In all of my preparing for baby Kate’s arrival I knew that finding some healthy make ahead meals that wouldn’t break the bank while I am on maternity/paternity leave would be essential. It took about 5 seconds for me to think of my friend Myra who writes a blog with her husband called Delicious on a Dime. Not only is she a super sweet person, super mom of three little ones under the age of 4 and a Cape Bretoner she has an entire blog filled with amazing recipes! Without further ado – enjoy these 6 recipes (yes, there is a bonus one in the post)!
Guest Post written by Myra Hyland-Samson of Delicious on a Dime
Myra Hyland-Samson lives in Cape Breton. She blogs over at Delicious on a Dime, where she and her hubby, Laurier, help people save money on groceries and eat more delicious food.
Whether you’re having a new baby, heading into a busy time at work, or constantly driving your kids around to after school activities, it’s always nice to come home to a dinner that’s mostly ready for you.
Weekend meal prep, freezer meals and quick recipes can help you avoid take out, convenience foods and eat more of the meals you WANT to eat, without relying on frozen pizza three times a week.
If this sounds too good to be true, or like you’ll be spending an arm and a leg to accomplish it, let me reassure you – all our recipes are budget friendly!
Here are five straightforward, healthy recipes that you can prep ahead of time – either on the weekend before a busy week, or way ahead of time, and stash in your freezer:
Table of Contents
Healthy White Chicken Enchiladas
I love to prep these ahead of time and they are SO tasty and satisfying! I make the sauce, cool it and store it in a container in the fridge, and assemble the enchiladas themselves in their baking pan, cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate. When I’m ready to cook them I just take the pan out, pour the sauce over the rolled up enchiladas, top with a little extra shredded cheese, and bake. It takes about five minutes to get them ready for the oven on the day we eat them!
Mexican Buddha Bowl With Cilantro Lime Sauce
When I want a SUPER healthy meal that’s a little more substantial than many salads, I opt for these Buddha bowls. Everything can be prepped ahead of time (like roasting the sweet potato cubes, making the easy sauce and slicing the veggies) – except for the avocado, which I would do at the last minute to keep it from turning brown. It’s the perfect activity on a Sunday afternoon to be ready for an easy weeknight dinner or lunches for the week!
Healthy Buffalo Chicken Chili
Chili is always a popular meal for making ahead of time or for freezing, and this Buffalo Chicken Chili is no exception! It’s super easy to make, so you could throw it together on a Sunday while puttering around the house, and then refrigerate it for a weeknight dinner or divide it up for the freezer. This one’s a nice, lighter change from traditional chili.
Easy Greek Meatballs
This is another recipe that’s easy to make, can be stored in the fridge or freezer, and you can serve a few different ways. These Greek meatballs are delicious served with rice, but also super yummy stuffed in a pita with tzatziki or hummus and fresh veggies. You could eat them on a salad or with roasted vegetables and roasted potatoes. So many delicious options! You could even make a double batch of them on the weekend (they’re really quick to make) and then eat them a few different ways during the week.
Soup
Thai Carrot Squash Soup
Creamy Chicken Soup
This idea is a 2 for 1 special! Soup is SUCH a great option for a make-ahead meal, and usually for freezer meals too! Both these soup recipes are really easy to make, super delicious, keep well in the fridge, AND freeze well. It’s hard to choose a favourite, because they’re really different from each other and each is tasty in its own way, but I must say, the Creamy Chicken Soup is swoon-worthy!
Creamy Chicken Soup
A few final tips:
If you looooove pizza as much as we do, you might want to consider making some freezer pizzas. I love doing this when I know life is about to get busy! I like to make a bunch of different kinds, cut them into pieces and freeze them individually, so we can grab slices of whatever we’re in the mood for and thaw them out quickly. We have a full tutorial to show you how we do it, and give you ideas for different types of pizza to make.
Even if you don’t have time to make complete pizzas, you could make a bunch of batches of pizza dough (we have recipes for both thick and thin – no rise https://deliciousonadime.com/thin-crust-pizza-dough-no-rise/
crust) for a few cents each and freeze those. Then just take them out to thaw in the morning, top with your favourite toppings after work and bake!
I hope this gives you some great ideas for meals you can prep ahead of time and you enjoyed this post by Myra from Delicious on a Dime! What do you like to cook in advance?
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1 Comment
Myra
February 19, 2019 at 12:57 pmThanks so much for featuring us Jenna! I hope your readers find some helpful recipes and ideas here! 🙂