s/o: if you make dinners on the weekend to eat during the week...

[Anonymous]

If you work ahead and make sneaks on the weekend for busy week nights, would you kindly share your meal ideas and/or links to recipes. I would like to get into the habit of doing this but I have trouble coming up with meals that are good for making ahead (don't need to be eaten fresh off the stove) or finding things that are still good after freezing. I really do prefer to serve my family well-rounded, fresh ingredient meals. Thanks for sharing your favorites!

[Anonymous]

I make stovetop lasagne (not as pretty but tastes the same, cooks much faster) and you can portion it out easily into smaller tupperware so it microwaves quickly. I make meatloaf in muffin tins, freeze the "cupcakes" and microwave with brown rice and microwaveable veggies for quick weekday meals. I make pasta during the week and throw in frozen veggies toward end of boiling time, drain all together, toss with olive oil, parmesan, and find that works out well for a weekday quickie.

[Anonymous]

Mostly casserole type dishes--lasagna roll ups, manicotti, stuffed shells, chicken enchiladas are all family favorites.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes I do a large batch of fried chicken strips. Use them as chicken fingers one night with fresh steamed veggies and as chicken parm another. Or chili in cooler weather. As well as the items noted by PPs.

[Anonymous]

I usually make a quiche or two with things like cheese, spinach, tomatoes, and bacon in them. They keep well and can be served for dinner with salad or breakfas with a side of fruitt. The Joy of Cooking has a great recipe. I also usually do some sort of large pan of a pasta dish like baked ziti with veggie marinara sauce or vegetable lasagne. Usually also throw chicken and veggies in a crockpot. Macaroni and cheese does well ahead of time as does crockpot chili, curries, and soups. Serve with salad and you are all set.

[Anonymous]

Grilled chicken breasts. Can be reheated, cut up for burritos, shredded for BBQ sandwiches, etc.

Turkey tacos or turkey chili. Both freeze and reheat well. Also good midweek.

[Anonymous]

Spaghetti & meatballs (make the meatballs ahead, boil the pasta when you need it)

Chickpea stew

Eggplant curry

When you barbeque, just throw on a few extra chicken breasts and cut them up over a salad for dinner during the week. (This also works for lunches. DH has developed a habit of always having a leftover porkchop or end of steak for his Monday/Tuesday lunches.)

Get a basil plant and make a batch of pesto one night to toss over pasta with tomatoes. My favorite....

[Anonymous]

Meat sauces for pasta (turkey) or meatballs heat up really well.

Turkey pinto bean chile--great from freezer and heats up really well.

Pinto bean/butternut squash soup (epicurious) heats up well.

We do currries and lots of soups of all cuisines-- tortilla soup. Eat the curries with rice, pita, chappati (whole wheat flatbread).

Pulled pork, bbq chicken (great in slow cooker)

We also will cook chicken etc on grill or in oven like PP and eat with salads, etc. Roast a chicken on Sunday evening, and the next day do a salad or throw it into enchiladas (another regular meal of ours).

We learned to get super creative as I get bored eating the same thing over and over. We also saved money on groceries because we started themes for the week as not to buy 37 different ingredients. For example, have a 1-3 mexican dishes one week; 1-3 moroccan/middle eastern dishes the following week. Less waste.

Also, a slow cooker is your friend. It allows you to make another meal while you have the other burners going. (We have a 6 burner stove and you better believe it almost all 6 can be going on our big weekend cooking marathon).

Doing this allows for us to get dinner on the table in 20 minutes. And we eat really well. It took us a while to figure out this all so that it runs so smoothly, so don't give up if you have a few failures/run out of food on Thursday!

[Anonymous]

I make a lot of vegetarian things that have multiple vegetables and a lot of beans. Soups, stews, pasta salads, stir fries, curries, burrito fillings. Anything that has 5 or 6 vegetables and a lot of different textures is good because you don't get as bored with it. I usually use a mix of fresh and frozen veggies. Also make a big pot of brown rice in the rice cooker because it reheats well.

[Anonymous]

Forgot to say that whenever I do make a lot of something I freeze 2-3 servings. The weeks when I haven't cooked there are usually several nights worth of dinners I can defrost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Forgot to say that whenever I do make a lot of something I freeze 2-3 servings. The weeks when I haven't cooked there are usually several nights worth of dinners I can defrost.

