I am very organized. Not bragging at all. I come from a very large family and I am very used to having very large holiday dinners. I'm also good at finding many short-cuts to make my life easier. It works. Trust me! It works!
I am having a Christmas party on the 11th, and 10 days before I started cooking. I am serving all Italian food and much more. I have already made my fresh Italian meatballs, all made, rolled, cooked on a cookie sheet, cooled and put into a freezer bag and put into the freezer. Same with Italian sausage, cooked, drained, sliced in bite sized pieces, cooled and put in a freezer bag and in the freezer.
I made 2 very large Calzones filled with all deli meats and cheese, then chopped fresh tomato, pickles, basil, oil and vinegar, cooked, cooled, wrapped very tight and into the freezer. The Calzone are great to freeze, because when you start to thaw them, you can slice them before they are thawed, and you get wonderful thin neat slices. You just reheat on a cookie sheet and they come out great. The meatballs and sausage just get put in your sauce. All my desserts are made and in the freezer.
This is such a big stress relief for me and leaves me with so much less to do.
One other tip: I bought all pre-sliced block cheese for cheese and crackers and found the price exactly the same. Shop and compare! I just want to enjoy my own party! :)
Every day my husband and I have a homemade vegetable salad. Most of the time I serve it for dinner but once in a while, depending on what's going on we have it for lunch. To save time I have most of it prepared ahead of time. Here is what I do.
I do not have much time for cooking in the evening after work. So I try to cook some things ahead, like ground round and chicken.
A good time saver when you just don't feel like cooking. Make ahead of time, a good hearty pot of soup with chunky vegetables that will freeze well.
I always cook more chicken than I need at that meal for later in the week. It's just as easy to cook more, and serve it in a chicken salad, tacos, or on a bun or roll later in the week for a good, quick meal.
Sometimes it is more convenient to prepare portions of a meal in advance, but save the assembly until the day you are going to complete and serve it. This is a page about making lasagne noodles ahead of time.
