Dear readers! Rhythm of life modern woman forces us to increasingly use semi-finished products. But when I go to the supermarket or the grocery store closest to home, I look at the store-bought semi-finished products. I am always confused by the thought of what they are made from... Sometimes, having bought something from semi-finished products in order to quickly prepare something for the family, you are once again convinced of how tasteless and inedible they can be.
Homemade semi-finished products - benefits
Therefore, I decided for myself that it is quite possible to prepare these same semi-finished products at home. But I am sure that the food prepared from my semi-finished products will not affect the health of my family in any way. But can we save time on meal prep during the week? Quite. And for this you only need to allocate 2-3 hours on Saturday.
Knowing the culinary preferences of your family members and having prepared semi-finished products at home, you will not have to worry about lunch, dinner or the sudden arrival of guests in the future.
You yourself will understand in the very first week, firstly, how much free time you will save on working days, and secondly, you can involve children in the process of preparing semi-finished products - joint work raises children. And your spouse will be glad that you are together and, probably, you will have topics for communication during the work process. Let everyone help you as much as possible, in whatever way they can.
But the most important thing is that later, after a tiring day at work, you will have enough time to relax, be with your family or do what you love. Well, let's get started?
What you need for homemade semi-finished products
What is needed first for this? First of all, of course, you need to prepare food. Groceries can be purchased gradually throughout the week so that by Saturday you are ready. By following a few rules, you can easily provide your family with all the necessary semi-finished products for a whole week.
In most cases, prepared homemade semi-finished products must be frozen. In a frozen state, products will last much longer, and will not lose their nutritional and useful properties. This means that freezing equipment is needed for freezing. In the absence of such, semi-finished products can be frozen in the cold, but only if you have an enclosed cold room, such as a veranda or cellar.
From my own experience I can say that modern freezers are very convenient and simply necessary in modern life, because you can freeze literally everything in them: mushrooms, berries, most vegetables, and, of course, homemade semi-finished products you have prepared. How to properly freeze food, read
Semi-finished meat products
Despite the fact that nutritionists and endocrinologists, not a single family can do without meat.
Cooking broth
For the broth we buy meat with bones. It is better to cook the broth in a large saucepan with a capacity of 4-5 liters. After the meat is well cooked, we separate it from the bones. Our broth will be used for soup, and we can grind the boiled meat through a meat grinder and then use it to fill pancakes or make navy-style pasta.
The broth can be seasoned immediately and then only reheated required amount soup. But you can do it differently. We pour out a little of the total amount of broth and season it. IN in this case you will have every day different soup. It is recommended to consume the soup daily, as the broth contains extractive substances that have a beneficial effect on digestion. Find out about the benefits of soups.
Making minced meat
You can make quite a lot of dishes from minced meat: dumplings, pasties, meatballs, meatballs, cutlets, zrazy, etc. And freeze it all in the freezer. If necessary, some of the above is taken out of the freezer as needed and then put into culinary processing.
Dumplings, of course, are worth making on Saturday. Then transfer the frozen dumplings to plastic bags and then it will take very little time to prepare them. Before freezing, cutlets and meatballs should not be rolled in 
breading, this must be done immediately before frying.
But I like to do it this way: I put the cooked minced meat in small portions in plastic bags and put them in the freezer. In the morning, before leaving for work, I take the minced meat out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator: it will gradually defrost during the day. In the evening after work, all I have to do is, for example, season the minced meat with a bun soaked in milk and fry the cutlets. Or make pasta sauce.
Semi-finished fish products
Fresh frozen fish does not require any special preparations. It is enough to peel it, gut it, cut it into portioned pieces, put in a container and store in the refrigerator. When needed, all you have to do is take it out, defrost it, and then fry it.
You can make minced fish for cutlets. In the article “” you can find out how these cutlets are prepared; using the same principle, you can prepare cutlets from any other fish.
Vegetable semi-finished products
It is better to boil vegetables (potatoes, carrots, beets) in their skins. Carrots and beets take much longer to cook, so they can be cooked in the microwave. Read how to do this in the article “”. Store boiled and cooled vegetables in a container with a tightly closed lid in the refrigerator.
