One way to cook healthy meals that are easy to prepare is to plan your meals around several key foods that can be prepared in large quantities and used in several different recipes on consecutive nights. This method of making meals last is totally different from the usual strategy of making a huge batch of food and living on leftovers for the rest of the week and your family will certainly appreciate the difference.
There are some key elements to cooking this way. The first step is to promptly separate and refrigerate the portion that will be used for the next days meal before you place tonight's meal on the table. Refrigerating the unused portion of the prepared meal is important to preventing food borne illnesses, especially when serving meat, poultry, seafood or any meal containing eggs or dairy products.
The foods that have been prepared ahead of time should be stored in shallow containers to allow it to cool more quickly in the refrigerator. Thicker foods like stews, puddings and meat slices should be stored in bowls no deeper than two inches. The food should be stirred occasionally as it cools. The left over refrigerated foods should be used within one to two days. If the food is to be stored longer than that, it should be frozen for later use and thawed overnight in the refrigerator. Thawing food at room temperature should be avoided, since it can be a gateway to food borne illnesses and other pathogens.
One of the easiest examples of the leftover strategy is chicken breasts or turkey cutlets. Poultry works great for quick fix ahead meals, since it's easy to cook large quantities. Start by cooking extra chicken breasts or turkey cutlets. Half of the chicken or turkey should be refrigerated overnight for use the next day. The remaining half can be topped with your favorite spices, sauces and seasonings and served right away.
The brilliance of this strategy will become apparent the next evening, when the other half of the turkey or chicken can be used in an entirely different way. One great way to use the other half is to cut it into strips, add lettuce and salad dressing and create a delicious Caesar salad. Thus one staple food becomes two delicious and totally different meals.
Rice is another great staple that works well for planned ahead meals. The rice dishes start with cooking and preparing a large quantity of rice. While the rice is cooking, add some ground beef or ground turkey to tomato sauce and flavor it with some Italian seasonings. Pour it over the rice and serve your family a great meal. On the second night, take the remaining rice, fry it in a skillet and mix it will your favorite vegetables and perhaps a can of shrimp or crab for another, totally different rice based meal.
The leftover rice can also be saved and combined with turkey, chicken or beef from previous meals to create different flavor combinations, including casseroles and soups. Rice makes a great staple for nay meal preparation plan. In addition to its versatility, rice is also easy to freeze. After the cooked rice has been cooled in the fridge, it is easy to transfer to freezer bags and saved for future quick, easy and healthy meals.
No matter how short of time you are, it is still possible to create delicious, nutritious meals in no time. Making a week's worth of meals in only a few hours will give you more time to enjoy your food and your family.
When was the last time you were able to make a nice, healthy home-cooked meal for your family? You remember the kind, where you could actually go to the grocery store and leisurely shop the aisles to select the ingredients for the recipe you want to cook that night. The kind of recipe that not only puts a smile on the faces of your family but gives you the peace of knowing that you are contributing to the health of your family by providing them with food not only prepared by you with love but is good for them as well. If you're like most working Americans it's probably not the norm for you, in fact, the closest thing you've come to a home cooked meal in a very long time is picking up dinner from the nearest fast food restaurant closest to your home. You just don't have the time. By the time you get out of work, get to the grocery store and get the food home to prepare it, it's already almost time for bed!
And I can't tell you how many time I personally burnt a meal because I was multi-tasking! But you have to feed your family, so you do what you have to do.
But what if there were a better way? What if there was a chance that you could still earn a living but have all the time you need to be there for your family, cooking or otherwise? There's no way around it, we live in a society where money makes the world go 'round. We NEED a paycheck in order to provide for our families but unfortunately the hours we work to make our money take away from the things in life that are most important...our families and our health. Both start to suffer when we stop paying attention to them. Our children start to seek solace in other people and things because we as their parents aren't available. Our health starts to deteriorate because we don't take the time to keep ourselves healthy, like going to the gym or nourishing ourselves with healthy home cooked meals. Heck, the guilt we feel for not spending time with our family tends to take a toll on us as well, and it's a vicious cycle. But what is the solution? We need the money, what is the alternative?
Go into business for yourself. That's right, run your own online business. Yes it can be done.
If you gave even half of your time and effort that you give your everyday job that is robbing you of your happiness anyway, you're sure to succeed at being in business for yourself. By implementing the same discipline and dedication you give working for someone else, there's no limit to how successful you will be if you choose to run a business from your home. Deciding to work from home can be pretty intimidating initially but with the right system, the right company, the right product, it can also be as easy as riding a bike. By joining a business that encompasses working as a group and with individual coaching, you'll enjoy the freedom and satisfaction that comes with being your own boss. What a beautiful feeling that could be, total freedom to run your own day, not live by someone else's schedule!
How excited you'll be the moment you wake up in the morning knowing there is no rush to get out the door! What a lovely sense of pride you'll take in knowing that you can be there for your family at any moment of the day and still be able to provide for them financially and in most cases, even better than your weekly paycheck had in the past. What a sense of accomplishment you can own by taking the time to provide a home cooked meal, EVERY NIGHT, and treating yourself to a restaurant when you just don't feel like cooking. Wouldn't it be nice to have the CHOICE? Yes it would, and it's yours for the taking. You just have to do it.
Both Jake Samples & Janet Washburn are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Jake Samples has sinced written about articles on various topics from Nutrition, Food And Drink and Small Business. Learn about and. Jake Samples's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.
Janet Washburn has sinced written about articles on various topics from Food And Drink, Internet Marketing and Treadmill Exercises. This article provided by Janet Washburn of K2P Wealth Creators, LLC. Janet is a successful home-based entrepreneur. You can reach her at