Thursday Thoughts: March 13, 2025
Sometimes my brain just gets tired of thinking “what to fix for dinner”.
I love to experiment so always have some new recipes each week, but if I have some items on hand, I can always throw something together.
I’m also what I call a lazy cook. I prep everything that I can and use it for meals during the week. I wash and cut up lots of veggies, squash, bell peppers, carrots, onion, head lettuce, and baby spinach as an idea.
These become my big salads with chicken and veggies, my stir-frys, my small salads to go with a pizza, my baked potatoes topped with veggies in cheese sauce. Well, the choices are endless. What I don’t use, except for lettuce, goes into the freezer for more stir-frys, soups, quiches, etc.
Here’s my weekend prep:
Firstly, I’m very picky about my produce. So if something looks limp or ugly at the store, I improvise with a different veggie. Anyway, the ones below are my favs.
After shopping:
Wash and cut:
3 or 4 yellow squash in bite-size pieces
3 or 4 zucchini in bite-sized pieces
3 or 4 sweet bell peppers (whatever colors are nice). I vary the colors. It’s good to mix them.
3 or 4 big carrots, wash and peel then cut in carrot stick size for eating with dip.
1 medium onion, peeled and cut in a large dice.
2 heads of iceberg lettuce, not torn or cut. I pull the leaves apart but don’t tear, it will rust from a tear or a knife. After drying in spinner, I wrap tightly in plastic bags making sure all air is out before closing.
Boil 6 hard-boiled eggs, cool and peel and refrigerate.
1 bag of baby spinach (spin dry and store in plastic bag with paper towels)
Tell me some of your “get-ahead” ideas. I can use them. Remember? My brain gets tired 🙂
Meal prep is the way to go! I’m bad at it, but I do try. Also, when I don’t know what to make, stir-fry and pasta are my definite go-tos!
Thanx Aymee. It does take an awfully lot of time AND make a mess.
I use to be good at meal prepping or at least planning out meals and then my kids moved out and my husband said “I don’t want to eat the same thing all the time” and now I get stumped sometimes.
Some of my get ahead fix things was preparing everything needed but the broth for soups and putting it in freezer bags.
Boy Kel, I used to make sure I made and froze broth and such for soup and I have gotten lazy. I too have a husband that doesn’t like the same thing everytime. Good thing I like to cook and it’s a REALLY good thing he doesn’t mind being a test subject. lol