Raw vegetables (onions, carrots) can also be prepared in advance. Peel them 
Place individually in plastic bags or containers and store on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Or you can fry them immediately and store them in glass jar under the lid, and then season the soup with them as needed.
Boil eggs along with potatoes. Eggs may be useful for salads, but try to store them in the refrigerator for no more than 3 - 4 days. Please note that their shells are porous and eggs, especially boiled ones, absorb other odors well. Therefore, keep them away from fish and vegetables such as onions or garlic.
Buy sufficient quantity vegetables and herbs for salads. You can wash them immediately, wipe them with a clean, dry towel, put them in a plastic bag and store them in the vegetable compartment. Salads from raw vegetables always helpful. They contain a large number of fiber and improve intestinal motility.
Pancakes
Bake some pancakes. You can make pancakes from them, with the same minced boiled meat or cottage cheese or something else, or you can just freeze them in a stack, and then defrost them in the microwave and serve them with sour cream or jam.
When I'm cooking stuffed pancakes, I fry the pancakes on one side (this way you will save time), then I put the filling on it, wrap the pancakes in an envelope and put them away for freezing. The filling for pancakes can be any:
- boiled meat from broth, twisted in a meat grinder, with overcooked onions;
- cottage cheese with or without raisins;
- boiled rice with boiled eggs;
- minced mushrooms, etc.
Side dishes for the second course
A make-ahead option for side dishes is rice. Prepare fluffy rice, cool it, transfer it to a container with a lid. Instead of rice, you can also use buckwheat and pearl barley.
Boiled “frozen” vegetables are also perfect for side dishes. Well, don’t forget about the preparations from the fall either: they will diversify your menu.
Well, you worked a little on Saturday, but during the week with this set of semi-finished products you will quickly prepare food for your family. And at the same time, you won’t spend a lot of time standing at the stove.
I gave several examples of preparing semi-finished products homemade. You may have your own options for semi-finished products that save you time, write about them in the comments. Young and novice housewives will most likely find these tips very useful.
Stuffed cabbage rolls
And cabbage rolls also help me out a lot. I have been preparing them since the fall. When I start fermenting cabbage, I remove the top leaves from the heads of cabbage; they come off very easily even without heat treatment. When I undress with sauerkraut, I scald the removed leaves in boiling water or put them in the microwave, in which after 5-10 minutes (depending on the power of the microwave) they become soft, I wrap them in cabbage leaves pre-cooked chopped meat and freeze it.
As needed, I take out frozen cabbage rolls and then simmer them in sour cream sauce. There is a separate article on my blog. And in this video there is another recipe for making cabbage rolls.
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Be healthy! Taisiya Filippova was with you.
The invention of such a thing as a semi-finished product by culinary masters has made our lives much easier; semi-finished products are always needed at home. Most people think of dumplings or frozen pizza when they hear this word. But the possibilities of fast food don’t end there. In the most common sense, these are dough products. But there are a number of dishes that can transform their taste during cooling and infusion.
Time is the only resource that cannot be stored on time. If the work schedule is high, there is a danger of suffering from a monotonous menu. But how can you save time and get excellent results from your food? For this, knowledge about semi-finished products is enough.
№1 Broths
Contrary to popular belief, broths do not have to be hot. To serve, a warmed version is certainly used, but these well-composed liquid dishes may surprise you with their capabilities.
- First of all, this is the ability of the aquatic environment to select the aromas and taste of each component. The more rich broth, the better it is stored in the freezer. Water is a universal solvent that can absorb any bouquet of aromas, increasing its benefits.
- The second wonderful quality of the broth is its versatility in use. On its basis you can cook next dish, some of it can be an excellent flavor enhancer for stewing. The range of broth, full of flavor lines, opens up wide possibilities for preparing other semi-finished products in it.
- Self-consumption of broth is included in the dietary nutrition. It saturates with moisture and carries all the components of the digested products. Easily absorbed, it gives a feeling of satiety.
- Broths can be vegetable or meat. The number of additional components determines how this base will smell and taste.
Attention! Once cooled, the broth can be frozen as a single block or poured into serving containers. During long-term storage, it does not lose its properties, gradually becoming more aromatic.
