Hellobee

One of the most difficult parts of being a larger family is planning what we are all going to eat. Now that there are 6 of us, we have to be a lot more intentional about planning our meals ahead. This summer, I started a new meal prep process that has simplified the dinner rush in our household a ton, so I thought I would share with the hive!

First, we plan the entire month’s meals ahead of time. We eat pretty basic meals…nothing fancy…and we tend to eat the same meals several times a month. Our kids (except for one) are all reasonably good eaters, but we try to make dinnertime as low-stress as possible by serving meals most everyone likes most nights. Someday maybe we will expand our menu to be more creative, but for now this works for us!

Our meal plan is a basic google doc that I fill in each month. Easy-peasy. We post this on the white board in our kitchen and refer to it throughout the month. It isn’t unusual for us to swap days if something comes up or I forget to thaw something (guilty) but for the most part we stick to the plan. For the last few months though, we have been not only doing our meal planning ahead, but also our meal prep. This means that I pick one day at the beginning of the month to carve out 2-3 hours and prepare all of our meals for the month.

Before this process, the plan has to be made and grocery shopping done. For this to work we also must do our biggest grocery shopping trip of the month before this day. Currently we get most of our groceries from Sams Club and Walmart (we do free grocery pickup and it is one of my favorite things), then get our milk and produce from a local co-op that delivers weekly. We still have to do a few small grocery trips a month for things if we run out, but we find that planning ahead this way limits those quite a bit (and with that, saves us a ton of money!).

Again, our meals are not gourmet. They mostly consist of just a few ingredients and are so simple that I don’t even have recipes for them. But, dinner is ready in 15 minutes most nights and mostly cooks itself while I help with homework or wrangle the chaos, so at this stage of life I call that a win!

To begin the process, I pull out all of the ingredients I need for the meals I am preparing. For the month of August I needed to prepare:

• Buffalo Chicken – 2 meals – Texas Pete, Butter, Chicken (3 lbs)
• Meatballs – 4 meals – Packaged gluten free meatballs (we cook the pasta and heat the sauce immediately prior to serving)
• Chicken Sausage – 2 meals – Chicken Sausage (2 packages), Frozen Peppers and Onions (2 bags), Olive Oil
• Tacos – 3 meals – Ground Beef (4 lbs), Taco Seasoning
• Fajitas – 2 meals – Chicken (3 lbs), Frozen Peppers and Onions (2 bags), Olive Oil, Fajita Sauce (2 pouches)
• Zatarains Rice and Beef – 3 meals – Zatarains Rice (2 boxes of the cheddar flavor, 1 low sodium) – Ground Beef (4 lbs)
• Chili – Ground Beef (2 lbs), Chili Beans (2-3 cans), Frozen corn, onion powder, salt, pepper, chili powder

Next, I begin cooking the ground beef, since that takes the longest. I also start the oven to preheat for the meatballs.

Giant pot of ground beef – this was not super efficient, and in the times since we have cooked the ground beef in two batches back to back because it actually takes less time that way and is easier to stir.

Parchment paper sheets are my favorite cleanup shortcut. These take about 30 minutes. Cook them until they start to brown on the bottom.

Once those are cooking, I can start the sauce for the buffalo chicken. I prefer to make my own over the store bought type because there are fewer ingredients, but the bottled kind will save you a step. I just add about a cup of Texas Pete (or other hot sauce) with about a quarter cup of butter. Simmer in a small sauce pot until they combine (about 2-3 minutes after the butter has melted.) While this is cooking, prep your chicken.

Once the sauce is well combined it can be poured over the chicken. Done.

I stir the ground beef a bit and stick the meatballs in the oven because it is preheated and ready to cook.

Next up is the chicken sausage because this one is SO EASY. Seriously. Slice up your sausage, dump your frozen peppers in your containers, toss in the sausage on top. Done.

4 meals ready to go, and I am only 15 minutes in.

I give the ground beef another stir and then get started on the fajitas. This is another super easy meal. Frozen veggies, chicken, and sauce. For this one the chicken needs a little more love. I cut up into bite sized pieces before adding it to the container. Somehow I must have forgotten to photograph the fajitas. Don’t let that fool you…they are the family favorite.

Now I start the rice. We cook it according to the box, which basically requires adding water and simmering on low for a while. Our kids love this stuff. It isn’t my fave, but I have been surprised that the ingredients list isn’t quite as awful as I would have expected, so it is in our regular rotation. We serve this with tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream and everyone in our family gobbles it up.

While that cooks I have some down time. I use that time to do a little kitchen clean up so there is less to do at the end.

