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Easy meal plan for working mom?
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<blockquote data-quote="Mattsmom277" data-source="post: 375489" data-attributes="member: 4264"><p>Big fan of the slow cooker, also big fan of recipes that can be made in large amounts and freeze easily for quick reheating.</p><p></p><p>lasagna/taco/taco salad</p><p></p><p>I prepare this all at once ... lasagna day one and leftovers day 2, rest of meat mixture in freezer for several dinners of tacos and taco salad</p><p></p><p>Brown LOTS of brown beef in oversized pot. Drain well. </p><p></p><p>In crock pot, layer lasagna noodles (break some to fit into corners), meat, pasta sauce, veggies if wanted (mushrooms, lightly sauteed onions etc), cheese (by preference, I put a layer of cottage cheese, ricotta sometimes, and cheddar) and continue to layer until crock pot full with room left over to avoid bubbling over.</p><p></p><p>I usually make this later in the evening when kids are gone to bed. I turn the crock pot to lowest setting possible and just let it go until I'm home the next day and then turn off and allow to rest while preparing for dinner time. It stays hot a long time.</p><p></p><p>When finished preparing lasagna, add either prepackaged taco seasoning packages and adequate amount of water stated on package and simmer until thickened. Cool and package in freezer containers. Easy enough to pull out on future evenings and make traditional tacos in shells. I also make taco salad, simple with chopped lettuce and tomatos in a bowl, break up some tostitos chips and mix. Top with cheese and sour cream/salsa. Sometimes I add olives etc in with the salad. </p><p></p><p>When feeling ambitious I'll do this on a weekend, using even more ground beef. Once lasagna is made I seperate the remaining meat, putting half into another large pot. Add in ingredients for pasta sauce to one and do the taco mix in another. Freezing the sauce for future nights. Or I'll turn it into a chilli etc. Its very easy if you have an actual day kicking around home on a weekend to end up making a ton of stuff based off just ground beef and end up with tons of easy meal makings in the freezer. </p><p></p><p>If she only has the freezer on the top of a fridge, she can put each portion into a large freezer bag, remove air, put flat on cookie sheet or tray and place in freezer. Once frozen, the packages will all lay flat and save tons of freezer space by stacking them right up. Plus she can write on the bag with a marker saying what it is and when she made it.</p><p></p><p>Easy chicken casserole</p><p></p><p>Takes just a couple minutes to prepare and cooks fairly quickly</p><p></p><p>In casserole dish place boneless skinless chicken breasts (doesn't work with bones/skin). Place a slice of strong white cheese (I prefer a strong swiss) on top of each easy child of chicken. Pour 1-2 cans of condensed soup (cream of chicken works good, or a mix of one can each cream chicken and cream of brocolli or celery). The soup is to create a gravy/sauce type thing so needs to properly cover chicken and then some. Top with a box or two of stove top stuffing (mixing the seasoning packets in with dried bread ahead of time). Melt some butter in microwave in bowl, drizzle over stuffing. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, check and remove when juice runs clear from chicken.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mattsmom277, post: 375489, member: 4264"] Big fan of the slow cooker, also big fan of recipes that can be made in large amounts and freeze easily for quick reheating. lasagna/taco/taco salad I prepare this all at once ... lasagna day one and leftovers day 2, rest of meat mixture in freezer for several dinners of tacos and taco salad Brown LOTS of brown beef in oversized pot. Drain well. In crock pot, layer lasagna noodles (break some to fit into corners), meat, pasta sauce, veggies if wanted (mushrooms, lightly sauteed onions etc), cheese (by preference, I put a layer of cottage cheese, ricotta sometimes, and cheddar) and continue to layer until crock pot full with room left over to avoid bubbling over. I usually make this later in the evening when kids are gone to bed. I turn the crock pot to lowest setting possible and just let it go until I'm home the next day and then turn off and allow to rest while preparing for dinner time. It stays hot a long time. When finished preparing lasagna, add either prepackaged taco seasoning packages and adequate amount of water stated on package and simmer until thickened. Cool and package in freezer containers. Easy enough to pull out on future evenings and make traditional tacos in shells. I also make taco salad, simple with chopped lettuce and tomatos in a bowl, break up some tostitos chips and mix. Top with cheese and sour cream/salsa. Sometimes I add olives etc in with the salad. When feeling ambitious I'll do this on a weekend, using even more ground beef. Once lasagna is made I seperate the remaining meat, putting half into another large pot. Add in ingredients for pasta sauce to one and do the taco mix in another. Freezing the sauce for future nights. Or I'll turn it into a chilli etc. Its very easy if you have an actual day kicking around home on a weekend to end up making a ton of stuff based off just ground beef and end up with tons of easy meal makings in the freezer. If she only has the freezer on the top of a fridge, she can put each portion into a large freezer bag, remove air, put flat on cookie sheet or tray and place in freezer. Once frozen, the packages will all lay flat and save tons of freezer space by stacking them right up. Plus she can write on the bag with a marker saying what it is and when she made it. Easy chicken casserole Takes just a couple minutes to prepare and cooks fairly quickly In casserole dish place boneless skinless chicken breasts (doesn't work with bones/skin). Place a slice of strong white cheese (I prefer a strong swiss) on top of each easy child of chicken. Pour 1-2 cans of condensed soup (cream of chicken works good, or a mix of one can each cream chicken and cream of brocolli or celery). The soup is to create a gravy/sauce type thing so needs to properly cover chicken and then some. Top with a box or two of stove top stuffing (mixing the seasoning packets in with dried bread ahead of time). Melt some butter in microwave in bowl, drizzle over stuffing. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, check and remove when juice runs clear from chicken. [/QUOTE]
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