No. 2 Boiled meat
A convenient way to prepare your own preparation is boiled meat. If you delve deeper into the study traditional cuisine, you can find a large list of cold meat dishes. The peculiarities of storing chilled animal products are such that most of the fat is absorbed by the broth. The remaining mass remains pure protein and gelatin from bones and skins.
It is the properties of protein and gelatin that make meat universal product. To preserve it correctly, so that it does not lose its properties, it must be properly preserved:
- The skin is removed from a piece of meat, and the remains of veins and bones are removed.
- Use a paper towel to remove any remaining moisture.
- Food parchment is suitable for storage. It's being impregnated sunflower oil or confectionery fat. This approach prevents the appearance of mold caused by spores (introduced with air masses).
- To ensure that the meat acquires additional flavor during storage, cuts are made in it, adding garlic and roots. spice plants.
- For better preservation, after cooking, while it is still hot, the meat is immersed in an aqueous solution. It uses water, salt and vinegar. Proportions 1×0.5×0.5. Exposure time - 10 minutes.
Attention! Different parts of the carcass are preserved differently. The sections of the neck, back and back have the most long term. It is better not to leave the peritoneum and internal parts for long-term storage.
No. 3 Sauces
The sauce is the most intricate semi-finished product that is always ready to eat. It combines satiety and taste. Since the sauce can be built on the richest set of ingredients, its storage requires certain conditions:
- If it contains pork or beef, it should be well stewed.
- Using tomato paste may lead to Negative consequences, if you add it at the very beginning of cooking.
- Green herbs and spices are added to the sauce at the last stages, when the heat treatment is completed.
Attention! Most universal sauce for storage in the refrigerator - Bolognese. It remains high quality and aromatic for up to six months when deep frozen.
No. 4 Stuffed vegetables
Fast kitchen can not live without stuffed vegetables. They are able to maintain their qualities over long periods and get amazing effects from long-term storage in the cold. The most popular are considered stuffed peppers and tomatoes.
Both types of vegetables contain quite a lot of water, which quickly turns into ice. The minced meat included in the filling cools and hardens gradually. The heterogeneous structure of meat and additional components prevents cells from being destroyed during crystallization. Thanks to this, peppers heated in a frying pan smell like the very fresh product.
One of the varieties of such semi-finished products is lazy cabbage rolls. Wrapped in cabbage or grape leaves, they retain their freshness of taste for up to 6 months. At the same time, they can purchase additional taste properties, depending on the components of the minced meat.
Attention! Lazy cabbage rolls are sent for freezing only in a raw state.
No. 5 Cutlets and minced meat
Minced meat itself tolerates cryogenic procedures well. Since every particle of the ingredients is ground, they are cooled independently. The single mass does not lose its properties from long-term storage. Additions only enrich the taste; many cooks prefer to work only with frozen minced meat.
The recommended procedure for preserving minced meat products is to create cutlets and meat balls. The first type is good for its composition; a portion of bread soaked in milk saturates the dish with the necessary fat. Onions and peppers are not afraid of the cold and can be aromatic even after defrosting.
Minced hedgehogs with rice taste good and keep great in the freezer. Rice absorbs all the moisture, removing negative odors. What makes it possible additional processing culinary product.
No. 6 Semi-finished dough products
The dough, raw and cooked, does not deteriorate due to lower temperatures. Options finished product or a lot of frozen semi-finished product:
- dumplings and dumplings;
- pancakes;
- syrniki.
All components used to prepare these dishes are highly resistant to freezing. They will not lose their taste; after heating they will be as tasty as the day they were created.
No. 7 Frozen vegetable mixtures
Majority juicy vegetables can survive deep freezing without destroying the cellular structure. They will be well kept and will be given away at the first opportunity. taste qualities broth or stew. The list of such preparations includes:
- cubes of beetroot, carrots;
- broccoli;
- peas;
- pepper pods;
- greenery;
- tomatoes;
- potato;
- leek.
