I love teaching people how to meal plan and cook several meals ahead. This is one step above planned leftovers, and I like to show people how to do that as well.
When I say cooking ahead, that can mean a dish in its entirety, like a pot of spaghetti sauce with meatballs and sausage, beef stew, or a pot of chili. It can also be cooking the most time-consuming or most challenging part of a recipe that can be thrown together quickly in a couple of days.
Today is Thursday, and I am cooking five meals ahead, including tonight’s dinner through the entire weekend. I am exhausted by the weekend, especially Saturday nights, after a long day at the farmers market, and don’t feel like cooking.
When meal planning, I think about dishes with similar ingredients but completely different flavor profiles using produce, meats, and sauces.
I also think about what type of equipment I will need; for instance, if I am going to get my blender out of the pantry, why not use it for two dishes? I also think about ingredient preparation, like chopping or blanching vegetables.
Let me share my menus with you; then, I will explain the method behind my madness.
Roasted Poblano & Sweet Corn Chowder
Mexican Style Chili
Manicotti with Marinara Sauce
Flammkuchen
Farmers Market Breakfast Sandwiches
I don’t make chili. I eat it a couple of times a year, while Marty could eat it often. It’s not that I don’t like it; I don’t want to make it. Everyone seems to have their own chili recipes, but I haven’t been inspired to make one myself. Quite weird, I know, for someone who lives to cook.
We watched Chef Rick Stein travel through Mexico, where he made Carne Con Chili, not the other way around. He said everyone in Mexico almost forbids beans in their chili since they serve beans and rice with it anyway.
Marty doesn’t like beans in his chili, and he perked up when we watched Chef Rick duplicate the chili he had in Mexico. Marty said, “I could eat that all the time.” Time to learn how to make chili.
I watched Chef roast dried guajillo chillis with unpeeled garlic and fresh tomatoes. While I am writing about him, I can hear his British accent in my head, changing the pronunciation of tomatoes. Lol.
Problem number one, I can’t find dried or fresh guajillo chillis. I even tried Trade Joes to no avail. This is typical living in Vermont; ethnic ingredients are hard to come by.
So right there, I couldn’t follow Rick Stein’s recipe. Fuck! Now I had to start researching substitutions for dried guajillo chillis. More complicated than you think. I didn’t want to use anything too hot since that is not what I am looking to make. It needs to be smoky with just the right amount of heat.
Rick Stein’s recipe also includes chipotle peppers in adobo sauce; that’s where my smokiness and heat were going to come from. Now, what can I roast with the tomatoes to make the sauce?
I went to the grocery store and found some beautiful red poblano peppers I’d never seen around here before. They also had green poblanos and immediately craved either Chili Rellenos or Sweet Corn and Poblano Tamales. Both dishes would require roasting the green poblano with the red ones. Similar cooking technique. ✔️
Ultimately, I decided to make roasted poblano and sweet corn chowder. Why? It’s easy, and the other two dishes are pains in the ass and very time-consuming, the time I don’t have.
Now the wheels started to turn once I decided on the chowder. Bacon. Bacon goes in the chowder. It is also a topping on flammkuchen, another dish Marty requested. ✔️
It can also go on the breakfast sandwiches we planned to make for ourselves on Saturday morning before the farmers market starts. We have a pan and a chef burner, so it’s quick and easy. One package of bacon for three separate dishes. ✔️
We bought a big container of ricotta cheese on sale last week at Shop-Rite; I knew I wanted to make a pan of manicotti for Sunday night’s dinner.
When I make my marinara sauce, I use San Marzano whole tomatoes, which require a blender. What else needs a blender? The roasted red poblanos, tomatoes, and garlic for the chili! Using a piece of equipment kept in the pantry for two separate meals! ✔️
I used roughly chopped onions for the chili, marinara sauce, and chowder. I chopped all the onions at once for all three dishes. Two dishes required garlic, so I chopped that right after the onions. While I was at it, I chopped celery for the chowder. One knife and one cutting surface. Similar equipment again. ✔️
Since no contaminates like meat were used, I could reuse the knife and work surface when I removed the skin from the tomatoes, garlic, and both types of poblano peppers. ✔️
I made five dishes, but you could start with two or three dishes to make ahead. Figuring out what to make is honestly the hardest part.
Here is a link to an article on Budget Bytes called mix and match meal prep that explains meal planning further.
Here is another link on Cook the Story titled Same Ingredients on Different Days. Lots of ideas for spending less time in the kitchen.
I also wanted to include some make-ahead recipes from Taste of Home titled 49 Make-ahead Meals for your Busy Family. When choosing recipes, look for similar ingredients, preparation, or cooking style. For example, if you have the oven on for one dish, use the already hot oven for a second one.
I hope some of these links will inspire you to make a few things ahead. Don’t forget that stew, chili, and spaghetti sauce all taste better the next day or two.
Facebook friends used to always ask me how I have so much time to cook so much food. I tell them I would rather spend a couple of hours cooking and doing meal prep than staring at my phone or watching Youtube. Time is what you make of it.
I took photos, so it all makes more sense since it’s difficult to explain. It takes some thought, time, and effort, but now, for the next few days, I have minimum meal prep to tackle while I am tired.
We just finished eating, and the Roasted Poblano and Sweet Corn Chowder was a flavorful hit. I am glad they liked it because I realized I forgot to put potatoes into the chowder as I ate it. Oh, well! 🤦🏻♀️
***I wrote down how I made the chili and chowder, look for those recipes this winter.