+1

I try not to make advance cooking an extra event. I make extra of anything I cook and freeze it. Not everything freezes well but, if something does, I freeze it!

[Anonymous]

This is my roster of go-to recipes that I make on the weekends in big batches:

Soup is your friend. In the fall/winter I make one type of soup every weekend. Typically a lentil soup with some ham or chicken bones simmered in there for body, and then some carrots, potatoes, onions in there as well. I do these in a slow cooker or pressure cooker.

Chili -- lots of variations on this: vary the types of beans, the meat (sausage, beef, turkey), omit the meat entirely for a veggie version, add whatever veggies you have on hand (spinach, different peppers, carrots, etc.), add whole wheat pasta or bulgur (cracked wheat), vary the degree of spiciness. Do in slower cooker or dutch oven.

Quick couscous salad -- cook a box of that 5-minute instant couscous. When cool, add feta or crumbled goat cheese, scallions, a cut-up pepper or two, and some slivered almonds. Sometimes I also add pieces of chicken if I have leftovers. DH and I often take this to work for lunch.

Shepherd's pie -- again, with variations: turkey or beef or lamb, add curry spices to the meat or not, etc.

Big batch of fried rice -- I usually add strips of omelet, little chunks of bacon, some peas or corn in there.

Curry -- I usually do a chicken and potato curry, and sometimes throw some spinach in there if I have it. I sometimes use the Maya Kaimal curry sauces as the base or the Trader Joe's simmer sauces.

Big batch of Bolognese sauce -- if I'm short on time (even on the weekends), I use the recipe for a quick Bolognese from www.dinneralovestory.com or else I do the sauce in a slow cooker

Big batch of meatballs -- lots of variations on this, of course. I usually simmer this in a tomato sauce (homemade in the slow cooker if I have time, jarred from the store if I don't) -- and I serve the meatballs and sauce with pasta or rice, or, if I don't put the meatballs in sauce, I serve them along with pita pockets, chopped iceberg lettuce, a quick cucumber/yogurt sauce, feta, olives, etc. so that it's kind of a Greek meatball pita thing. I also recently tried the spicy chipotle meatballs recipe from The Wednesday Chef blog and they were wonderful and not too time-consuming - I served them with rice, and then chips and guacamole as extras on the table.

Chili Mac -- saute some chopped onion, red and yellow peppers, and garlic in a big pan, then remove from the pan and set aside, brown some ground beef in the pan, then add some chili powder and soy sauce, add a jar of tomato sauce or can of crushed tomatoes, add the cooked veggies back to the pan, simmer until you get the desired thickness, then mix with cooked macaroni or other short pasta, pour the mixture in a greased casserole dish, sprinkle shredded cheese over the top, bake until the cheese is melted and a little browned. I think I got this recipe from Michael Ruhlman's website but I've been making it for so long that I can no longer quite remember the original source!

In general I love the Dinner A Love Story blog for recipes and inspiration, as well as smittenkitchen.com -- the latter website in particular has a very well-organized recipe index. Happy cooking!

[Anonymous]

Butternut squash soup:

Half a butternut squash, remove the seeds, sprinkle with salt and pepper, put cut-side-down on a baking sheet, roast for about 45 min-1 hour at 425 until cooked through.
Saute an onion and some garlic in olive oil or butter. If you have sage, saute the minced sage as well. Add the cooked butternut squash. Add some chicken broth -- I use water plus Better than Bouillon (best time saver ever).
Use a stick blender to blend in pot until smooth. Add a handful of finely grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese.

Variation:
Along with the onion and garlic, saute 1 chopped, peeled tart apples. Add some curry powder and saute all together.
Continue with the rest of the recipe but omit the Parmesan cheese.

I've also made this, which is handy when cleaning out the crisper:
http://momfilter.com/food/broccoli-soup

When I make this soup, I tend to add some smoked paprika for a little more flavor. I also stir in cooked rice or pastina towards the end of cooking to give it a little more body/substance.

[Anonymous]

Great thread!! Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Turkey meatballs
meatloaf
Lasagna
beans, beans beans

Veggies roasted in the oven. Makes a lot and serve throughout the week.

One bean recipe is: beans on stove with some onion and corn (can be frozen) or other veggie and lots of mild salsa

Slow cooker chicken recipes. This woman did a year of slow cooking. http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ is her website with recipes. They are quite good and she has little kids. Her trick was getting her husband to clean the slow cooker.