You can also prepare mixes from sweet fruits that will withstand freezing well. Among these fruits are:
- cherry;
- apple;
- pear;
- plum;
- quince;
- peaches;
- apricot;
- kiwi;
- grapefruit;
- lemon;
- orange;
- avocado.
No. 8 Fish dishes
Fish fillets continue to retain their properties perfectly completely frozen. This list includes caviar and fillet. Fish can be boiled or raw. For better storage fillet it is necessary:
- Remove head, fins and entrails.
- Divide into halves if the fish is large.
- Wipe all surfaces with a cloth soaked in lemon juice.
One of the storage options involves boiled fish. It needs to be dried well so that all the moisture drains away. The exception is fish jellies, since the broth contains all the necessary substances for preserving meat. The caviar is placed in containers; small portions withstand global cooling better.
No. 9 Cream soups
Puree soups tend to fully retain their properties after storage in the freezer. They are just as tasty after defrosting as they were before the process. Storage duration is up to two months, depending on the composition.
No. 10 Baking
Surprisingly, sweet pastries Can also be stored in the refrigerator. Decomposed by plastic containers, it is perfectly preserved. This is due to the content of sugars, impregnations and confectionery fats in the dough. Among these delicacies are:
- muffins;
- casseroles;
- yeast dough;
- grated pies;
- biscuits.
Quite a lot moist cakes and cookies soaked in alcohol are tolerated long-term freezing without loss of aroma.
Since the requirements of each product are different, it is worth testing your storage method in a small facility before freezing. Having mastered the intricacies of cryogenic processing, you will forever provide yourself with delicious food, regardless of the time spent cooking.
Today, preparing again favorite dish family, I thought about how to cook everything on one day, and on the other days just take it out and in 15 minutes once and dinner is ready! How great it would be to save time and spend it either on your favorite job, or on your beloved family, or on vacation. And then I thought about preparing homemade semi-finished products.
Many housewives cook for future use - such homemade semi-finished products for freezing, which are always like a lifesaver. Then why not make sauces and stir-fries for soups. And I decided to experiment.
Most smart chefs always recommend preparing certain dishes “for later.” So, for example, one legendary Spanish chef always freezes chicken, fish, beef broths, as well as tomato sauces and vegetables - peas, spinach, corn. I'm also currently freezing Bell pepper, dill, parsley, peas, green beans, grated carrots and of course, . How nice it is to get such berries and vegetables in the middle of winter and taste some vitamins from last summer. Mmm, finger licking good! But I’ve never tried to freeze sauces, fried foods and other products, but my time has come to prepare semi-finished products at home.
And so, I set aside one full day for preparation. various dishes, prepared bags and containers. I decided to make homemade cutlets, stuffed peppers, cheesecakes, yeast dough for pies, frying for borscht, tomato sauce, chicken and fish broth, salted salmon. 
Recipes for homemade semi-finished products for freezing can be found on our website, and I will also describe a few of my own delicious recipes.
The first thing I decided to make was minced meat for the cutlets and... I pre-set the rice; I always cook it in a slow cooker. And it’s fast, and doesn’t run away, and doesn’t burn, and is very convenient. I prepare minced pork and beef with onions, grinding electric meat grinder. A minimum of effort and the minced meat is ready. Now let's divide it in half, or as you need. To one part we will add salt, pepper, boiled and cooled rice (important - the rice should be half cooked), mix everything and leave it aside for now. Next, add an egg, a loaf previously soaked in milk or water, salt, pepper and other spices to taste to another part of the minced meat. Now onto the board covered cling film, we begin to fashion flat cakes - that is, cutlets. Cover everything with another foam and put it in the freezer. It is not worth storing for a long time, because the dish was prepared with onions.
Let's return to our minced peppers. I took the peppers from freezer without letting them defrost, we begin to stuff them ready-made minced meat. We put them into bags in portions and put them in the freezer, without fear that they will stick to each other.
In the same way, you can prepare or, as well as, recipes for semi-finished meat products that you will find here on our website.
Why are these home-cooked semi-finished products so good? I came home from a walk, took out the cutlets, put them in a frying pan and fried them. Once dinner is ready in 15!
