Whenever someone follows my pantry they inevitably marvel at our patronage and pre-made food and say: "How do you find the time?" Truth be told, I feel that this action saves me a ton of time and pays a ton of cash. Here I will share some tips to help make this activity more efficient and efficient.
Don't be intimidated by the size of some dishes - most are freezer friendly. And remember, it is as much work to double or triple a recipe as it is to do just one batch. You have to wash the same dishes, clean the same kitchen and use the same heat. Having food packages ready to go in a busy and budget-minded household helps a lot.
Divide the very involved dishes into steps. For example, you can make sauces on Mondays, fill them on Tuesdays, and put them together for the freezer the next night. Breaking it into steps in this way helps to work with a tight schedule and makes the recipe more remarkable.
Save all take-out foil containers and buy some so that you always have some. Likewise, save many plastic clamshell containers from berries, salads, or baked goods. Also, have a box or two large sealable bags, or lots of clean bread bags that you can reuse. All these bags and containers can be washed and reused dozens of times, and when they have reached the end of their lives, they are recycled.
Try to make at least one big recipe every week. For example, you can make 8 small leagues, layout one meal to serve that day, and perhaps leave the next day, but prepare the other 7 meals for the freezer. Before you know it, you must have prepared dozens of different types of food ranging from pasta and lasagna to enchiladas and chili.
Most desserts can be pre-baked, stored in a freezer, and taken away whenever you need to serve or take them with you on a trip. We have frozen many different types of cookies, preferring to eat bread, buns, flatbread, and a few loaves of muffins so that we can all have a choice of desserts and snacks available in the freezer. Having snacks on hand, and food prepared to pop in the oven makes it easier to make homemade food and reduces the desire to buy fast food.