I do not have a big freezer, but one of my friends does. Her solution--she spends one day cooking 2 main items--maybe a roat in a crock pot with potatoes, etc. and chicken in the oven. She makes enough so that she can divide it into meals for the week. With the roast, she will have original meal of it with potatoes, carrots, etc., and the leftover meat she shreds and divides into a couple containers. To one she may add BBQ sause for shredded beef sandwiches dinner, and to the other she may add teriyaki sauce. Then she freezes them. When she does the one with teriyaki sauce, she stir frys it along with water chestnuts, etc. and serves with noodles. For the chicken, she may add bbq sauce to one container, save one to add mozarella cheese and marinara to it when reheating in pan, and cut up the last one to do stir fry or something. She says she then is only cooking once, maybe 2 times a week but has a lot of home-made meals!

Hi, Rose! This story makes me think I could prep a lot of ingredients on the weekend so putting a meal together doesn’t take as long. I could have it all pre-measured so it’s only a matter of mixing and simmering or baking. Thanks for the advice!

Trista, I find I am much more likely to eat well, whether I’m tired, on my own, or just lazy when I’ve got ingredients prepped and ready to go. I like to prep enough salad ingredients to last a few days; using a salad spinner helps the greens to stay fresh and crisp. When I have veggies from the farmers market, garden or CSA I often just wash them and then quickly blanch, blot dry and refrigerate--instantly ready to add to other dishes or heat quickly with some seasonings and serve over rice. On weekends I love to make a big pot of soup; after a long day at work it’s great to have comfort food waiting in the fridge. Another favorite is to roast slabs of tofu, a chicken or a side of salmon and use it in sandwiches, salads, casseroles--or just to nibble! Good luck!