Anna Marie of the Unilever Consumer Kitchens explains how prepping meals a few nights in advance can be a real time-saver.
Between skyrocketing gas prices and the high cost of eating out, many families are staying in for dinner — the end result: more home-cooked meals. And when it comes to preparing those meals, more people are opting to buy in bulk – saving money via volume discounts as well as by avoiding extra trips to the store – which adds up to even bigger savings.
Although I try to put a good dinner on the table every night, it’s very difficult to do this on certain nights given my family’s crazy schedule.
Recently I started grilling lots of boneless chicken breasts at the beginning of the week — indoors or outdoors, depending on the weather. I grill them with different marinades, including teriyaki marinade, Wish-Bone® Italian Dressing and barbecue sauce, and then store the grilled chicken breasts in the fridge so that they’re ready to go on those nights when I barely have time to serve a meal, much less make one.
Serving suggestions
Cold grilled chicken breasts can simply be reheated and served with side dishes of steamed vegetables and a quick rice dish such as Knorr® Rice Sides – Cheddar Broccoli. Or they can be served (hot or cold) over greens as main-dish salads, like:
• Spicy Chicken Apple Salad
• Grilled Chicken with Pear & Walnut Salad
• Cobb Salad, Gala Salad Toss
• Panzanella Salad
• Caramelized Apple Salad with Grilled Chicken
Or for a quick grab-n-go sandwich , slice the grilled chicken and serve in a wrap using one of these recipes:
• Chicken 'n Veggie Wraps
• Chicken Satay Wraps
• California Wrap'n, Chicken Ranch Wraps
• Chicken BLT Wrapwich
This same strategy can also be used for steak. In addition to ground beef, other inexpensive cuts that can be easily purchased in bulk include flank and skirt steaks. A few great beef-based lunch options include:
• Grilled Steak Sandwiches with Steak Sauce Mayonnaise and Romaine
• Chili Spiced Steak Wraps
• Pita Beef Fajitas
• Texas Steak Sandwiches
Or, for dinner, try these suggestions:
• Chili-Rubbed Steak
• Fajita Steak Salad
• Easy Beef Lasagna
• Ropa Vieja
• Asian Beef Salad
• Fast ‘n Easy Chili
Saving money never tasted so good!