After a long day at the office or an endless afternoon taking care of your children, cooking dinner can become a daunting task. The thought of starting to cook dinner when you’re already hungry usually becomes very challenging. That’s when it’s tempting for the cook to cut corners on a recipe for the sake of time. Furthermore, we can all relate to the overly busy day that leads you to get take out and call it done.

Making meals ahead of time can be a lifesaver for a busy lifestyle. If you chop and season meat and vegetables ahead of time it becomes much easier to provide a well balanced fresh meal for your entire family. By setting aside one hour once a week, to chop and prepare food, it could be possible to make meals for up to a week.

My favorite “make ahead meal” is roasted veggies and chicken. I put two free-range boneless skinless chicken breast in a large ziplock bag with 4 cups of my favorite chopped fresh veggies. I like to use red and yellow peppers, mushroom and red onion. I then add 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons of my homemade Italian seasoning. Then I’m set for when I walk in the door, starving, at 5:30pm. When I come home all I have to do is take my mixture out of the bag, place it on a greased pan and roast it at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. The uncooked chicken and chopped vegetable mix can also be put in the freezer and used at a later date. Watch for more “make ahead meal” recipes next week.