Since I made stuffed peppers, that means I still need to make tomato sauce for them. I thought maybe I could freeze it too? I cook it like this, fry the onion in a frying pan, add a spoonful of flour, sauté, then tomato paste, salt, pepper and a little water. I stew all this until done. I turn it off, wait for it to cool, then pour it into a container and put it in the freezer. 
In addition to, you can freeze and many others.
While I was preparing homemade semi-finished meat products, I thought, why not also fry for. Everything is very simple, first I saute the onion, add carrots, then tomato paste, salt, pepper, garlic, and sometimes I add sweet pepper. I simmer everything well and let it cool. After cooling, I put everything in a container and put it in the freezer.
Once you’ve done the frying, you need to prepare the broths in advance. But how to store? Then the Internet came to the rescue and this is what I did. Preparation of semi-finished products from poultry doesn't take much time. While the broth is preparing, you can make it with cottage cheese. How to prepare homemade semi-finished products, namely cottage cheese dishes, see. Just after 30-40 minutes the broth can be turned off and allowed to cool. While it’s cooling, I prepare semi-finished products for baking, namely, I made it for pizza. Great option make the dough, freeze and remove from the freezer at the right time. How to make yeast dough? I took the recipe again from our website.
And so, the broth has cooled, pour it into bags or containers, preferably bags, carefully tie the bag so that nothing spills, and carefully place it in the freezer. At first I sent it in a bowl to be on the safe side.
In addition to broths, there are also semi-finished poultry products - for example, stuffed drumsticks, (just don’t let this dish sit in the freezer for a long time), and many others.
In the same way, you can prepare semi-finished fish products: fish broth, salted salmon (which literally took 2 minutes, but a full breakfast is ready!) and so on. 
Having prepared all this food at home, I no longer wonder how to prepare semi-finished products. Yes, I spent a total of half a day, but I’m not just happy with the result, I’m delighted! This method of preparing food significantly reduced my time in the kitchen and simplified the task of what to cook for dinner today or lunch tomorrow. Plus, just think about how much money you will save. Yes, I don’t argue that sometimes it’s easier to go to a cafe or restaurant, but you can even order food at home, why go somewhere, or you can buy ready-made semi-finished products in the store, do you know how semi-finished products are prepared there? No, here I am, I don’t even want to know. After all, those prepared at home will be much tastier and healthier.
While digging on the Internet, I found quite interesting topic, which I copied for you, especially since the author has nothing against it.
Homemade convenience foods: dinners in 15 minutes
I don't like to spend a lot of time preparing food every day, so I'm always looking for simple recipes and cooking methods. The idea of homemade semi-finished products seemed very interesting to me - and, as it turns out, it can really make life easier.
Famous chefs often advise regularly making preparations for future use. For example, the legendary Spaniard Ferran Adria recommends always keeping fish, chicken, beef broths, tomato sauce, Bolognese and pesto sauces, peas, spinach. I use frozen vegetables all the time, but I have never tried storing sauces and broths in the freezer. So, one Saturday, I armed myself with patience, as well as a set of colorful containers and a pack of plastic bags, and decided to spend half a day in the kitchen so that I could then enjoy home-cooked food for as long as possible without any effort. I decided to prepare lazy cabbage rolls, hedgehogs with cheese, stuffed peppers, cutlets, Bolognese sauce, cheesecakes and broths - vegetable and chicken (and at the same time boiled chicken meat).
Cutlets are the first thing that comes to mind when you think about semi-finished products. I've prepared them for future use myself before. simple recipe from ground beef, white loaf, eggs and onions. But at first there were difficulties with freezing. Many people advise placing the cutlets first on cutting board and put them in the freezer together, and when they harden, put them in a bag. But for some reason things weren’t going well for me: either the cutlets froze tightly to the board, even though it was sprinkled with flour, or they didn’t have time to freeze completely and then stuck together in the bag. As a result, I came up with a method that turned out to be very convenient for me: I put the cutlets on a plate covered with cling film or a bag so that there is free space between them, and then cover it with another layer of film on top. Already frozen cutlets are very easy to separate from polyethylene, put into a bag and store in it.
I prepared lazy cabbage rolls according to this recipe, although it was quite possible to make classic ones.
