I think many of you will agree that cooking every day takes an unrealistically large amount of energy. My view on this part of household chores changed when I learned that in the freezer you can store not only meat, dumplings and dumplings, but also healthier, almost ready-made dishes that just need to be thrown into a frying pan (oven, slow cooker) and simmered.
Things like getting up early, exercising, meditating can make your day. When I first prepared food for a week in advance, I felt that this was exactly the thing that could do all seven days.
Today I will talk about preparing food for future use using the example of one of my last sessions. It took me three hours in total to cook. I did this the day after grocery shopping, so that products such as pita bread, chicken fillet and cottage cheese did not have time to spoil.
Advantages of preparing semi-finished products for future use
- you live the whole week at a leisurely pace, simply taking out and heating food at the right time;
- you immediately take out in one fell swoop almost all the garbage that accumulates in your kitchen during the daily cooking process;
- work surfaces remain clean all week, and much less dirty dishes are generated;
- You use and freeze perishable foods, such as fruit or cottage cheese, that would otherwise be at risk of going to waste and being thrown away.
Food preparations for 3 days: dinners
Dinner No. 1. Cottage cheese with honey and peaches
What do you need?
- cottage cheese 1% - 100 g
- peaches – 100 g
- honey - to taste. Can be replaced with agave syrup.
- Combine cottage cheese, honey and chopped peaches in a container. We put it in the refrigerator.
- You should not overuse this delicious dinner option, since peach and honey are simple carbohydrates.
Place cottage cheese in a container, pour honey over it, place a handful of diced peaches on top and put everything in the refrigerator.
Dinner No. 2. Beans with vegetable stew and egg
What do you need?
- beans (boiled) – 100 g
- vegetable stew – 150 g
- egg – 1 pc.
In the lunch box we collect beans (boiled), vegetable stew (see recipe above) + boiled egg. We put it in the refrigerator.
Dinner number 3. Beans with chicken and vegetables with egg
What is important to take care of in advance
Decide where the children will be at this time
Distraction by children can significantly extend the time allotted for creating blanks, so it is better to make sure that someone will sit with them in advance. In my case, the main distracting factor was my youngest son, who is now 1 year and 4 months old. During this session, he slept for the first two hours, then I was a little distracted by changing the diaper and he continued to walk with dad outside so that I could finish what I started. If your children are not that young, it makes sense to involve them in kneading dough or chopping fruits and vegetables.
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Breakfast lunch and dinner
If you're running for hours to stock up on food for one or more weeks, you also need to think about what you'll be fueling that day. It was late in the morning on Sunday, so we had fruit for breakfast and cheesecakes for lunch, half of which were then frozen. After the work was done, a light dinner in the form of fried fish and vegetable salad, which did not require much effort on my part. It is better to start preparing food immediately after breakfast or lunch.
Clean kitchen
To stay inspired for the entire three hours, I created the appropriate atmosphere around me:
- removed all excess from work surfaces;
- emptied the sink of dishes;
- took out the trash and took out a new garbage bag;
- I washed the floor with water with the addition of baking soda and citrus essential oil.
Preparatory stage
Before you start cooking, prepare and lay out all the food and utensils on the table. This will minimize your movement around the kitchen and allow you to concentrate on what is most important.
Action plan
You can't go anywhere without him. First, on a separate sheet of paper, I made a list of all the dishes that I want to cook. Then, on another sheet of paper, I wrote out a detailed step-by-step plan of what I would do and in what order. This allows you to optimize the process so that there is no downtime, and it is also more convenient to delegate some tasks to assistants.
Secrets of preparing food for future use
To prepare food for the next week in one day, you should listen to the advice of experienced housewives. First of all, you need to think over the menu, and then, following the recommendations, go shopping and start cooking.
Making a list
To avoid unnecessary expenses, they go to the store after thinking through the menu. Write down the ingredients needed for cooking and form a list from them. It will save time when going to the supermarket and avoid putting harmful and unnecessary “things” into the cart, which are often offered at the checkout, also on sale.
One trip to the store
If your goal is to spend less time in the kitchen, one trip to the grocery store will help you prepare food for the entire week. This should be done on a weekday. There are two main reasons:
- There are much fewer people in the store at this time - there are no queues at the checkout, and the assortment is much easier to explore.
- There is an opportunity to spend the weekend doing more exciting activities.
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Strict adherence to the list of products
Before going to the store, you should prepare yourself psychologically - this will allow you to save your budget by refusing to make thoughtless purchases. Since the stores employ professional marketers, it can be very difficult to resist unnecessary purchases. Before entering the supermarket doors, it is better to re-read the list again.
Blank
Some products can be prepared in advance - semi-finished products. If you need bell peppers, carrots, or other vegetables to prepare a dish, they are chopped in advance. The same is done with meat - it is washed, cleared of films, and cut into pieces. Prepared products must be frozen.
To add flavor to dishes, it is worth using greens, which can be prepared for future use - chopped, placed in ice trays and poured with sunflower oil.
Preparing containers
For food prepared for future use, it is better to use brightly colored containers of different shapes. This makes it easy to find the dish you need at the moment in the freezer. Small containers can be taken to work. Since food does not need to be transferred to other containers, this also saves time when washing dishes.
