I recently spent some weekend time making marinades for chicken and freezing, so I can just pull out of the freezer and grill. Used these recipes and liked the one we've tried so far:
https://www.thecandidcooks.com/freezer-friendly-chicken-marinades-4-simple-recipes/

When I make quick bread to use up overripe bananas or whatever, I always make two and freeze one.

And I occasionally buy big bags of limes/lemons at Costco and have my kids juice and zest them. Freeze the zest in small jars and the juice in ice cube trays, then toss in a freezer bag. Easier for me than having fresh on hand/taking a few minutes to do on a weeknight.

I like to keep uncooked chicken, pork chops, ground turkey and ground beef in the freezer. When I come home from the grocery store, I portion out the meat. For example, buy 5 pounds of ground turkey. Keep 1 pound out for dinner tonight, and wrap up the remaining into 1 pound sections (I eyeball) and put wrapped meat in a freezer bag and marked with date. When I need it, it is easy to locate and defrost.

Anonymous wrote:+1 on precut veggies for the week and ginger in the freezer.

I buy cinnamon butter when I can find it.

If I am motivated, I’ll make spice blends in advance - usually shawarma and taco seasoning

Do you have any containers you love for keeping precut veggies fresh?

+1 on precut veggies for the week and ginger in the freezer.

I buy cinnamon butter when I can find it.

If I am motivated, I’ll make spice blends in advance - usually shawarma and taco seasoning

Instead of freezing cookies, make a batch of the cookie dough. Scoop it and freeze it on a cookie sheet then put in container in the freezer. You can pull out and bake as many or as few as you want and they only take a minute or two longer from the frozen state. Frozen baked cookies always taste differently defrosted even though many people swear they don’t.

Anonymous wrote:I have a schedule of what is for breakfast every day of the week so there is no discussion and no mental energy spent on it.

Monday - bagels
Tuesday - breakfast sandwiches
Wednesday - cereal
Thursday - protein/yogurt smoothie
Friday - breakfast tacos or burritos

How old are your kids? I’ve been trying to do this but having trouble sticking the routine.

Keep fresh ginger in the freezer and grate as needed.

If you like slow cooked meals you can chop everything and throw it in a freezer bag. Then when you’re ready to cook just add sauce or liquid.

any kind of bread item can be frozen- pancakes, waffles, homemade biscuits, French toast

Make your own cream cheese blends- strawberry, cinnamon, raspberry, etc. Healthier than what you buy at the store.

Hard boiled eggs... you can make a dozen in the instant pot. Also when you make something that freezes well, make double and freeze half. I do this with beans, soups and chili, tomato sauces, and smoothies.

Sheet pan pancakes are also really easy and you can make multiple pans at the same time (as many as your oven has racks) then cut them up and freeze some with wax paper in between.

I have a schedule of what is for breakfast every day of the week so there is no discussion and no mental energy spent on it.

Monday - bagels
Tuesday - breakfast sandwiches
Wednesday - cereal
Thursday - protein/yogurt smoothie
Friday - breakfast tacos or burritos

Baked cookies and sweet loaf breads freeze really well. Just cool completely and use freezer bags for cookies and double wrap with plastic wrap and heavy duty foil for the breads. Good when you’re trying to use up leftover fruits or vegetables. Zucchini bread, pumpkin bread, banana bread, apple bread… you can also make your own slice and bake refrigerator cookies.

Breakfast sandwiches - frozen.

I’d like to come up with a modest number of things to prepare ahead of time - maybe once a week/month - that would enhance or help with meal prep. I was trying to think of simple things that planning ahead on can just make daily life easier.

A couple examples I’ve seen friends do:
-Freeze leftover coffee as ice cubes for future homemade iced coffee
-Butters with mix-ins stored in tubs (such as honey or cinnamon butter for kids toast)
-precutting raw veggies for the week and having a veggie and dip tray for family snack before dinner

Essentially what are the sort of batched make aheads that aren’t full meals, but remove the friction from daily routine of whipping something up? Give me your best kitchen synergies!