To tame meal chaos, I like a multi-directional plan of attack:
1) Make enough to freeze ahead as often as possible
2) Train back-up chefs to fill in on occasion
3) Learn to love your crock pot. It still takes prep, but is fabulous for days when you can carve out a bit of time earlier in the day, but can't spend the evening in the kitchen.
4) Have a few super speedy, yet healthful recipes you know can be thrown together fast and easy
5) Keep Papa Murphy's coupons handy for those times when the above measures fail.
Often big batches of things are more efficient. "Mega-Cooking" lets me establish an assembly line rhythm to each task and also cuts down on clean-up time. Whether it means making up 10 lasagnas, or simply loading the grill with chicken breasts, I like to do a little extra while I'm at it. (Cubed, grilled chicken and browned, ground beef divided into small freezer bags are a staple in my freezer. With those on hand, I know I can always throw soup or a skillet meal together quickly.)
Because the big "Once a Month" plans overwhelm me, I call my casual system "once a week cooking". Each week I try to have a cooking day. Instead of doing several different entrees, I just do one, but I make 3-10 times enough for my family. One batch we eat for dinner that evening--the rest go in to our freezer. After a few weeks, the freezer accumulates a nice selection.
I've learned a few tips on freezer cooking: A non frost-free freezer is an asset. (Frost-free models stay frost-free by cyclically partially thawing and re-freezing. This imparts cardboard-like properties to previously edible contents.) Another key is finding recipes that freeze well. Most of my recipes have been tweaked so much that they are now PrairieFrog originals, but when I first started I spring-boarded off of some good freezer-friendly cook books. My favorites are by Jill bond: Mega Cooking
and Dinner's in the Freezer!
The freezer is just one tool in my arsenal though. Typically we'll eat from our freezer stash anywhere from 1-4 nights a week. (Our menu's aren't exact science.) I usually do a crock pot on piano lesson day, soup or grilling one night, and one night of a skillet meal, or some other non-freezer one evening.
The oldest two girls (ages 10 and 7) each have a few meals they can make almost without assistance, and we have a few whole food (or nearly so) recipes we can throw together quickly. The children love knowing that they can be a true help and do the whole meal on occasion.
When all else fails, there's always pizza. We try to have homemade pizzas in the freezer, but just in case, I keep coupons pinned to the message center at all times!
Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.
