Whenever someone follows me into our pantry, they inevitably express amazement at our canned and prepared foods, saying, “How do you find the time?” Actually, I think this activity saves me a lot of time and a lot of money. Here I will share some tips to help make this activity much more efficient and doable.
Don’t be intimidated by the size of some recipes, most can be frozen. And remember, it’s just as much work to double or triple a recipe as it is to make just one batch. You have to wash the same dishes, clean the same kitchen, and use the same heat. Having ready-to-go meal packages is a big help for a busy household on a budget.
Break very complicated recipes into steps. For example, you can make the sauce on Monday, the filling on Tuesday, and put it all together for the freezer the following night. Breaking it down into steps like this helps the work fit into tight schedules and makes the recipe more doable.
Save all the aluminum to-go containers and buy a few so you always have some on hand. Similarly, save as many plastic containers of berries, salads, or baked goods as possible. Also, have a box or two of large sealable bags, or plenty of clean bread bags that you can reuse. All these bags and containers can be washed and reused dozens of times, and are recyclable when they have reached the end of their useful life.
Try to make at least one large recipe each week during the garden’s peak harvest season. For example, you could make 8 small lasagnas, reserve one meal to serve that day and maybe leftovers for the next day, but make the other 7 meals for the freezer. Before you know it, you’ll have prepared dozens of meals ranging from different types of pasta and lasagna to enchiladas and chili.
Most desserts can be baked ahead of time, stored in a freezer, and taken out when you need something to serve or take on a trip. We like to have several different types of frozen cookies, a few loaves of bread, scones, flatbreads, and muffins so everyone has a choice of desserts and snacks available from the freezer. Having snacks on hand and meals ready to put in the oven helps make the task of creating home-cooked meals easier and reduces the need to buy fast food.
