Homemade Meals Everyday

It's 5 pm. You just pulled in the driveway with two very hungry toddlers when you realize you forgot to plan dinner.

What do you do?

Does this sound familiar?

Jennifer Mellace describes this scenerio in her featured article in Today's Diet & Nutrition magazine and says that more and more families are eating out.

In 2005, the average household expenditure for food away from home was $2,634!

Thirty years ago most meals were prepared and eaten at home.

But according to research by the USDA in 2005, Americans spent over 10 times more eating out than they did in 1974.

Restaurant.org found that during the last 30 years, Americans' spending on fast food has increased from $6 billion to $110 billion!!

FREEZER-FRIENDLY MEALS

Planning and preparing a variety of nutritious meals that can be frozen for a family or in individual servings is a huge time saver!

The New Holly Clegg Trim & Terrific Cookbook (Trim and Terrific) provides a variety of nutritious recipes and educates readers on the world of freezing.

Clegg says that making dishes ahead of time and freezing them takes the stress out of cooking. She often makes use of precut veggies, no-boil lasagna noodles and fast-cooking brown rice.

Clegg provides a list of foods that simply don't freeze well and others that change after being thawed.

COOKING TWO-WEEKS' TO ONE MONTH'S WORTH OF MEALS

In Once-a-Month Cooking, Revised and Expanded: A Proven System for Spending Less Time in the Kitchen and Enjoying Delicious, Homemade Meals Every Day, authors Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg say setting aside time to prepare and cook several meals is not only good for the budget, but takes the pressure off to get a nutritious meal on the table each day.

The book offers detailed shopping lists and a step-by-step system that shows how to prepare and cook several meals all in one day.

See a sample recipe below from Once-a-Month Cooking, Revised and Expanded: A Proven System for Spending Less Time in the Kitchen and Enjoying Delicious, Homemade Meals Every Day and then go online and buy the book!

RAVIOLI SOUP

Freeze in: 10-cup container

Serve with: Green salad tossed with Vinaigrett; French bread

1 pound lean ground beef (2 1/2 cups browned meat)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 teaspoon onion salt

2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)

1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion

1 28 ounce can Italian-style or plain crushed tomatoes in puree

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

1 14 1/2 ounce can beef broth or bouillon

1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 12 ounce package plain ravioli without sauce

Salt

Grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Cook the ground beef in a large pot until browned, about 15 minutes. Drain the fat. Combine the remaining ingredients except frozen ravioli and additional Parmesan cheese. Bring soup to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook, put in container and freeze.

To prepare for serving, thaw soup and put in a large pot. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Thaw and cook ravioli according to package directions until just tender. Drain ravioli; add to soup. Salt to taste. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Makes 6 servings.

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