It’s interesting that multi-colored containers “motivate”: they make the cooking process more exciting because of such an unusual ending - packaging food in colored containers.
Using Kitchen Gadgets
A blender, a food processor, a multicooker are devices designed to make life easier for the housewife. You shouldn’t give up using them: the cooking process goes much faster and more unnoticeably. All you have to do is throw something into the processor and press a button to grind the product. The prepared ingredient will only have to be packaged and sent to the freezer.
Time must be distributed rationally. While the cereal is cooking in the slow cooker, you can chop the salad and make sandwiches. If the menu includes steamed meat, then during its preparation, vegetables are sliced. At the same time, as dirty dishes appear, they are immediately washed: it is much easier to remove contaminants that have not yet dried, and there is no need to spend additional time in the kitchen.
Ability to cook a few simple dishes
Simple food is often the healthiest. It's worth taking a little time to learn new recipes and find your signature dish that's easy to prepare. And if you experiment, even scrambled eggs can be turned into a culinary masterpiece. The main thing is not to be afraid to combine ingredients, add spices, use different types of meat and fish.
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What I have prepared:
Biscuits with plum and pear filling (2 pcs.)
How to cook:
How to pack: cling film and foil
Storage location: freezer
Recommendations: before packing in cling film, the biscuits need to be frozen a little. Cook in the oven, no defrosting required.
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Chicken fillet marinated in kefir and spices (3 pcs.)
How to cook:
How to pack: slider bags
Storage location: freezer
Recommendations: to defrost, put it in the refrigerator in the evening, take it out in the morning and, after complete thawing, cook according to the technology described in the video instructions.
Cheesecakes with pear (16 pcs.)
How to prepare: mix 400 g of cottage cheese, 3-5 tbsp. sugar and 3 small pears, pre-grated on a coarse grater. Scoop the dough with a spoon, roll in flour, form a cheesecake and fry over low heat until slightly golden brown.
How to pack: slider bags
Storage location: freezer
Recommendations: after frying, place the cheesecakes on a paper towel so that it absorbs excess oil. Then place in one row on a plate wrapped in cling film and place in the freezer for an hour. Place in a freezer bag, remove excess air and seal. Cheese pancakes warm up very quickly in a covered frying pan, so they don’t need to be defrosted first.
Lavash envelopes with chicken, vegetables and cheese (8 pcs.)
How to cook: cut into pieces and fry the chicken fillet, add a mixture of aromatic spices (paprika, curry, dried garlic, coriander), then a mixture of vegetables (I took cauliflower, carrots, green beans, broccoli, celery, onion), at the end fill everything with cream cheese (100 g). Cut a sheet of pita bread in half, add a mixture of chicken and vegetables, sprinkle with grated cheese and wrap.
How to pack: foil and slider bags (I fit two envelopes pre-wrapped in foil into one liter bag)
Storage location: freezer
Recommendations: Heat in the oven or microwave. To make the cheese melt and the pita bread crispy, at the end you can fry the envelopes in a frying pan with a drop of vegetable oil.
Cabbage for stewing (2.1 l)
How to cook: shred cabbage
How to pack: large plastic container
Storage location: refrigerator
Peeled carrots (8 pcs.)
How to prepare: wash and peel the carrots, wait until dry, put in a container
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How to pack: plastic container
Storage location: refrigerator
Food preparations for 3 days: breakfasts
Breakfast No. 1. Lazy oatmeal with plums
What do we cook from?
- oatmeal – 50 g
- yogurt – 100 g
- plums – 150 g
How do we cook?
Fill the jar 1/3 full with oatmeal.
Add yogurt. Mix well.
Place the chopped plums on top of the oatmeal and yogurt mixture.
Breakfast No. 2. Lazy oatmeal with apples
What do we cook from?
- oatmeal – 50 g
- yogurt – 100 g
- apples – 170 g
How do we cook?
Pour oatmeal into a jar and add yogurt. Mix.
Diced apples are the top layer of lazy oatmeal.
Close and put in the refrigerator.
You can add honey, sweetener, dried fruits, and chocolate to lazy oatmeal.
Breakfast No. 3. Cheesecakes
What do we cook from?
- cottage cheese – 200 g
- egg – 1 pc.
- rice flour – 2 tbsp
- sugar substitute - to taste
How do we cook?
Mix cottage cheese, egg, sweetener, rice flour in a cup.
Mix thoroughly until smooth.
We form cheesecakes. Place on a floured flat plate.
Cover the workpiece with cling film and place it in the refrigerator.
Advantages of cooking for a week - a month
- You will have more free time. Spend it with your family and dedicate it to yourself. Now you definitely won’t be able to look for excuses for your laziness and will finally take care of your figure. This will help you learn to save time.
- You can save your family budget. American women have calculated that on average they save about $250 when purchasing groceries for a month. No wonder. In addition, you can purchase products in large quantities. And with the help of promotions in supermarkets, you can sometimes save a lot of money (for example, using the “every third item is free” scheme).
- You will always be ready for the arrival of guests. Do you often have unexpected guests? Convulsive rushing around the shops and kitchen... Why do you need this? Having fallen in love with cooking for 2 weeks, a month, you will be able to prepare for the arrival of guests (dress beautifully and do makeup). Let your friends figure out for themselves why there are so many goodies on the table!
