"Time Won't Let Me!"

Over and over I hear people complain that they

don't have the time to cook a big meal every night

of the week.

Well, no shit, Sherlock...

who does?

(Or perhaps more importantly,

'Who wants to?' since it leads to

the entire kitchen being a wreck!)

My solution has long been to cook one or two big meals

and then simply divvy them up into leftovers and

freeze them. It's quick, easy, and I have found very few

things that don't freeze and reheat well.

I cook either a full course meal and

then prepare containers with a complete

serving of each, or I fix a 'one-pot' meal

(filled with starches, fiber, veggies, protein

all in one dish.)

You can get the new Tupperware that are

microwave safe (don't emit toxins when

heated) at dollar stores for next to nothing,

and it's a fine investment for the ability

to keep fully cooked meals on hand.

(I own about 40!)

With freezing your meals, they're good for

taking lunches to work, and folks who

don't like the same meal 2 days in a row don't

have to dread leftovers in the refrigerator.

By having multiple sorts of frozen meals on hand,

you can even vary your selection of leftovers

for several nights. And fixing several large meals

is a superb money-savings.

Some good suggestions are lasagna, beef stew

(just mix rice in alongside, and corn bread on top to

freeze,) casseroles, soups, chili, and so on.

With meats and rices, make sure you place any excess juices

from the pan in with the leftovers to help them stay

moist when reheating. If there are no

leftover juices, place a few drops of water over the

top of the food before heating.

Always make sure your Tupperware has had the

lid popped ajar when heating, and it's better

to under-heat and heat again than to overheat.

You can also make a huge salad ahead of time

and eat off of it for a few days before the greens get

limp. This saves doing all of the cleaning and chopping of

vegetables every night. There may be some ingredients

you want to store separately (tomatoes) so as to

better preserve the quality of your salad.

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