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Rarely do I cook ahead, There is no need to for 2 people and plenty of grocery stores within minutes. I could see if we were in a remote area where the next grocery store is like 30-60 minutes away then I would do that. We both work full time and the weekends we like to relax so most of my meals are simple but there is enough for another meal the next day unless I make a lasagna or baked ziti then we have that more than one night. I have cooked in batches in the past on a Sunday made a few meals ahead but it got too time consuming.
Next weekend, my family is making 22 pounds of bacon. Its a 3 week process and the bacon has been curing for a week, next week the bacon gets dried, smoked, and aired to mellow. A week after that it gets sliced and vacuum packed and frozen.
yesterday I cooked 6 turkey wings with orange glaze and some jerked chicken. My son takes that to work with him and that's most of what he will eat all this week.
Also this week, we made five pounds of chicken butter garlic sausage and that is currently in the freezer and I will package it in individual servings and then back into the freezer. It will be used two patties at a time over the next few months. Making sausage involves getting the grinder dirty and to make it worth the work of cleaning the grinder, we will make a large batch of sausage or maybe grind 120 pounds of meat for the dogs. The grinder involves a pretty big clean-up, so the end result has to be worth the effort of the cleaning.
I try to never have leftovers, other than lunch the next day. Certain things are inevitable, like spaghetti sauce, pots of soup, and anything that is made in a 13x9 pan.
I must admit, when I have a few things in the freezer, like lasagna or another casserole, I feel rich.
I normally cook ahead when I am living alone. I will make a huge pot of spaghetti sauce or chili, some kind of soup, etc then freeze into individual portion sizes. That was when it was just me and I was at work all day.
I could come home and grab it out of the fridge (having put in the fridge from the freezer the night before) and put it in the microwave.
Cooking was easy that way. Now I am with my bf and I am not working so I just cook every day so that there are no leftovers, he wont eat them.
I am actually thinking of doing the freezing again...
Do you do this, and if so, what all do you make ahead to freeze? What freezes well and what doesn't?
Does he need to know they’re leftovers?
My husband will eat leftovers for lunch the next day (or starve), but if I give him spaghetti sauce out of the freezer a month later, he doesn’t know the difference.
I freeze spaghetti sauce, bean soup, lasagna in individual servings, breakfast casseroles in individual serving…you get it.
I do a batch of chicken enchiladas and freeze them 2 in a container. Only I eat them. I cook chicken breasts and cube them and freeze those in batches to throw into Knorr rice packages. I'll also make white chicken chili and batch that up. I can't really think of much else I do for the two of us.
when I was single I would cook healthy and cheap for 2-3 people with the intention to eat it over the next days.
Well, then I usually end up eating too much and it is all gone within a day or less. I try to trick myself and put one portion on my plate and the rest goes straight into the freezer but I have no issues just pulling it out an hour or two later and then continue to eat
Now that I have a bf we cook almost every evening and cook for 4-5 people. He eats for 3 and I usually eat the leftovers during the next day. Needless to say we spend $$$$$$$$$$ on groceries.
When I have energy to cook, I do it as more than one meal, either eat some in the next day or two or freeze. Comes in handy when you just don't feel like cooking. Not getting into recipes as that is a separate thread.
Rice Cooker version of fried rice ~ youtube.com/watch?v=YieIRSCHndM
or buy ready-to-microwave Ajinomoto chicken fried rice, it works out to only two-plus $ a packet. https://cocowest.ca/item/819988
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I never cook just for one. It's such a waste of time and energy.
So, I would freeze a part of it, and repurpose or modify the rest.
I am a ZERO WASTE enthusiast, so often leftovers are beginning of a new meal, and no one would know they are eating leftovers
Example: chicken soup leftovers could be tomato soup, vegetable soup, barley soup or many other soups base. Leftovers stew could be a begining of a green beans soup, borscht soup. Leftover gravy could be added to spaghetti sauce...
Leftover vegetables go into a soup.
Leftovers potatoes makes great potato pancakes. Leftover rice goes into a new soup.
Meatloaf, meatballs, hamburger? First eaten warm as a dinner, then cold, sliced for a sandwich, then chopped and added to spaghetti sauce, or tacos. Or make chili, casserole, shepherd's pie, stuffed pasta shells, turnovers, stuffed bell peppers or tomatoes, cabbage rolls, load up nachos ...
Create a Buddha bowl.
Bread? Make French toast, croutons, or bread crumbs.
Just finished a jar of pickles? Chop any vegetables like onions, cucumber, cabbage, carrots, or zucchini and submerge them back into leftover pickle juice.
Cold cuts leftovers - add to your pizza.
Have some veggies, noodle/rice, meat? Use in stir-fry.
Avocados getting soft - perfect for a guacamole, together with tomatoes and onions.
Too much cooked rice or noodle? Fry it with some veggies and an egg.
Tacos!!! Almost any leftovers can be utilized in tacos! Or quesadillas.
etc...etc.... (I could go on and on)
Just use your imagination.
I'm about to have to do a mass cooking to restock the freezer. Usually I'll do a batch of chicken curry, one of spaghetti sauce, and maybe some shepherd's pie base or red beans and rice.
When I buy boneless chicken breasts, I try to trim and prep them before putting them in the freezer. I'll do a few whole breasts, then slice some for filets and make a packet of chicken chunks. Kroger has some great Private Selection sauces in jars, so a week-night supper is sometimes a jar with chicken and rice. The Butter Chicken, Chicken Tikka Masala, and Jalfreezi sauces are all more than adequate for an easy dinner. Saffron Road's Chicken Korma is also pretty good when you don't feel like cooking. It takes no longer than the rice in the rice cooker, so 20-25 minutes from freezer and jar to the table.
I cook ahead all the time -- my freezer is filled with tupperware meals which would feed 3 to 4 people. I make chili, soups, homemade barbecue, lots of different pasta type dishes such as turkey tetrazzini or brocooli and pasta. Sometimes I make Mexican food like spinach and cheese enchiladas. Last week I bought on sale a very large whole boneless pork loin and made an applesauce covered roast with chopped fresh carrots and onions -- we ate it for several days and then made about 4 tupperware containers of the sliced roast in sauce. It is so nice to pull that out and just make a salad and a baked potato. I do the same with pot roast -- only the potatoes don't freeze well as they have too much water and break down. So I just freeze the pot roast with carrots and onions and make fresh mashed potatoes with the frozen leftovers.
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Or quesadillas. 
