Ideas for make ahead dinners?

We also eat a lot of make ahead dinners in my house because of conflicting school and work schedules with everyone in the family. It's important to try to avoid any frozen, pre cooked dinners that are super unhealthy not to mention expensive in the grocery stores. They are good options every once in awhile when you run out of ideas or simply don't have time to prepare something, but don't make a habit of eating that kind of food.

Crocks pots as you mentioned are a great option for quick dinners that allows everyone to eat when it satisfys them which is great for busy schedules. We do various meat, vegetable, and sauce combinations in our crock pot. Some examples include ham, green beans, and potatoes or a beef roast with carrots and potatoes as well as a brown gravy sauce. Pork or chicken cooks up great with barbecue sauce and diced onions in the crock pot for quick sandwiches for dinner. Sausage links or meatballs in a tomato sauce are both delicious as well. You can do meatballs in a grape jelly or barbecue sauce as well. Swedish meatballs are another thing that we make quite often in the crock pot. Hot dogs or a pork roast with sauerkraut cooks up great and you can boil some potatoes or seve biscuits/dumplings too. Any type of soup can be made in the crock pot too including chicken noodle/corn, vegetable, bean soup, or chili.

Another thing I do a lot is make baked pasta dishes and freeze them for quick dinners throughout the week. You can make large batches of stuffed shells, ravioli, lasagna, or baked spaghetti. Keep them covered tightly in your freezer and just thaw them out the night before you plan on making it for dinner. A salad or garlic bread makes a perfect side dish. Even steamed vegetables would be easy and quick. Macaroni and cheese can be prepared in large batches as well. Throw in some sausage links, hot dogs, spam, or bacon for a little protein and to make the dish stretch a little more.

Other quick things that you can make ahead and have your husband heat for dinner are listed below. We have these things quite often and they seem to work pretty well with our busy schedules.

barbecue

tacos (just brown the meat and add the seasonings...they can assemble their own tacos at dinner)

sausage or dried beef gravy over toast or potatoes

smothered burgers (grill some beef patties and simmer in vegetable soup on the stove to heat it up)

chili hot dogs

baked chicken breasts (barbecue sauce, honey mustard, salsa are three of our favorite sauces)

Crock pots and slow cookers are great for family when you can't be there. I have two of them. But I only cook stews in them and tough meats. Maybe a pot roast now and then. Some people make meat loaf in them.

Your family is gonna have to learn to make sandwiches besides the peanut butter kind. Also, have you tried the pizza dough in a can by Pillsbury in the cold case beside the butter and sour cream? And a hearty beef soup is good this time of the year. Chicken wings are absolutely delicious when you simply roast them at a high temperature like 450 degrees. Just put them in a broiler pan and put them in the preheated oven; in 20 - 25 minutes, they are done ! Sprinkle salt 'n pepper on them or brush with BBQ sauce and eat !

Casseroles are fabulous and they don't know what they are missing, but missing the "cook" will let them know that they should be liking anything and everything

Make the casseroles anyway!!

I brown pork chops, lamb chops, small pieces of round steak, and stack them on top of cooked rice, cooked mac, or browned potatoes, with cream of ??? soup and whatever veggies I deem great at that moment, and sprinkle with cheese and cover tightly with foil and freeze. then for choosing which we will have, I close my eyes and pick a pan. I do these in the disposable aluminum tray pans from the grocery store. They can be washed and reused several times or just tossed. I have also used canned tomatoes in them some times just for variety.

all bake at 350F directly from the freezer into cold oven for 2 hours.

Enchiladas and Lasagna are perfect for putting in the freezer and poping them in the oven when its dinner time.

Chicken pot pies are also great for preparing to cook later.

You can also marinate chicken for them all day and all he'll have to do is put it in the oven! Then make some rice or potatoes!

My Favorite meal is so easy... I cook chicken breast with salsa in the crock pot, when it is ready to be shreaded I shread it (simply by stirring in the crock pot) then I add some chicken broth, corn, black beans.... Top with sour cream, cheese and tortilla chips :)

CHEESY TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE 1 (12 1/2 oz.) can chunk light tuna in water 1 pkg. frozen vegetables 1 (12 oz.) pkg. wide egg noodles Season to taste 1 can cream of mushroom soup 1 1/2 c. milk 1 (8 oz.) container sour cream 1 1/2 c. grated Cheddar cheese 1 1/2 c. grated Mozzarella cheese Cook and drain vegetables. Heat soup, milk, and sour cream. Blend until smooth. Cook and drain noodles. Mix all ingredients together with tuna and 3/4 cups each of Cheddar and Mozzarella cheese. Pour into 9 x 13 inch pan. Top with remaining cheese and bake in 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Baked Ziti • 1 pound dry ziti pasta • 1 onion, chopped • 1 pound lean ground beef • 2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce • 6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced • 1 1/2 cups sour cream • 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese DIRECTIONS 1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain. 2. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes. 3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese. 4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.

Potato Dumplings