5 DINNERS IN 50 MINUTES

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Being retired and too busy to eat--no, no---not to eat, but to cook, I spend 50 minutes every Saturday to get my dinners for Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday prepared so all I have to do is microwave my main course when I am ready to eat. First thing I do is defrost the vegetables I will use as a 'bed' for the protein and at the same time cook up some rice and noodles and the protein, mainly chicken (breasts and thighs), when they are finished. While they are cooking I take 2 bags of prepared salad, empty them into a large bowl, add chopped onions and dressing, divide them into 5 salad bowls and cut 5-6 'grape' tomatoes, cover each with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge. (Each evening, just before serving the salad I will put a half a teaspoon over the top of the salad.) Finished with that I take the defrosted mixed vegetables, add a pound of sliced white mushrooms, spread the 5 dinner plates with them, add rice to some and pasta to others plus different sauces (in jars) from salsa to worcestershire to A-1 steak sauce, etc., place the chicken (or sliced beef or meatballs) on top or mixed in the rice/pasta, cover the plates with plastic wrap and into the fridge. Just before I serve a plate I will microwave each for about 5 minutes. Oh yes, when I want to lose weight I weigh the foods I am eating and keep track of the nutritional counts like calories, sodium, cholesterol, carbs, fats, protein, etc. After all that I wash the dishes and within 50 minutes I have my meals. Oh, if you are wondering, on Thursdays and Fridays I usually eat out a late lunch--off the menu-- and just have something light in the evening---hey carrot cake is light, it is the cream cheese 'icing' that is heavy!