I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine, Michelle Dudley. You may have noticed her button on the side bar: 5 Dinners in one Hour. It’s an amazing idea perfect for those of us who’d like to try once a month cooking but don’t have a day to set aside for just cooking, and who never remember to thaw anything out. Read as she tells the story of how it all began and be sure to follow her link at the end for 10 school lunches in 15 minutes! Here’s Michelle: *******************************************************
Do you find yourself stressing out daily over “what’s for dinner” or feed your family fast food more than you would like to admit? I used to be the same way until I created a plan to make 5 dinners in 1 hour! You read that right, 5 family dinners in just 1 hour!
My name is Michelle and I have 3 busy kids and a husband that works crazy hours. We were always eating fast food or frozen dinners that are just not healthy. I finally came up with a plan to make 5 dinners all at once (in just one hour) for our busy weekdays of hockey practice, volleyball games and other various after school functions. All the menu plans have family friendly meals that feed 4-6 people and no, they are not all casseroles. 🙂
Enjoy meals like:
Kid Friendly Coconut Chicken Strips
Breakfast for Dinner Quiche
The meals are fresh, not frozen. They keep in your refrigerator until ready to heat and eat. I am able to fit all of mine on just one shelf.
The menus are easy to follow and include a detailed grocery list and kitchen tool list.
Along with making cooking much easier, this plan can help you save time & money!
A monthly subscription is only $1.25 per week! You can read more about my plan on my blog which also includes a post on how to make 10 school lunches in 15 minutes. While you are there, you can sign up for a free trial menu and try it out for yourself!
Slow cooked Beef & Broccoli
Thanks! Will definitely use these.
I was really interested in this but surprised by the amount of convenience foods in the recipes… It seems like the majority of the ingredients are pre-cooked, or processed in some way. While the convenience is tempting, I’m wondering whether it would be healthier/less expensive to use fresh ingredients rather than frozen, canned, or otherwise packaged ingredients. Is it possible to make this plan work on an organic and whole-food diet?
Renee, You should visit Michelle’s site and ask her this question. But I think it is totally possible to do something similar with ingredients that you are comfortable with. I substitute whole wheat flour and whole grain pasta for their white counterparts in equal amounts. And make my own cream of soups too (which works great except for slow-cooking.) Often frozen and canned ingredients have more nutrition than fresh (espeically frozen), because they were preserved as soon as they came from the field, while fresh has transport time and then sits on the shelf before we buy it. Sometimes frozen and canned are less expensive also, but not always. It’s good to look at all your options.
Renee,
I have been using Michelle’s menus for a couple months now and have found it easy to substitute processed foods for my homemade(though then it does take a little more than an hour, but not much). Ex. For her bbq beef in a tub, I just put some beef in my own crock pot with my own bbq sauce and I end up with the same result.
HTH!
Jennifer
@Renee-
Most of my packaged foods are actually frozen vegetables. The majority of the meals are made with whole foods while I always have a “fun” meal or two during the week that will use a packaged type recipe helper.
My goal is to keep families out of the drive through lane. I feel like a frozen meatball, canned cream soup or frozen ravioli on occasion is a good trade for fried chicken nuggets, corny dogs and french fries which seems to be a staple for some families. 🙂
Thank you all so much for the responses! I hadn’t thought of that regarding the freshness of frozen veggies, and I certainly agree that a couple inexpensive options in the grocery store go much further than the inexpensive items in the drive-thru, both for the wallet and the health of the family! Maybe I’ll give it a shot next month.