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Forum -> Household Management
Please help - need about 10 meals that can be prepared ahead



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amother
Sapphire


 

Post Sun, Sep 02 2018, 3:45 pm
Posting here for anonymity. I need ur ideas for healthy not too expensive weekday meals that can be prepared ahead of time and left sitting in an oven for 2-3 hours.

I can prepare earlier in the day, but during the afternoons I am not avail at all for food prep. Then when everyone walks in and needs to eat I gotta be able to just serve real fast. Time is limited.

Kids don't like tuna fish. Otherwise anything goes except we can't afford too much meat. One problem is that some of them really dislike wet food (stews and so on). Some very hungry teens in the mix.

Any ideas would be helpful.

TIA!
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 02 2018, 3:54 pm
You want to prep them so they're ready to bake? Or you want to bake them ahead of time?
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amother
Tan


 

Post Sun, Sep 02 2018, 4:04 pm
I might get bashed for this but pizza, bagel sandwiches, hot dogs, fries, pasta and cheese is what works here!
You can freeze burgers to put on a grill, there’s soups and sandwiches...
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thunderstorm




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 02 2018, 4:26 pm
You can do the following:

1. Breaded chicken cutlets , breaded and frozen raw .
Take out of freezer the day of use, bake in the oven or fry.
Cube potatoes and toss with oil, salt, pepper, onion powder , garlic powder and paprika. Roast in oven
Bag of frozen broccoli , 2 frozen crushed garlic , oil and salt , toss and bake uncovered in oven

2. Fully loaded chicken soup .
A regular chicken soup, with chicken balls, soup veggies and egg noodles

3. Lasagna and salad

4. Chicken bottoms (your favorite recipe)
with baked rice and veggies

5. Meatballs and spaghetti

6. Sloppy Joe's with salad and French fries

7. Chicken nuggets and vegetable lo mein

8. Falafel (Pitas filled with falafel balls, Israeli salad, pickles and tehina)

9. Grilled chicken sandwiches .
Grilled chicken cutlets on baguettes or in pitas with lettuce, tomatoes and avocado with a garlicky mayo dip smeared inside the pita or in baguettes

10. Grilled cheese, Eggs and veggie letcho and frozen Potatoe knishes.

11. Broiled salmon, pasta salad and a vegetable soup on the side

12. Sesame chicken legs , orzo with your favorite sautéed vegetables

13. Meatloaf , cubed sweet Potatoe and white potatoes tossed in oil and salt baked in the oven and green beans 'n garlic
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smss




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 02 2018, 4:37 pm
https://betweencarpools.com/we.....ners/
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amother
Sapphire


 

Post Sun, Sep 02 2018, 4:44 pm
Thanks for the ideas. Really appreciate it.

Just to explain that things like chicken cutlets are expensive and really Shabbos food by us.

Meatloaf is good. Does.someone have a good recipe?

The main requirement is everything is done by about 315. I am not in the kitchen again until 545. I can walk into the kitchen at 545 and have supper on the table by about 548.

Without it burning or drying out. And nit too sloppy.

Some of your suggestions in not sure how to do that. Could you explain eg oven temperatures etc. for before and after 315.

Thanks for your help.
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amother
Sapphire


 

Post Sun, Sep 02 2018, 4:48 pm
BTW the chicken and rice is a great recipe and I do it often but again it is more of a Shabbos recipe by us.

The way I work things like pizza and burgers need at least a few minutes prep last minute (or heating time) which I don't have. But maybe I am doing things wrong and you can guide me.

And what is letcho?
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thunderstorm




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 02 2018, 4:56 pm
amother wrote:
Thanks for the ideas. Really appreciate it.

Just to explain that things like chicken cutlets are expensive and really Shabbos food by us.

Meatloaf is good. Does.someone have a good recipe?

The main requirement is everything is done by about 315. I am not in the kitchen again until 545. I can walk into the kitchen at 545 and have supper on the table by about 548.

Without it burning or drying out. And nit too sloppy.

Some of your suggestions in not sure how to do that. Could you explain eg oven temperatures etc. for before and after 315.

Thanks for your help.

Do you have a microwave? You can cook and bake everything earlier in the day when you can. Most of this stuff can be made in advance and frozen as well and just defrost and reheat.
You can turn your oven on 175 from 3:15 with all your pans covered and then just take it out of the oven at 5:45 when you are ready to serve. It will be hot but won't burn or dry out as long as the food is covered . The only exception to that is chicken cutlets.
Chicken sandwiches can be served at room temperature.

I get chicken cutlets for a very good price so for me that's cheaper than ground beef actually.

I make my meatloaf as follows:

A couple lbs ground beef
Seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Parsley flakes
Ketchup
Barbque sauce
(Sometimes I add a sautéed diced onion)

Mush all the ingredients together (don't have amounts of anything. I put a liberal amount of everything's

Place on a parchment paper , roll up into loaf shape and wrap the parchment paper around the loaf , tuck in ends , place in a large loaf pan or 9x13 pan. Cover with foil and bake for a minimum of an hour on 350. Keep covered when reheating . Slice and serve
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allthingsblue




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 02 2018, 4:59 pm
Do you have a warming drawer?
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thunderstorm




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 02 2018, 5:00 pm
amother wrote:
BTW the chicken and rice is a great recipe and I do it often but again it is more of a Shabbos recipe by us.

The way I work things like pizza and burgers need at least a few minutes prep last minute (or heating time) which I don't have. But maybe I am doing things wrong and you can guide me.

And what is letcho?


Letcho might be a Hungarian word.

I basically make it like this:

Sautee diced onion, tomatoes, red pepper, and zuchinni until soft . Add some seasoning such as salt, pepper and onion powder if you like. Then add as many eggs as you want to feed the family , stir until the eggs are cooked and sort of scrambled with the vegetable mixture.