Having fashioned cutlets from the cabbage-meat mixture, I put them in the freezer, also placing them on plates covered with cling film.
For hedgehogs with cheese I took 1/3 boiled rice and 2/3 ground beef, egg and onion. Mixing everything in homogeneous mass, molded it into small round cutlets and, placing a piece of cheese in the middle, pinched the edges well, like a pie, and then gave the cutlet the shape of a ball. I froze the hedgehogs using the same “technology”.
From the remaining minced meat I made a huge pan of bolognese sauce according to Ferran Adria's recipe (though pork and butter I excluded it, but added a little red wine), and then, after cooling, put it in containers and put it in the freezer.
Bolognese sauce (from the book " Family dinner. Cooking at home with Ferran Adria")
(can be stored for 5 days in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer)
Ingredients (for 2.5 kg): butter - 225 g, chopped beef - 1.2 kg, minced pork- 350 g, onion - 500 g, celery - 150 g, carrots - 400 g, olive oil extra virgin - 150 ml, chopped tomatoes in own juice- 1.6 kg, sugar - 2 g, tomato paste- 12 years
Preparation. Place a large saucepan over medium heat. Melt the butter. Add minced beef and fry until it changes color, then add the minced pork. Fry for a few more minutes, then sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for another 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the mince is golden brown. Meanwhile, finely chop the onion, celery and carrots. Place another pan over low heat and pour olive oil into it. Lightly sauté the vegetables until softened, about 12 minutes. Add meat to vegetables and mix everything together well. Add chopped tomatoes and puree. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and sugar. Cook over low heat for one and a half hours.
By the way, you can make it for future use and freeze it. homemade pasta, as, for example, advises Valentino Bontempi. Then your super homemade spaghetti and bolognese sauce can be taken out of the refrigerator at any time and cooked in just 15 minutes.
Chicken Soup (from Gwyneth Paltrow's Daddy's Girl)
Ingredients: 1 chicken carcass, 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, 1 Bay leaf, 2 celery stalks (chopped), 1 large head onions(chopped), 2 carrots (chopped), 3 sprigs thyme, 1 teaspoon coarse salt
Preparation. Place all ingredients in a large soup pot, pour cold water(2.8 L volume) and bring the broth to a boil over high heat. Skim off the foam, then reduce the heat and simmer over low heat for 1.5 hours. Cool the broth, then strain and pour into freezer containers. The broth is stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks, in the freezer for 6 months.
I took some more water, but the broth still turned out quite strong. When it cooled down, I divided it into 4 portions (about 1 liter each) and froze it in plastic bags- not very aesthetically pleasing, but comfortable.
Boiled chicken meat
I removed the chicken meat from the bones and, dividing it into portions and placing it in containers, also froze it. It can be added to salads, soups, vegetable stew or, after lightly frying, mix with a sauce of champignons, garlic and cream.
Vegetable broth (from Gwyneth Paltrow's book "Daddy's Girl")
Ingredients: 1 large onion (chopped), 2 carrots (chopped), 1 stalk of celery (chopped), 1 leek (chopped), 3 cloves of garlic, crushed with the flat side of a knife blade, 4 sprigs of parsley, 4 sprigs of thyme , 2 sprigs of tarragon, 1 bay leaf, 1 teaspoon of coarse salt, 1 teaspoon of black peppercorns, 2.8 liters of cold water.
Preparation. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring the broth to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Let cool and strain into a clean container. This broth can be stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks, in the freezer for 6 months.
The vegetable broth was very flavorful. I froze it in small bags, just like the chicken one.
I made cheesecakes with dor blue, and their taste was not affected by freezing. What can't be said about lazy dumplings, which I often cooked before and once froze as an experiment: they immediately crumbled during cooking.
Results: it took me about 5 hours to do everything, I tried to cook several dishes at the same time. But the end result didn’t just please me—it shocked me. The resulting preparations lasted me and my husband for almost three weeks. All this time we spent a minimum of time on cooking, and, it seems, we saved a lot of money - after all, store-bought semi-finished products are not only much inferior in quality homemade food, but are also more expensive. Of course, the issue of lack of time can be solved in another way: go to a restaurant, order food at home, or, in the end, cook pasta with sausages - this is a personal matter for everyone, but I found it for myself perfect option, and maybe it will be useful for someone else.
