Healthy, Fast Meals

With Baby on the way--and thoughts of losing baby weight on my mind--I've been thinking about ways to prep healthy meals quickly after we have a newborn in the house. If all the baby books and my friends-with-kids are correct, I'll have almost no time (or energy) to cook during the first few months.

I may be able to put some of the cooking responsibility in Hubby's hands. In truth, he's actually a better cook than me. But he's more of a homestyle cooking guy... his idea of a meal is fried catfish, mashed potatoes and some lima beans. Not the worst food in the world, but definitely not conducive to weight loss.

I've been checking out the whole Once A Month Cooking (OAMC) philosophy. It basically means spending a 24-48 hour period shopping, prepping and cooking enough meals to last for an entire month. These meals are then frozen and pulled out as needed. There are variations on this theme, including cutting it back to a 2-week cooking session or gradually stocking a freezer by doubling or tripling recipes whenever you cook a meal.

I've been hounding Hubby to buy a deep freeze. As soon as I get it in my house, I'm going to try the "gradual stock" method. Whenever I cook something relatively healthy that freezes well--like marinara sauce, salmon cakes, veggie soup or black beans & rice--I'm going to prep a double-batch and then freeze the extra. With any luck, by the time Baby arrives I'll have 20 or so frozen meals that will be quick and healthy during hectic days.