Planning ahead for busy folks like me

So every couple of weeks I do BIG cooking. I completely fill up the freezer with precooked meals that I can just snag and place in my lunchbox to take to work. I pre-jumble the selection in the freezer so I don't end up with the same meal back to back. It's a big time and hassle saver and I recommend this approach to anyone with a busy schedule! I spend about six hours two days in a row and get roughly 2-3 weeks worth of work meals ready to go. (As I work long shifts it is not uncommon for me to eat two or even three meals while I'm at work! I'm currently on 16 hour shifts and I'm not always ready for breakfast at 0430 so some days I take it with me.)

It is important to know what freezes and what doesn't. (Well, everything freezes but not everything thaws or reheats well!) It's also good to know things like, "If I pull something from the freezer and put it in the fridge it will take 16-24 hours to defrost." Plan ahead. If you pull something out of the freezer for lunch the morning of that same day, you may want to leave your container out on the counter for an hour or so before putting it back in the fridge.

Last night I prepared a gorgeous Mahi-Mahi meal with a slice of broiled pineapple and some papaya pico (It was fantastic!) but things like my papaya pico just won't freeze well (and then unfreeze again). If I were to do that it would just be mush. Alas, I'll just have to eat the left over pico before it goes bad! Where's my spoon?

Pan seared Mahi-Mahi with broiled pineapple and papaya pico

Before I start my big cooking, I usually have something along the lines of this:

Look at all of those amazing colors!

And by the time I'm done it looks like I should have gotten stock options with Tupperware.

This week I'm cooking with beef, chicken, pork, mahi-mahi and maybe some ahi tuna. We will see if there is any room left in the freezer :)

So hopefully I will be bringing you several new recipes this week! (I even made dessert, or we could call it "breakfast cake" if that makes anyone feel better. Either way I made it because it's yummy and I wanted cake!)