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Post by shanniebananie on Aug 7, 2014 14:19:11 GMT
I am thinking ahead to the busy school year and want to be more organized on meal planning and prep so we don't eat out as often or rely on unhealthy packaged items.
DH and I are trying to eat as low carb as we can so we have a protein and veggies with most meals. This can be boring for the kids so they may get a whole grain included with their meal
Does anyone have a tasty, healthy recipe for chicken tenders I can make ahead and freeze and then reheat for the kids? What about homemade fries prepped ahead?
Trying desperately to get out of this unhealthy rut. I know planning and prepping ahead will help a lot.
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Post by shevy on Aug 7, 2014 14:24:10 GMT
I use egg whites and fresh whole wheat bread crumbs that I season with different spices. After they're breaded, I put them on a pan and frezze until solid. Then I put them all in a bag. When I wan to cook them, I put them on a rack over a pan and bake at 425 for 10 minutes on one side and 10 minutes on the other side.
I've never gottem baked homemade fries to work in the freezer.
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grinningcat
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,663
Jun 26, 2014 13:06:35 GMT
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Post by grinningcat on Aug 7, 2014 14:29:10 GMT
Make some freezer meals like chili, lasagna now and take them out when you need them. I'm a veg, but I know people will cook extra chicken or other meats and freeze them in different amounts so that they can pull a bag out for a specific type of meal.
Cutting up a potato into wedges and baking them for fries is so simple, you don't need to do it in advance. It would probably take the same amount of time to take them out of the freezer than it would to cut up fresh. With those potatoes add other veg to roast. So tasty and so quick. Thick soups freeze well too.
There are chicken tender recipes out there but it could be as simple as dredging pieces of chicken in a full breading station and freezing. But again, it could be just as fast to do it a la minute than doing that in advance.
Stock your fridge with vegetables that are ready to use. When you go grocery shopping, get your veg and then prep them when you get home. It's much easier to just grab already cut broccoli or cauliflower to steam than to take the whole veg out. I also have bins for my veg that makes taking them out of the fridge so much easier. I have a bin for salad veg, cooking veg and generic veg (those could go either way or are duplicates). When I make salad to take for lunch, I just pull out the salad bin. When I am making dinner, I pull out the cooking veg bin. It's all in one place and makes it simple.
I also stock my fridge with easy to grab snacks like hummus (I make single serve containers), hard boiled eggs, etc. When you have the prepped and cut veg, it's easy to put together most of a lunch or just grab something for a snack. I keep muffins and other baked goods in separate single serve containers in the freezer so they stay fresh. They then thaw out by the time lunch rolls around. I also do freezer meals with leftovers from dinner in the freezer so that when we don't have the time or desire to cook, we have ready made meals that aren't the processed junk you buy in the freezer department.
Hope that's the kind of thing you're looking for.
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Post by shanniebananie on Aug 7, 2014 19:10:38 GMT
Thank you!
Any one else?
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psiluvu
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,217 
Location: Canada's Capital
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Post by psiluvu on Aug 7, 2014 19:29:03 GMT
We have really busy weeknights too. Once school starts I always make a big meal on Sunday, usually a full roast beef dinner, with the leftovers I make Shepherds pie for Monday.
My family loves sausage and peppers casserole I will make 2 pans and freeze one. This time of year when peppers are so cheap I buy a ton, dice some, sliver some and freeze them. Diced I use in frittata, quiche or omelets, slivered I will use in stirfry. I cook a bunch of chicken breasts when they are on sale and freeze them. I can throw together a chicken Caesar salad in minutes or use the chicken, the peppers, a jar of salsa and pre shredded cheese to make quesadillas or stirfry with the chicken peppers and a bag of frozen veggies. I have never made chicken finger before. During the warmer weather we will have steak and grilled vegetables (peppers, mushrooms, onions sometimes zucchini) for dinner one night and then wrap the leftovers up in a tortilla for fajitas.
I also make chili, spaghetti sauce, lasagna, cabbage rolls and soups in big batches and freeze.
For oven fries I will peel and cut up in the morning and leave them in water until I get home to throw in the oven. |
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