Food is the most important expense in every family. And a large part of your well-being depends on how much you spend on this every month.
But the art of spending little, but feeding fully, needs to be learned. At the same time, each of the housewives does not want to spend the whole day in the kitchen cooking, but also to do other, no less important things.
Preparations prepared in advance for at least a month will help to save a lot of time. Let's look at how best to do this.
We prepare semi-finished products
Hand-cooked and frozen semi-finished products will allow you to spend less time cooking and save money for at least a month.
You can buy a piece of meat, cook chops from it, and use the rest for minced meat and make dumplings, make cabbage rolls, cutlets, manti.
Make lazy cabbage rolls or classic stuffed peppers.
Hedgehogs can also be prepared easily. To do this, boil the rice. Combine it with minced meat, egg and onion. Form into balls and place in the freezer.
If there is any minced meat left, prepare Bolognese sauce, which can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, and in the freezer for up to six months.
- Place butter (225 g) in a saucepan (which is set over medium heat).
- Add chopped beef (about 1.2 kg) and fry until the color changes.
- Add minced pork (350 g), salt and pepper and fry for 15 minutes.
- Chop the onion (half a kilo), carrots (about 400 g) and celery (150 g) and fry in another pan until the vegetables are soft. 12 minutes will be enough.
- Then add fried meat and minced meat to them. Then - tomatoes (150 g) and tomato paste (12 g). If not enough, add salt and pepper and stir in sugar (2 g). And cook for about another hour and a half.
By the way, you can cook and freeze the finished pasta. And then it will take only 15 minutes to make a delicious dish.
The savings plans are very profitable option may become a liver. It is inexpensive, and you can make pancakes, navy-style pasta, dumplings or pancakes from it.
Chicken broth and meat preparations
Monthly preparations can also be made from soups. Boil chicken or any other meat by adding plenty of water. The broths should be rich. Divide them into 5-6 parts and put them in the freezer. Add water as needed and use for cooking.
- Boil the chicken (one carcass).
- Add chopped onion (1 head), grated carrots (2 pieces), bay leaf (one), black pepper (1 small spoonful of peas), salt to the broth.
- Cool down ready soup and pour into a container to freeze.
- If you boil more meat, then it can also be used later for preparing salads, second and first courses, casseroles or as fillings for pies.
Meat can be used to prepare meals for a month. Buy pork and four chickens.
- Cut off the wings and shanks of the bird. You'll get eight pieces each. This stock is enough to prepare two lunches and dinners.
- Trim off the white meat. Divide the fillet itself in half. Make the chops. Usually this amount makes 16 pieces. Freeze them.
- Now cut off the rest of the meat and mince it, adding pork. Divide into four parts: three large and one small.
- For larger ones, add rice and vegetables. You can make meatballs and cabbage rolls from them. Freeze.
- On the third big piece add crushed bread and also grated potatoes. Make cutlets and place in the freezer.
- Boil the remaining chicken bones. Use the remaining pieces of meat to prepare navy-style pasta. Pour the broth into containers (take regular glasses, usually there are 6-7 of them). Place in the freezer and then use to make soups.
Homemade semi-finished products are perfectly stored for a month and, if necessary, they can be quickly prepared. And they taste better, they are prepared according to your preferences, you know what they are made from, they do not contain harmful impurities. And the cost savings are considerable.
Getting ready for winter
The proverb about the cart in winter is very relevant for thrifty housewives. It is in the summer that you can prepare economical preparations.
Vegetables and fruits can simply be placed in the freezer and then used for cooking.
Dill, green onions and parsley can be finely chopped, packaged in bags and frozen.
Preparing for the winter is another way to save on food. You can roll up salads, jams, compotes for future use. Then you can simply open a jar of borscht or solyanka and prepare a full-fledged first course.
As you can see, it is very easy to make economical preparations for a month (or even more). Thus, you will not only be able to make your life easier by saving money, but also quickly prepare delicious dishes for the whole family.
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