When I was in college, I saved time and ate healthy by cooking most of my meals on Saturday. I would freeze casseroles and store other dishes in the fridge. As I got older, I got away from this habit. Now, I am considering returning to it because of a busy schedule. Do any of you cook meals a few days in advance? Casseroles are easy to freeze and reheat.
It's such a good way to avoid a busy schedule jeopardizing your health. I don't personally cook in advance because I am home every day with the kids and have lots of time for them and cooking our meals, but if I ever find myself working out of the home again, I'd likely turn back to freezing and crock pot meals again. I highly recommend it over convenience meals from disgusting fast food joints or fast meals from the grocery stores.
Over here, my dad doesn't really cook in advance since he's always here everyday, but he freezes the leftovers and re-heats them when the next meal time comes around. I think that the re-heated foods still taste the same, but of course I would prefer it if it was freshly cooked.
The picture looks delicious! I am from a tropical country and we here don't cook meals in advance for it will rot in the tropical heat. And most of all I like eating newly cooked food. I like eating and served while hot. the taste actually differ if you just put it in a microwave and then serve and that is somehow I can't take in.
I never cook in advance because I don't have schedules to meet. That's one of the perks of not having to go to work [I retired] so my meals are always 'fresh' cooked and since I live deep in the country well it wouldn't make sense to cook a meal and store in a fridge when you get fresh veggies from the garden when you want to have a meal. . .
I don't often cook meals a few days in advance because I often cook fresh meals. However, if I know I will be busy ahead of time, I would cook my meals 2 days in advance because I don't have to think about what to cook the next day. Plus, I work everyday and go to school full-time, which I think having to cook every time during the day isn't fun because I usually spend about 1 to 2 hours cooking meals, even the easiest meal. I try to plan ahead so I can just prepare to cook for the meal once it's time for me to cook.
Nope, I never cook meals in advance but I do keep leftovers so I can finish up on the next few days. A lot of people believe that leftovers are bad for you but as long as they are heated or re-cooked thoroughly, they are perfectly fine for consumption. So long as they don't smell bad or anything. In a way, I think it's similar to cooking meals in advance.
I'm not a fan of leftovers, or pre-cooked food - the texture changes too much, stuff becomes too dried out, or water logged if it's frozen, etc... the only exception would be something like chili or a batch of sauce and meatballs. I tried making a batch of frozen breakfast burritos once, and they were awful when I reheated them. I would rather just stick with fast recipes, than rely on pre-cooking stuff. Plus you never know if your tastes are going to change as the week goes on, and you may make something but have no appetite for it a few days from now.
I love casseroles. And yes, I do prepare my meals in advance, or at the very least, I cook in large quantities so I can just freeze the leftovers. I think it's a much better routine to do so than to have to cook each meal everyday. My favorite ones to make and freeze are stews and casseroles as well as fried rice, and most frozen meals I make are easily heated up in the microwave which is just as good or even better than buying factory made frozen meals in my opinion.
I definitely do this because I live by myself and therefore have to use food up quickly before it goes bad since there aren't other people to help me finish stuff. Whenever I buy meat I always cook it immediately since fresh meat grosses me out and it's more convenient to have it prepared for a few days in advance. The stuff I typically cook for multiple meals are crockpot meals since you can make a lot of food at one time with the crockpot and the stuff usually freezes pretty well. Chicken is a great example...even the most simple dish, chicken with some vegetables, freezes great at least in my experience. However, after about a month, frozen pulled chicken doesn't taste nearly as good, but it's still convenient and you can mix it with other stuff to improve the flavor.
If I know how to cook, I probably would do it. But I just really buy meals before a trip. It's definitely going to save me more though.
Soups, soups, and more soups! The only soups that don't freeze well are cream based ones, and those aren't good for the waist line anyway. Every time I make soup, I make a huge batch and freeze quart baggies. That way instead of a cupboard full of sodium stuffed canned soups, I have fresh tasting home made frozen soups. Split pea soup, chicken and beef stew, chili, you name it. Just about anything freezes well. Edit - eggs also don't freeze well, so no egg drop soup either. That's so quick to make though, it's not even worth making a huge batch and freezing.
I've done this in the past, and need to get in the habit again. Right now, I have a nice, big chest freezer, and it's almost totally empty. I need to start buying foods on sale and sticking them in the freezer. I used to enjoy making my own tv dinners. I need to slow down and start freezing foods again.
If you know other people with freezers, you could do what my boyfriend's family does. They're all huge into quality meats so they'll buy 1/2 a cow from a farm and pay to have the butcher cut it up for them into the standard cuts (ribeye, blade roast, etc) then they'd split it up between them. It's a great way to save money if you're into quality meats and have the space!
My family used to cook meals one day advance, but I've never known people cooking a weeks worth at the weekend. Must be quite tiresome at the end of it. I suppose at least it avoids the temptation of wanting to get a takeaway mid-week if you already have the free cooked food there in the freezer.
I've never done that, cooking meals in advance. I cook in the day when I am eating it and often I do eat leftovers because I cook bigger portions on purpose, so that I have leftovers to eat in the next day or at night. When my younger kid was a baby I did froze soup for him, but I don't like that idea too much now.
Not to the point of cooking for days and then freezing it etc. However when I do cook, I make enough for 2 meals. The first one I eat right then and there and the other one goes in the fridge for the next day. So yes, I do it but in a more limited way. Not only does this save time when cooking, it also means that usually I have something in my fridge waiting for me if I'm super hungry when I get back from work.
That is great if you live alone, but if you live in a house full of people. That will not work out so well. For me. Pre cooked food will most likely be eaten by a family member before i get a chance to. Although i love the idea. I am going to have to wait until i have a house of my own before i can put in practice.
Lol Gmac, that is true, I can't imagine cooking for lunch in the next day at dinner time without my kids wanting to eat it, unless I made a large portion for lunch and dinner, but this would also mean I would have to eat at dinner and lunch the same thing...
Absolutely! I actually go one step farther and sometimes make meals WEEKS in advance. I love having a freezer that will allow me to make more than one set of the same dish and freeze one for the future. I've managed to findLog In that work well for this.
