Cooking For The Whole Week

 Weekend cooking  can be a pain but it pays off, especially if you are planning to have it for the entire week. Saturday and Sunday are perfect days  to make those frozen meals for week night dining. There's so much you can make for a full five busy days ahead.

Be ready when you want  to cook a lot.Make sure that the cutting board is clean and wiped down. Are the knives sharpened? Do you have the right ones? Are the pots , both for stove top or for the microwave also clean and ready? When the utensils and gadgets are ready then look at what you have? Jarred sauces and pasta make for good weeknight dinners. They both store and freeze easily. Have boxes of your favorite pasta along with lasagna sheets for cooking. Have both read and white pasta sauces to cook with to vary the upcoming agenda of meals.beans are a vital ingredient in soups and stews. Make sure you have the appropriate number of cans . Also have a variety too, Chickpeas are versatile and can be used in everything form soups to  curries. red kidney beans are another must. They add flavor to soups like minestrone. Do you have enough herbs and spices. Make sure there is enough garlic and onion powder along with oregano and rosemary. Do you have enough of the basic seasonings such a as sea salt and peppercorns that can be freshly ground? Most importantly  - do you have the storage containers ready to be filled and stored.

As for recipes, again a hearty pasta such as penne or bucatini work well with reheating. You can just cook the pasta and then let everyone microwave their own cup of sauce. for later eating. They can be cooked together too.Another dish that can last well into the next weekend isa bean stew. Add any kind of bean you like or a combo of them such as chickpeas and cannellini along with a veggie such as spinach . Tomato paste and vegetable broth give it a smooth texture.  Keep in mind that you can add chicken or beef to this along with stretching it out with rice. or quinoa.For easier cooking with this use your crockpot It allows you to to go about yoru Saturday chores and errands with only having to check in once or twice to see how it's cooking. A meat based stew even lets you make some dumplings for a more filling meal. These can be made either plain or with herbs for a tasty extra.Of  course soups are a good dish to make. They're easy to to store and easy to reheat in the microwave. Take advantage of the season's bounty. A good squash, cauliflower ro pumpkin soup is easy to whip up especially if you have a bof soup pot and an immersion blender.

It's so easy to devote a weekend for weeknight cooking.Decide what you want to make. Get the ingredients and cook. You;ll have delicious homemade meals for the week ahead,