As the holiday season approaches, you want to ensure you are ahead with your meal prep program. Cooking and sorting food takes time, so you can’t rush the process. If you expect guests and close friends to stop over at your place to celebrate with you, you may not have enough time to cook too much to satisfy everyone’s appetite.
Therefore utilize your free time to batch cook and store your delicious food. So when you start entertaining your guests, all you need to do is warm up your scrumptious goodies and enjoy having them with your loved ones. Therefore to ensure you stay on schedule. Here’s what you need to do:
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Utilize the Freezer Adequately
The freezer will be your best friend for days until you are over the holiday season. It keeps bacteria and pathogens from ruining your cooked meals by keeping them at a low temperature. However, you need to bear in mind not everything can be frozen. If you’re unaware of what is freezer-friendly and what needs to stay at room temperature, you might waste a lot of ingredients.
Raw produce and food items that don’t belong in the freezer develop ice crystals that cause the entire product to become mushy when you defrost it. So to ensure only the right products go into your freezing unit, you may consult Youcanfreezethis.com and learn the best way to pack and freeze different food items.
Generally, stews, casseroles, and meatballs are freezer safe. You can store fresh vegetables in Ziploc bags and keep them in the freezer. But certain items may need blanching, so ensure you read up on the right way to prepare your veggies for the cold temperature. This helps you save the nutritional value and keep the flavor potent.
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Batch Cook Like You Are Martha Stewart
If you’re used to cooking one meal at a time, the holiday season is the best time to check your endurance. Try cooking as many meals as you can and storing them away. It also helps to prepare delicious stocks and stews before you’re well into celebrating with your loved ones since these need time to develop flavor and have the right consistency. If you try making them at the last minute, you may end up with a watery, bland meal that can dampen the holiday spirit.
Stock helps prepare casseroles and comfort meals like chicken pot pie, so you can’t mess it up. Try making pasta sauces like bolognese ahead of time, so you don’t have to worry about preparing a meat sauce at the last minute. You can also roast chicken and Turkey and continue repurposing them throughout the week by tossing them into salads or making them into sandwiches.
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Shop for the Stock
Stores like Costco are bulk buying friendly. You can get the best deals on your ingredients and save enough to splurge for your holiday shopping. It would be best if you restocked your pantry and freezer before you get busy with guests. This prevents unnecessary trips to the store and allows you to purchase your favorite snack items before certain stores close for the holidays. Your shopping list should include a diverse range of products, from whole grains and canned beans to dried herbs.
Make sure you’re buying more frozen meat and poultry than you usually would so that there is no storage, at least for a month. The same rule applies to dairy products. Although when you’re out stocking up, never purchase items on a whim since you may not use them, and they can get spoiled. When you have your items, spread out your cooking schedule and ensure you have everything ready within two weeks.
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Know Your Family’s Diet
Cooking for yourself, in contrast to cooking for your family, can be challenging. You may have to come up with a menu before you can start storing meals. For instance, if your family is not a big fan of casseroles, there is no point in making one. At the same time, you need to know how much your family eats so you don’t end up with an empty pantry in the middle of the holidays. Creating a menu can help. You can also look into other cuisines and cultures to experiment with their food and store them. Indian snacks like Samosas or Chinese spring rolls can go in the freezer ahead of time. They are flavorful and can give your family a break from having the same meals daily.
You can also make smoothies and store them in individual freezer bags for a quick drink. Try not to go overboard by bookmarking elaborate recipes since they take longer to cook, might be heavier on the pocket, and if you miss out on a step, the whole dish can get wasted. Think of simple meals you can whip up in minutes, including delicacies like Greek zucchini fritters, Cuban Picadillo, and British potato cakes.
You can also use a slow cooker to make food since this method allows you to use cheaper meat cuts that don’t need a long preparation process. Slow cooking will enable you to toss all your spices and produce into the pot, and within a few hours, you have a hearty pot roast.
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Go Seasonal
Fruits and vegetables need to get harvested in the right season. If you buy off-season items, they may not have any taste or contain artificial flavors that defeat the purpose of buying them in the first place. So be smart about your seasonal shopping and get the products you need when they’re freshly harvested. If you like Berries, the best time to get them will be during the summers when their prices are low and they have that sweet-tart flavor.
You can choose to freeze your fruits or veggies or make them into salad jars with a combination of different fruits, which can last you an entire month. For instance, pile all your winter fruits like apples, grapes, oranges, and peaches into an air-tight container with suitable preservatives to enjoy a healthy treat throughout your holidays.
Final Thoughts
Holidays are about winding down and celebrating the seasonal festivities with your loved ones. They’re not about spending all of your free time in the kitchen trying to cook and serve your guests. Therefore, start meal prepping and storing your food immediately to save yourself from a holiday mess. It will help if you educate yourself on the items you can safely tuck away in your freezer without risking contamination, so you don’t waste produce. All the tips you’ve just read will surely help you have fun while entertaining your family with the most delicious food without spending all your time near the stove!
