Since I have been doing infusions on Wednesdays, Thursdays have become my get-it-done days because I am almost guaranteed to feel awesome on Thursdays (after having a hellish headache and sweaty hotflashes all night long). My face is puffy on Thursdays and it looks and feels like I have a sunburn, but I just pretend I just got back from Mexico and then I feel fab.
Anyway, in my race to make the most of the steroidal energy, I do a big cook-ahead thing now. I have always tried to freeze extra dinners or dinner ingredients since dinner is the nemesis of my domestic life, but I’ve got a good thang goin’ now. Here’s what I have been doing:
I buy +/- 1lb lean ground beef, a big bag of boneless skinless chicken breasts (with at least 12 pieces in the bag), and a bunch of fruits and veggies (along with all the other shelf-stable stuff like tortillas, Country Farms stone ground wheat bread, cereal, oatmeal, pasta, beans, rice, water chestnuts, bean sprouts, sauces, etc., and I do indulge in big costco bags of pre-grated cheeses, tortilla chips, and sour cream).
So Thursday morning after the kids and daddy are off to school and the kitchen is clean, I break out the aluminum foil and heat the oven to 325 and start Cooking-Ahead. I make little foil packes for chicken breasts— 4 chicken breasts in teriyaki or sesame ginger sauce, 2 in Italian Dressing, and 6 in medium Pace Picante Sauce. I just lay the frozen breasts out on the foil, pour ½-1 cup of the sauce on top, fold up the foil and throw the three packets into the oven for about 3 hours.
Meanwhile, I chop 1 yellow onion, a bunch of green onions, carrots, broccoli, celery, mushrooms, cabbage, (and I always have jars of minced garlic and ginger and a tube of cilantro) and freeze them in zipoc bags. James helps until he gets bored, and then I make the TV babysit him with Thomas the Tank Engine or Little Einsteins. I wash all the apples, grapes, and lettuce and put them back in the fridge for later with a couple of bell peppers, plum tomatoes, and avocados. At the same time, I brown the ground beef with a bit of onion, garlic, and salsa, then drain it really well and freeze it in a ziploc bowl to use in crock pot chili later. When the chicken is done, I let it cool a little then open the packets and slice the chicken into thin strips and store them in the fridge according to flavor. I also shred three of the salsa-flavored chicken breasts for tacos or tostadas.
SO—then I am ready (or pretty much ready) to make any of the following dinners the rest of the week:
Chicken-Ramen Oriental Salad
Chicken Stir Fry with Brown Rice
Left-over chicken stir fry Egg Rolls with fried Brown Rice
Chili and Cornbread/ Chili-ritos
Chicken Alfredo with salad and breadsticks
Chicken-Bacon Pasta Salad
Chicken-Caesar Salad and breadsticks
Chicken Tacos
Taco Salad
Chicken Tostadas
Chicken Enchilada Casserole with Salad
Tortilla Soup with chicken and avocado
On Sundays I usually make a pork roast with veggies, and use the left overs for shredded pork tacos or stir fry on Monday.
Let me know if you want to try any recipes or you want a shopping list. I’m trying to get this down to a science, while working in some more vegetarian/ camping/ food storage meals, too.
