This is the way to go.
Before I did a brief post on power cooking - as I had said, it's not really my thing. Power PREP, however, is definitely my thing. I like to do things in advance whenever I can, and if I find a block of time to do some power prep, I go for it. Basically, I buy large amounts of ground beef, Italian sausage, boneless, skinless chicken breast, a beef or pork roast, veggies, etc. and get them all prepped and broken down to use in future recipes.
As I mentioned in my power cooking post, I like to snag packages of bell peppers from the "clearance" produce rack at Sendik's - last night I picked up 3 packages of green bell peppers, and 1 package of red and yellow peppers. I washed them, seeded them, and then cut some into thin strips and diced the rest. I froze them in bags to use for fajitas, add to casseroles, stir frys, and other dishes. I did the same with some onions. I also like to cut up celery and carrots and throw them in containers for easy snacking and adding to dishes. It's cheaper than buying the pre-cut ones at the store. I had a bunch of celery from a recipe where I just needed a little bit, so we made some celery sticks up to have for snacks.
I also bought several pounds of ground beef and browned it with some diced onions, then drained it, and froze it in manageable amounts. Then I can take it out for sloppy joes, tacos, spaghetti sauce, chili - whatever I might need. It's much quicker that thawing, browning, and draining, and then adding to to your dish that night. There was a package of breakfast sausage in the freezer, so I thawed that and browned it up, too. Ditto for the package of Italian sausage that was on sale. It's nice to add some to a pizza or a calzone, and just use a little bit at a time.
I like to buy chicken in large quantities when it's on sale, too, so I threw a big family package of boneless skinless chicken breasts into the oven and cooked them with some pepper, garlic powder, and a little broth. I've also thrown them into a crock pot and done the same. Then I cut some into strips and chunks, and shred some, and again, package it for easy additions to casseroles, tacos, wraps, etc.
All of that took about an hour, and I could do other things while waiting for the meat to cook, and then I only had one big clean-up, too. Bonus!
Before I did a brief post on power cooking - as I had said, it's not really my thing. Power PREP, however, is definitely my thing. I like to do things in advance whenever I can, and if I find a block of time to do some power prep, I go for it. Basically, I buy large amounts of ground beef, Italian sausage, boneless, skinless chicken breast, a beef or pork roast, veggies, etc. and get them all prepped and broken down to use in future recipes.
As I mentioned in my power cooking post, I like to snag packages of bell peppers from the "clearance" produce rack at Sendik's - last night I picked up 3 packages of green bell peppers, and 1 package of red and yellow peppers. I washed them, seeded them, and then cut some into thin strips and diced the rest. I froze them in bags to use for fajitas, add to casseroles, stir frys, and other dishes. I did the same with some onions. I also like to cut up celery and carrots and throw them in containers for easy snacking and adding to dishes. It's cheaper than buying the pre-cut ones at the store. I had a bunch of celery from a recipe where I just needed a little bit, so we made some celery sticks up to have for snacks.
I also bought several pounds of ground beef and browned it with some diced onions, then drained it, and froze it in manageable amounts. Then I can take it out for sloppy joes, tacos, spaghetti sauce, chili - whatever I might need. It's much quicker that thawing, browning, and draining, and then adding to to your dish that night. There was a package of breakfast sausage in the freezer, so I thawed that and browned it up, too. Ditto for the package of Italian sausage that was on sale. It's nice to add some to a pizza or a calzone, and just use a little bit at a time.
I like to buy chicken in large quantities when it's on sale, too, so I threw a big family package of boneless skinless chicken breasts into the oven and cooked them with some pepper, garlic powder, and a little broth. I've also thrown them into a crock pot and done the same. Then I cut some into strips and chunks, and shred some, and again, package it for easy additions to casseroles, tacos, wraps, etc.
All of that took about an hour, and I could do other things while waiting for the meat to cook, and then I only had one big clean-up, too. Bonus!