Meatballs are done!  I pull them out of the oven, divide them into 4 containers and set them aside to cool.

Once the ground beef is done, I drain it, add some to the rice (about a third of what was cooked) then put it back into the pot for holding.

Once the ground beef is added I give it a few stirs and let it sit for a few minutes. By this point I have realized that I am completely out of large glass containers, so a trip to Target for more Pyrex is in my future. For now, the rice meal is staying put in a big plastic bowl.

I wipe out my pan and get started on the taco meat. I add about 2/3 of the remaining ground beef to the pan and add taco seasoning (I don’t measure this…I just sprinkle until it covers the top, then add enough water to be able to dissolve the powder. Sometimes I make my own taco seasoning, but not this time. Cook until the sauce thickens a bit, then you can put them into their own containers as well.

Last up is the chili. My chili recipe is super basic and nothing special, but it’s delicious on a cold rainy day. When it is time to cook I will thaw and dump this whole thing in the crock pot to cook for the day, and it is oh so easy when all of the combining has been done ahead! I pour the chili beans, corn, and meat in a temporary holding casserole dish because this is all I have until future Target run, and then sprinkle the spices on top. Again, I don’t measure… I cover the top with chili powder, and then sprinkle on a little salt, pepper, and onion powder. The chili beans do most of the heavy lifting in the flavor department. Sometimes I add a can or two of Rotel into the mix, but since this is the first time I am making this recipe for the big kids I hold off in case that will make it too spicy.

And that’s it! It has been about 2 hours and I have 17 meals prepared for the month.

(Not pictured – Taco meat which was still on the stove waiting for new Pyrex)

By cooking some of the meat and prepping/combining ingredients ahead of time, I am able to significantly cut down on time each day, because less time is wasted gathering ingredients for each meal and cleanup only happens once. I have done this every month since, and my prep time has gotten faster each month. It is a lot of planning on the front end, but now that we meal prep this way I can’t imagine going back!

Included below are the “day of” directions for the meals above. Forgive my lack of real recipe format…these are really as easy as they sound.

Buffalo Chicken –  Prepped Ingredients: Texas Pete, Butter, Chicken 

1. Put thawed contents of your container in a sauce pan (if you need to cook quickly).
2. Cook on low for about 15 minutes, or until your chicken is cooked through (larger pieces of chicken will take longer).
3. Pour entire contents into a stand mixer and use the flat attachment to shred (or shred with two forks). I like to add about 3 tablespoons of cream cheese to make the sauce a little creamier.
4. Serve on tortillas, with tortilla chips, on top of a salad, on top of a sweet potato (or white potato) or with celery. Or just eat it with a fork. It is delicious. If you are feeling crazy you can pour some ranch dressing on top.

Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Meatballs –  Prepped Ingredients: Packaged gluten free meatballs, cooked ahead

1. Cook thawed meatballs in tomato sauce for about 15 minutes.
2. While the meatballs/sauce heat up, cook your pasta of choice according to the package directions. Drain and serve.

Chicken Sausage –   Prepped Ingredients: Chicken Sausage, Frozen Peppers and Onions, Olive Oil

1. Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a large frying pan.
2. Add the contents of your container to the frying pan. Cook on medium until the sausage has browned and any liquid from the frozen veggies cooks away. This can be served with or without rice (we like Uncle Ben’s microwavable rice pouches). It is also delicious topped with cheese and sour cream.

Tacos –   Prepped Ingredients: Ground Beef , Taco Seasoning

1. Heat taco meat in the microwave or on the stove top until warm. Serve with whatever taco toppings/sides your family loves!

Fajitas –  Chicken , Frozen Peppers and Onions , Olive Oil, Fajita Sauce

1. Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a large frying pan.
2. Add the contents of your container to the frying pan. Cook on medium until the chicken has browned and any liquid from the frozen veggies cooks away. We sometimes serve on top of lettuce as a salad, in tortillas, or with tortilla chips. Add whatever toppings your family loves!

Zatarains Rice and Beef – Zatarains Rice  – Ground Beef

1. Heat entire container in the microwave or on the stove top until warm. Serve with whatever  toppings/sides your family loves! We like to eat this one with sour cream as well.

Chili – Ground Beef , Chili Beans, Frozen Corn, Onion Powder, Salt, Pepper, Chili Powder

1. Pour contents of container into a crock pot and cook on low for as many hours as you want (probably between 4 and 10…I don’t know if I have cooked it longer than that). This chili is very forgiving. If your standards for chili are higher than mine, please share your pro tips!

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Do you have any awesome easy-prep-ahead meals your family loves? I am always looking for new ideas!