How many of you, working outside the home or not, cook ahead?

I use to be very good at freezing casseroles and lasagnas and making meatballs ahead of time. I got out of that habit over the years but I am recently getting back into it. I have made pizza's and biscuits and cinnamon raisin biscuits and frozen all of them as well. I have a great pizza dough recipe and I make my own sauce to go with it. I am going to be doing quite a bit of canning sauces for my spaghetti and pizza sauce. That way I do not have to make a batch each time. This will be an experiment and I am not sure how it will turn out so I am only doing a small batch first and then see how it will taste after canning. I have never precut my veggies but I have been thinking about canning them as well. Good luck.

i don't make or cook food ahead of time . cause i am lazy to prepare food before hand. i just prepare food on the day we are going to eat or need it. before i do that. but now i just don't like doing that any more. and i prefer freshly cooked food now. and usually i don't like to reheat food. cause i feel that the freshly cooked tastes better than those reheated foods and the nutrients in food are destroyed when reheated, i believe. and so there are many reason why i don't prepare food ahead of time. but i do prepare ahead only when there are some occassions that i need to prepare in advance and before the day of celebration or occassion.

I do not cook ahead. I dislike the idea of cooking and freezing and referigertaing. Even I do not cut and keep vegetables ahead. I cut them, cook them fresh and feed my family always. I do not preplan too much when it comes to cooking. My point is food when cooked and stored or cut and stores in the refrigerator looses its nutritive value, it becomes rancid, free radicals gets accumulated in the food and overall there is not point in cooking ahead.

hi dragon, i work outside to my home. but i love my mother's preparations cook. my mother cook very well. take care.

well, to be honest with you; i seldom enter the kitchen to cook! when i was doing my undergraduate degree, i was staying in hostel..so, i would either buy from the canteens or order from outside or cook anything with my friends during the weekends... at home, we used to have a maid..but these days, we don't have maid..so, mum would do the cook..as she doesn't like anyone to be with her in the kitchen when she cooks...although, i know how to cook as i either learn from her, from TV, sites, friends or family members..but i seldom get to cook and once in the blue time LOL LOL i don't know how to be a wife later!! my guy is the type who loves food so much instead of having delivery...although he is an athletic but he wants me to be a perfect wife! while as a matter of fact, i'm such a LAZY GIRL EVER!!!! Smiley,

I do exactly the same thing. I save all the plastic containers that frozen meals come in to reuse. I especially like the ones that are good for microwave or over (usually up to 350 deg). I make meals out of everything, even leftovers from restaurants. One thing I do also, is when I cook pasta, I cook the entire package. I freeze it in portion-sized freezer bags. When ready to use, it's simple to run hot water over it in a colander. Then it's ready for whatever sauce I want to use on it.

I usually cook macaroni casserole or stew for two meals each, but there is just the two of us, so I do not cook ahead that much. I have not had lasagna for a long time and we usually buy it. Now I cook the meals for the day, but in some cases, like for casseroles, chili, and stew, I will make double portions and put them in the freezer. Oh when I used to make stew, I would have half the stew for a meat pie. Not any more because I am pre-diabetic.

I do not normally cook ahead, but I do try to make enough to have leftovers on the days that I make something that tastes good as leftovers. I have been mostly a spur of the moment type when it comes to dinner lately. I do not know what is for dinner most nights until right before it is time to make dinner.

i work because my income is still essential to my family. i like cooking but i don't have so much time so i usually cook in the evening when i have time.

I do some cooking ahead-- not as much as I would if I had a family, though. Meatloaf is a good thing to make ahead. It is easy to make several and freeze them. Chicken and turkey pies are good to make and freeze, too. Doing some smaller pies is a great idea for handy snacks or mini-meals for the kids. Freezing or canning soup is also a good thing to do.

Hi friend,I am from India,here we dont have the practise of cooking ahead and even if we do so it becomes stale in 1 or 2 days.But there are people who cook ahead but I feel that the taste differs and it may not be fresh like instant cooking.Everyday I cook three meals and very rarely I store the leftovers only for the next day.thanks for sharing.happy mylotting.

So much eatable!!Can you invite me to share them?That is funny for your family!!

i am in my home only..i am dailyhaving my moms preparation..i love my moms cooking..im the very luky to eat it upto this age...all cant have the same one in hteri life..my brothers are working away from my home..they are suffering a lot for this food..because we are pure vegitarin..that is also a big problem..have a nice time in mylot..

I do. I am by myself so when I cook, usually on Sundays or Saturday afternoons, I cook enough to last me the week. I am exhausted when I get home so I usually don't feel like cooking. I also find that cooking and freezing meals is very cost effective on my pocket book, especially when you have only one income in your household. I'm from Louisiana, so I like a lot of cajun styled food. Currently, I am making a gumbo, while I am answering your question, which will last me the entire week or maybe more. Gumbos and soups freeze very well. I also like things such as Crawfish and corn soup, spaghetti, taco soup, beef and vegetable soup. One thing that I really like is the roasted chickens that they sell at Wal Mart and the local grocers. They have different flavors, my fave being lemon pepper. It last me about 3 days. I cut it up in salads, make sandwiches, make chicken salad. Also, there are the "Suddenly Salad" pasta mixes that you can add meat to. Its like a whole meal in a box. My mother also makes this killer crockpot dish that has cut up chuck roast, sausage, shrimp, okra, and tomatoes in it. This also freezes well. I recently purchased a cook book on different types of soups and crockpot meals from Wally World (Wal Mart). Very Helpful!! Happy cooking!!!

I really do not cook ahead, and it is seldom that I have leftovers. I like the idea of cutting cooked chicken for salads, I wish you good luck on oyur responses, because I also want to see what new ideas other members leave here. Good luck!