Reply to Please share your go-to easy weekly meals, especially ones that can be made in advance!

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, you could be me :).  DH and I both work full time, and have a 2yo and a 5yo.  One thing that really helps me is having a PLAN before I get home.  If I stand in the kitchen thinking "what am I going to make for dinner??", then all bets are off.  I try to spend 10-20 minutes the night before organizing a few things, pulling something out of the freezer if necessary.  Weekly meal planning is ideal, but doesn't always happen.

Some staples that I like to make ahead in big batches, and freeze single-meal-size portions: ground beef, rice, chicken (poach a bunch of breasts, or roast a whole chicken over the weekend - freeze & shred the leftovers), meatballs (bake a huge batch in the oven).  Combine these with fresh veggies to make meals throughout the week.

Some of our weeknight favorites:

- Tacos: chop the veggies the night before, and pull a bag of frozen ground beef from the freezer.  When you get home, combine the ground beef, a can of diced tomatoes and your favorite taco seasoning in a skillet.  Let that simmer while you and the kids set the table.

- Skillet chicken: Pound skinless/boneless chicken breasts flat, or slice and butterfly.  They should be around 1/2 inch thick, otherwise they take too long too cook.  Heat 1-2 Tb olive oil in a large skillet; season the chicken with your favorite herbs or spices; pan-fry in the olive oil.  Sometimes I add about 1/4 cup of water or broth and cover the skillet to poach the chicken; it ends up milder in flavor and more moist. My favorite seasonings: Italian herb mix; garlic powder & lemon pepper; see the Penzey's thread for other ideas.  While the chicken is cooking, steam some veggies (broccoli is a fav in our house) and/or make a salad, and warm up a bag of frozen leftover brown rice in the microwave.

- Seafood.  It generally cooks much faster than chicken or beef, and is yummy and healthy too!  Costco has bags of individually-wrapped Sockeye fillets that are actually quite good.  I pull 2-3 out of the freezer the night before.  Then grill (on a sheet of foil with a bit of olive oil, lemon juice and garlic) or roast in a 450-deg oven for about 10-15 minutes.  Stir together some ginger, garlic, soy sauce and brown sugar; use that to baste the salmon in the oven.  Cook up some veggies and garlic bread while the salmon is cooking.

- Meatballs: If you don't have cooked ones in the freezer, make up a batch of meatball mix the night before.  My fav recipe is: combine a slice of bread and 2-3 Tb milk in a bowl; add 1 egg and mix with a fork; add 2 cloves minced garlic, 2 thinly sliced scallions and 2 Tb Italian seasoning; add 1 lb ground turkey; mix to combine.  Store in a bowl in the fridge overnight.  Then, heat 2 Tb olive oil in a deep skillet.  Add a bunch of chopped basil, 2-3 Tb tomato paste, and a can of crushed tomatoes.  Bring to a simmer.  Form the meatballs, drop into the tomato sauce, cover, and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until cooked through.  Serve with pasta and veggie.  My kids love helping to make the meatballs.

-Dinner salad: when all else fails, chop some lettuce and a variety of veggies, add some of the shredded chicken from the freezer (thaw overnight, or in the microwave), may a couple of chopped hard-boiled eggs or diced ham if you have any handy.  My kids prefer having the items separate on their plate, with a puddle of dressing for dipping.

Sorry this got to be so long, I love thinking about food :).  Hope it helps.[/quote]

I love all your ideas, what freezer bags or containers do you use? The ones I get seem to always end up with frost in them[/quote]

I'm the PP you quoted ... not sure about anyone else, but I normally use the Ziploc quart-size freezer bags.  I prefer bags to solid containers so that I can squeeze all the air out - it helps keep the frost down, and takes less room in the freezer.  Another tip I learned is to make sure the food is completely cool before you seal it.  If it's warm when you seal it and put it in the freezer, it will steam, and the steam will then condense on the inside of the package, and form frost.

I love the theme idea that others are bringing up.  I'm going to start doing that!  [/quote]

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