It seems that everyone in my house is on a different schedule. Most of the time we meet each other coming and going. I do not want to have them eating fast food or junk food all the time so I make "freezer food" that I know is nutritious and good for them. These meals are east to grab and go or sit down and eat.

I work 8-5 everyday with about an hour commute each way. By the time I get home each day the last thing I want to do is start cooking a meal from scratch. For a while it seemed that we ate out 4 out of 7 days every week. This was not only hard on the budget, it was hard on the body! Take out food is full of salt, calories, fats, preservatives, you name it and it probably has it. My kids complexions were horrible, they were gaining weight despite their activities, and I was going broke feeding them.

Make ahead meals have really relaxed our schedule and given us a bit more time together. About once or twice a month I take a part of a day and make meals for us to eat the rest of the month. These meals consist of basically 2 different types of meals. The first being meals that can be individually prepared and the second casserole or sit down type meals.

I always have in my freezer some basic staples of freezer cooking. I will cook these items and store them in bags in the freezer to use at a later time. Items like crumbled fried ground beef, cooked bacon and sausage, ham shredded or cut into chunks, cut up veggies like onion, green pepper, mushrooms, carrots and broccoli, and shredded cheeses in assorted flavors. These things make cooking quick - tostadas and tacos can be whipped up in no time with already cooked ground beef.

I use my bread machine to make doughs that can be frozen and when ready to cook thawed to make fresh items like pizza and rolls. I also use the fresh dough to prepare and pre-bake things like stromboli, bierocks, sandwich pockets, breakfast pockets,and calzones. These items can be reheated one at a time to allow everyone to have a hot meal.

For our times when we can all get together for supper it is nice to be able to pull a casserole out of the freezer to heat up while everyone is getting their homework done. Lasagna, enchiladas, chicken and rice, tuna casserole, pot pie, potato soup and tater-tot casserole are a few of our favorites. It also makes it easy when you have unexpected guests and need a quick meal to fix. Saves a lot of time so you can visit and enjoy eachother's company instead of cook.

Breakfast is just as hectic as our evening meal most of the time. With 4 people sharing one bathroom and everyone trying to sneak in the last few minutes of sleep before we absolutely have to get up, instead of cereal or poptarts, we are able to have pancakes and sausage, waffles, bacon and egg hot pockets, and breakfast burritos. I use my sandwich maker to make the sausage and pancakes and freeze them. I place one pre-cooked sausage link in each section of the sandwich maker and pour pancake batter over it. I cook them and freeze them. A short time in the microwave oven and you have a nice hot breakfast.

This kind of cooking simplifies my life so much. Add a salad and fruit to any of these meals and you will have a nutritious pretty well balanced meal. Many of the entrees work well with the brown bagger also. You can either let them thaw and eat cool or warm them up in the microwave oven. Be creative. This little bit of preparation will save you lots in terms of time, satisfaction and sanity! You might even get to relax a bit before you have to move on to the next thing to do.

Learn more about this author, Debbie Denton.
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