| Soccer practice. Music lessons. Work. School. | | | | is to cook up large quantities of hamburger at |
| Appointments. All of these take up so much time | | | | once and freeze it as it is - just crumbled burger. |
| that it can be difficult to find the time to eat | | | | You can thaw it in the microwave while you |
| healthy meals together as a family. When it takes | | | | make the rest of the meal. Chop up vegetables |
| an hour or more to prepare dinner, it seems | | | | and put them in storage bags for easy meal prep |
| much easier to get your family's food on the go. | | | | during the week. If you want to go all out, get |
| But drive-thru eating is not conducive to "family | | | | the entire family together on the project and |
| time" and it can wreak havoc on your health. The | | | | spend the day making enough dinner food for the |
| good news is that there are ways of providing | | | | entire work week. Before you start, make certain |
| your family with a healthy sit-down dinner without | | | | you have enough storage containers and plastic |
| spending a lot of time on preparation. All it takes | | | | freezer bags. |
| is some strategic thinking. | | | | Other Ideas for Fast Meals |
| The Weekend Food Warrior | | | | Buy pre-made pizza dough and toss on your |
| Dedicate a few hours one weekend a month to | | | | favorite toppings. With a jar of pizza sauce, some |
| cooking up large quantities of food. It is not much | | | | pepperoni and shredded cheese, it will not take |
| more work to make twice as much as you would | | | | longer than half an hour from start to finish. |
| usually make. If all you do is cook up two chicken | | | | Buy up cold cuts, sliced cheese, your favorite |
| dinners and two beef dinners, you will have four | | | | sandwich vegetables and submarine rolls. Put out |
| ready-made dinners to serve when you are in a | | | | the ingredients along with condiments and let your |
| time crunch. Each meal can be frozen. When you | | | | family make their own subs. |
| are ready to eat, just microwave a casserole or | | | | Throw all the ingredients for beef stew into your |
| put it in the oven. | | | | crock pot in the morning, set it to "low" and turn |
| You can make each dinner unique by changing the | | | | on the timer for a delicious pre-made meal that |
| recipe a little. If you cook up enough beef stew | | | | will be ready when you walk in the door in the |
| for two meals, you can add biscuits to one and | | | | evening. There is nothing faster than "done". |
| bake it in the oven before freezing. Another idea | | | | |