When you are part of a busy family, getting together to eat at the same time can be difficult. It might be that the children have after-school clubs or perhaps you or your spouse work late often. Whatever the reason, you need to find meals that you can all eat when you are at home, even when you are short on time. Here are some ideas that you can use to make some quick meals in advance.
Pre-Packing
Cooking healthy meals in advance can sometimes be difficult. However, the alternative is to buy ready-made meals that can often contain high levels of sugar and salt. One way that you can achieve a healthy pre-made meal is to start preparing them in advance so that you can freeze or refrigerate it and eat it another day. If freezing, you need to make sure that none of the ingredients have been frozen before. These types of meals are a good idea to prepare on the weekend and place in the fridge for meals during the following week. If you place them in microwavable bags, then they can be cooked in the bag, which will save on washing up.
Slow Cooker Meals
Using a slow cooker is a great way to prepare a meal for the whole family without having to prepare it in advance. You can place all of the ingredients in the slow cooker in the morning and let it slowly cook all day ready for the evening meal. If you put vegetables and meat as well in the dish, then you won’t need any to cook any type of accompaniment. Another good use of the slow cooker is to cook meat in advance at the weekend for you to use in pre-packaged meals during the week. They can even be used to cook puddings as well if you have the main meal already prepared. You can also find other slow cooker recipes on sites like pocket change gourmet that can you can use to prepare a meal in advance.
Pizzas
Pizzas are another way to make a quick meal that only needs 10-15 minutes in the oven. While it isn’t as quick as a microwave meal, it can be prepared ahead of time and frozen or just chilled for later. You can make a variety of toppings to suit the whole family; then it doesn’t matter who wants one.
Rice
Another quick solution is a variety of easy rice dinners. If you pre-cook it and then put it in the fridge, you can leave it there for a day or so for anyone to reheat in the microwave. They can add their own accompaniments such as vegetables, or some meat to make it a complete meal. If they have a little more time, they can use it in a stir-fry, and it will cook in minutes.
By prepping your meals in advance, you can save money, keep an eye on what your family is eating and make sure they are getting a healthy diet every day.
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