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Easy meal plan for working mom?
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<blockquote data-quote="Mattsmom277" data-source="post: 375695" data-attributes="member: 4264"><p>Flylady is a awesome recommendation, they have so many useful tips and the recipes are awesome!</p><p></p><p>I'm a big fan of turkey too, not just for holidays. Seems pricey to buy a whole turkey but the amount of meat makes it more affordable than beef, chicken and pork alot of the time.</p><p></p><p>I make it sometimes on a weekend when I've got time to deal with it and the meals prepped from the leftovers. On a Saturday I'll cook a traditional but simple dinner. Roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatos, carrots and turnip. </p><p></p><p>After dinner, I boil the bones in a huge stock pot. My cousin taught me a trick that works too, she puts the bones back in the roast pan, pours water in to near the top, replaces lid and puts in oven on low (125) until the morning to really extract the flavor. After draining the broth and making sure no bones are left, I separate the broth into 2 pots.</p><p></p><p>One pot makes chicken stew and one pot makes chicken soup. </p><p></p><p>Here's simple version, she can add whatever she likes to each:</p><p></p><p>Chicken stew:</p><p>Add some leftover turkey to broth, bring to boil. Add cut up potatos, onions, carrots, frozen green beans, corn and peas. Season to taste with salt and pepper etc ( I throw in a couple of bay leaves and pull them out when I come across them serving). Simmer for several hours. Cool and freeze (I divide for 2 meals to feed family of 4). When thawed, bring to boil on stove and immediatly thicken with method of choice (cornstarch, commercial thickener, etc). I try to not over heat when reserving from freezer.</p><p></p><p>Homemade Chicken/Tomato vegetable Soup:</p><p>Add leftover turkey, bring to a boil. Add carrots, turnip, peas, corn, green/yellow beans, (whatever veggies are preferred). Add a large size can of diced tomatos (with juice). Simmer for a while and then add in rice or pasta according to preference, cool until noodles or rice are nearly done (they will further cook in hot pot). Cool and freeze (again I divide into 2 for family of 4).</p><p></p><p>I tend to do this all when I'm making a HUGE turkey, simply because the cost for the amount of meals one gets is outstanding. I make sure I have enough turkey left over to have dinner the next day. I make more mashed potatos than we can possibly eat along with the turkey. I don't put too much butter or milk, leaving them thick for dinner. Before storing to fridge, I add mayo, salt, pepper, fine chopped onions and green onions, a bit of finely chopped pickles and sometimes a little bit of ranch dressing. Stir well and this makes a delicious potato salad to eat the next night with turkey sandwiches. The leftover carrots (I cook more than needed) go into a freezer bag to thaw and reheat in microwave anohter night when I don't have time to cook veggies. Same with turnips. </p><p></p><p>I find that annoying veggies like carrots and turnips that take longer cooking and need to be peeled and chopped etc are really great to do ahead. Pretty much anytime I make either veggie I cook for a few dinners ahead. (If I'm going to mash the turnip for dinner, I remove what we'll eat and freeze the rest in chunks and then mash if wanted when I thaw leftovers).</p><p></p><p>This all sounds time consuming but really, it isn't at all. Cooking extra veggies ensures fresh veggies ready to go for several meals, the potato salad usually lasts for dinner the next night plus lunch for a day or two after. The stew and chicken use alot of the same things so chopping and whatnot is done at same time and both pots can be cooking at same time. They don't require babysitting, so it isn't alot of work to simply throw it all together.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mattsmom277, post: 375695, member: 4264"] Flylady is a awesome recommendation, they have so many useful tips and the recipes are awesome! I'm a big fan of turkey too, not just for holidays. Seems pricey to buy a whole turkey but the amount of meat makes it more affordable than beef, chicken and pork alot of the time. I make it sometimes on a weekend when I've got time to deal with it and the meals prepped from the leftovers. On a Saturday I'll cook a traditional but simple dinner. Roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatos, carrots and turnip. After dinner, I boil the bones in a huge stock pot. My cousin taught me a trick that works too, she puts the bones back in the roast pan, pours water in to near the top, replaces lid and puts in oven on low (125) until the morning to really extract the flavor. After draining the broth and making sure no bones are left, I separate the broth into 2 pots. One pot makes chicken stew and one pot makes chicken soup. Here's simple version, she can add whatever she likes to each: Chicken stew: Add some leftover turkey to broth, bring to boil. Add cut up potatos, onions, carrots, frozen green beans, corn and peas. Season to taste with salt and pepper etc ( I throw in a couple of bay leaves and pull them out when I come across them serving). Simmer for several hours. Cool and freeze (I divide for 2 meals to feed family of 4). When thawed, bring to boil on stove and immediatly thicken with method of choice (cornstarch, commercial thickener, etc). I try to not over heat when reserving from freezer. Homemade Chicken/Tomato vegetable Soup: Add leftover turkey, bring to a boil. Add carrots, turnip, peas, corn, green/yellow beans, (whatever veggies are preferred). Add a large size can of diced tomatos (with juice). Simmer for a while and then add in rice or pasta according to preference, cool until noodles or rice are nearly done (they will further cook in hot pot). Cool and freeze (again I divide into 2 for family of 4). I tend to do this all when I'm making a HUGE turkey, simply because the cost for the amount of meals one gets is outstanding. I make sure I have enough turkey left over to have dinner the next day. I make more mashed potatos than we can possibly eat along with the turkey. I don't put too much butter or milk, leaving them thick for dinner. Before storing to fridge, I add mayo, salt, pepper, fine chopped onions and green onions, a bit of finely chopped pickles and sometimes a little bit of ranch dressing. Stir well and this makes a delicious potato salad to eat the next night with turkey sandwiches. The leftover carrots (I cook more than needed) go into a freezer bag to thaw and reheat in microwave anohter night when I don't have time to cook veggies. Same with turnips. I find that annoying veggies like carrots and turnips that take longer cooking and need to be peeled and chopped etc are really great to do ahead. Pretty much anytime I make either veggie I cook for a few dinners ahead. (If I'm going to mash the turnip for dinner, I remove what we'll eat and freeze the rest in chunks and then mash if wanted when I thaw leftovers). This all sounds time consuming but really, it isn't at all. Cooking extra veggies ensures fresh veggies ready to go for several meals, the potato salad usually lasts for dinner the next night plus lunch for a day or two after. The stew and chicken use alot of the same things so chopping and whatnot is done at same time and both pots can be cooking at same time. They don't require babysitting, so it isn't alot of work to simply throw it all together. [/QUOTE]
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