinking, maybe like a half Hello Fresh that I’ve done for myself. Any sites or groups anyone used and liked?

I’m a huge fan of Mark Bittman’s approach he has with swapping proteins and a few things but keeping a framework to keep meals moving. I enjoy cooking and the meditative experience of prep, but can’t do it every week night.

[Anonymous]

I’m not sure if this is what you mean, but I tend to cook two or three proteins each week — and use each one for multiple meals. I might cook salmon, and have it with sides, then make salmon salad, then make salmon cakes. Salads, omelets/ frittatas or fritters, stir fries, sandwiches, quesadillas, tacos, pizzas — are all ways to quickly fix meals using the already cooked proteins, with different seasonings and different flavors.

[Anonymous]

Several years ago I followed Fresh20. I don’t know if that’s something like what you’re looking for, though you can probably find all the information for free elsewhere.

https://www.thefresh20.com/

[Anonymous]

something you could do is when you make a meal, make two and freeze in a size that your family can eat in one meal. do this as often as you make a freezable meal, and you will have some meals on hand.

[Anonymous]

something you could do is when you make a meal, make two and freeze in a size that your family can eat in one meal. do this as often as you make a freezable meal, and you will have some meals on hand.

[Anonymous]

I used to follow something called once-a-month-cooking. The idea was to set aside one afternoon a month and prep a whole bunch of entrees (ostensibly a month's worth, although I usually did 15-20 and used them once every few nights for a couple of months). Each one went into the freezer in a ziploc bag or freezer tray. There are tons of menus and recipes online, but it really comes down to just picking entrees that your family would like. Then you'd pull one out and put it straight in the oven (or move to the fridge the night before to thaw, then cook in a skillet or whatever), and make any sides while the main dish is cooking.

The other thing I like to do is take an hour on Sunday to write out a menu for the week, and start some prep work: wash the lettuce, trim or chop vegetables. I find it's much easier for me to cook dinner if I come home from work to a written menu, chopped vegetables, meat pulled from the freezer and thawing in the fridge ... if I come home without a plan, I'm much less likely to actually cook.

[Anonymous]

Once a month cooking is kind of a lot! You can do it smaller scale by doing a ground beef recipes day or a chicken day.

Ground beef day make spaghetti, meatloaf, taco meat, etc.