At 5:45 you can just turn the pot on for five minutes to reheat and get it hot. The grilled cheese sandwiches can be served at room temperature or put in a toaster oven for five minutes to rewarm
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FranticFrummie




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 02 2018, 5:04 pm
It sounds like a microwave is an absolute must. If you don't have one, you need to invest in one (or two, if you do a lot of dairy.)

Cook large batches, and freeze in small portions. Put the evening's meals in the refrigerator to partially defrost until evening. Then have everyone make up their own plates and zap it.

It's not the same as fresh from the oven, but a busy mama's gotta do what she can do!
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Raisin




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 02 2018, 5:26 pm
meatballs. Make meatball mixture, form into meatballs, and bake on about 400f for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile make the sauce and cook the spaghetti. Drain spaghetti and leave in colander. You can leave the sauce on low till you come home. At that point throw the meatballs into sauce and pour boiling water over spaghetti. You could probably leave meatballs in sauce while out but I would worry they would overcook, so maybe try it both ways.

You can also make a meat sauce that will stay on low while out.

Shepherds pie - prep and assemble, leave oven on timer to turn on about 45 minutes before needed.

Ditto with lasagna, meat or dairy.

Pizzas can be assembled. Pre cook pizza bases, put on sauce and cheese. Takes only about 7 minutes to heat up in oven.

You can make big pots of veg soup once or twice a week to help fill up those hungry teens.
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naomi2




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 02 2018, 6:41 pm
Tofu or chicken lo mein. Stir fry the chicken cubes or tofu with fresh or frozen veggies. Boil spaghetti and combine with soy sauce, honey, onion and garlic powder.

Anything in a crock pot.
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 02 2018, 6:51 pm
If chicken is expensive and ground meat ok, let us know what ingredients you'd like to work with and maybe we can help.

It might help to make what you usually make and then wrap it and place it in the oven set to 175 to keep warm for 2.5 hours without drying out.
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amother
Sapphire


 

Post Sun, Sep 02 2018, 9:31 pm
Thanks for the replies .

It's really helpful.

Here all meat is expensive but I tend to find that ground meat is more economical.because you can add fillers etc

Would be good to have more parev/milky recipes

The problem is sometimes I really cannot be in the kitchen preparing for even 10 minutes (I can earlier in the day, but not at crunch time).

I do spaghetti with cheese remicrowaved, potato / roast veg w cheese.

Thanks for the reminder about stirfry which I can have on the stove and rewarm quickly.

Is 175 hot enough to be safe to warm food? That's good to know.

I often have soup, sometimes they refuse it (having soup mandel helps). Good when the weather gets cold, thanks for the reminder.
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amother
Sapphire


 

Post Sun, Sep 02 2018, 9:32 pm
BTW is letcho a bit like shahuka?
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tichellady




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 02 2018, 11:41 pm
Quiche, lentils and rice, filling soup with bread and salad, cornbread and chili, brown rice and tofu stir fry, quinoa with roasted veggies.
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amother
Denim


 

Post Mon, Sep 03 2018, 2:40 pm
Oh I live off of easy and cheap recipes, as I have picky eaters and am also very limited with time...

1. French toast (mix 1 egg per slice of bread with some milk. If you want it savory- put salt and pepper. If sweet - put sugar. Dip bread in mixture and then fry in frying pan)
serve with salad, reg milk/chocolate milk

or just scrambled eggs with toast and cheese and cut up vegetables...

2. Shepherds pie - fry onion, brown 1 lb of ground beef or chicken, add spices (can me made ahead of time) and any vegetables your kids eat like diced carrots or peppers - it will help to stretch it. I also add some tomato sauce but this is not a must. If they don't all eat the same veg, forget the vegetables. Put mashed potatoes (I use 4-5 potatoes) in a 9x13 pan and spread the beef mixture on top. Bake in oven for 25 min. (This can all be prepared ahead of time and then just heat up the "pie"

3. Meatballs with spaghetti/pasta. Use a store-bought sauce that all your kids like. Meatballs and pasta can be made ahead of time and then just heat up the sauce in a pot and mix all together.

4. Cheese toast sandwiches - spread ketchup or pizza sauce, add 1 slice of cheese, olives, and place in a sandwich toaster/grill for 3 min. Serve with a large salad.

5. Baked zitti - one package cooked penne pasta, 1/2 jar pasta sauce, ricotta or white cheese, salt, pepper. Mix. Add shredded cheese on top. Bake uncovered for 35 min. (You can also bake covered but it will be less crispy and more cheesy)

6. Nachos - spread nachos on a microwave safe plate or container, sprinkle cheese or put slices of cheese and melt it for 30 sec. Serve on the side with salsa, mashed black or red beans, avocado, and any other fresh veg.
Can do this also with tacos or tortillas.

You can serve any of the above recipes with canned corn, olives, cut up peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes to make it a more healthy meal.
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amother
Ruby


 

Post Mon, Sep 03 2018, 3:00 pm
amother wrote:
I might get bashed for this but pizza, bagel sandwiches, hot dogs, fries, pasta and cheese is what works here!
You can freeze burgers to put on a grill, there’s soups and sandwiches...


She said healthy. Lol
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debsey




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Sep 03 2018, 7:09 pm
Pasta bar. Whole wheat pasta, three sauces. Kids get to mix and match. Can make milk or meat, depending.

baked ziti.

Eggplant parmesan.

turkey/salmon/veggie burgers in a burger "bar" with all the fixings pre-sliced (lots of recipes for these online. I find when I call it a tuna patty, no one eats it, but when it's a tuna "slider" everyone loves it).
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