Mealprep: 40 recipes to stock your freezer and free your mind!

One of the best ways to eat healthy is to eat at home more. But for any busy person, this becomes a real challenge when it's 4:30 and you have no idea what to make for dinner. Prepping some ingredients and/or dishes ahead of time to stash in the freezer can save the day. Not only does it save you cooking time, it also saves you brain effort at the very time of day your brain is most overtaxed!

Sure, these mean a little more work on the weekend -- but you can do it at a leisurely pace, when you're rested and not rushed. Which I've found makes cooking so much more enjoyable! 

A week of dinners in the freezer, from The Kitchn. Recipes for: Baked Manicotti - Freezer Taco Kits - Twice-Baked Potatoes - Chile & Sausage Oven Frittata - Cranberry Pork Chops - Chicken and Wild Rice Bake. (Also includes side dishes, not listed here.) You can also find this same list of recipes with additional notes on how to turn prep day into a Freezer Meals Party.

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Here are tips for stocking your freezer with precooked and seasoned meats, which gives you more versatility than already-assembled dishes. Includes instructions (but not exact recipes) for twice-baked potatoes, two different ground beef mixes, a teriyaki marinade that you can use on any meat, poultry or seafood (lots of sugar in it, though), and shredded chicken plus broth. Also has a few nifty tricks for neater packaging.

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Here's Pioneer Woman's freezer cooking post. Not a lot of healthy stuff on the list, but I do love her tip for grilling whole chicken breasts and freezing them to have on hand for dozens of uses. I count about 11 main-dish recipes on her list, skipping the carb-laden ones.

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I also like this method for an easy way to cook boneless, skinless chicken breasts, from Small Home Big Start. 

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Eight healthy freezer crockpot meals in 75 minutes, from New Leaf Wellness. Well, really four different meals, double batch of each. Beef Roast and Carrots - Chicken Fajitas - Mexican Chicken Soup - Garden Veggie Soup with Ground Beef.

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10 meals in 1 hour - super organized and detailed; even includes shopping list! Really just five recipes; double batch of each. Honey Lemon Garlic Chicken -  London Broil - Quick Taco Soup - Orange Glazed Pork Chops - Creamy Italian Chicken

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10 meals in 1 hour, take 2; the no-bake version; includes five warm weather recipes that are cooked either on the grill or in the crockpot—no oven required!

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A planned/non-planned approach. No recipes here, but some pointers for stocking your freezer with ready-to-go meat and cheese portions, then how to plan meals the weekend or night before, taking into account your schedule, the weather, and what's in your fridge that needs to be used up.

And here are a few ingredients to have pre-cooked and ready in the freezer:

• Carmelized onions
• Roasted garlic
• Perfect brown rice, in the oven

And a few things to know about food safety and quality:

• Learn about safe food storage
• How to avoid freezer burn
• Tips on organizing your freezer

Eggs on avocado toast - easy, clean-eating breakfast or lunch!

The moment I saw the photo on Pinterest of Simple Poached Egg and Avocado Toast at Pinch of Yum, I was hungry for this combo! But I thought it would be even better with a sprinkling of crispy bacon on top. Especially since I had some already-cooked bacon in the fridge. (Because of this: the best and easiest way to cook bacon.)

Better with bacon? Yep: I was right! The contrast of crispy whole-wheat toast, creamy mashed avocado, warm/runny egg yolk and crunchy bacon = heaven!

Poached eggs are a little challenging; her method makes them a bit simpler, but you could also just fry your eggs. My avocado was a bit too firm, so I added a bit of mayo to it. And then a dash of garlic salt, just cuz. Sprinkled on some fresh ground black pepper and a wee bit of thyme -- totally optional, but pretty!

Now I wish I were going to be home for lunch tomorrow, because I am already hungry for it again!

Diet-friendly? Almost paleo (full-on paleo if you skip the bread); gluten free if you use gluten free bread for the toast; clean eating if the bacon passes muster; South Beach / low carb for maintenance level.

12 Easy Glaze Recipes for Roasted Chicken

One of the easiest meals possible is to get a plain store-roasted chicken, then add your own simple sauces or glazes. Of course, you can start with a chicken you've roasted yourself, too.

Why not just buy a pre-glazed one? Making your own glaze ensures that there's no corn syrup - high-fructose or otherwise - in the glaze, or other unwanted ingredients, be they soy, gluten, white sugar, high sodium, or MSG.

Most of these have a high level of sugar, usually in the form of honey or maple syrup. So to keep them from burning, you'll want to add the glaze right before serving or give it just a few minutes in the oven. If you're on a sugar-restricted diet, you can cut back the sugar part of the equation.

One suggestion: since a lot of these are sticky, you may want to cut the chicken up into serving pieces before glazing. But that's optional.

Here are a few simple recipes that you can whip up quickly and easily -- or make the night before and have ready to go right when you get home! Many of them have just three ingredients.

Chutney-glazed chicken -- Chutney, lime juice, and curry powder.

Maple black pepper glaze -- Maple syrup, butter, and black pepper. Pretty simple!

Honey-spiced glaze -- Honey, olive oil, cinnamon, and paprika. Rated 5 stars.

photo by Taste of Home

A fruit-and-wine glaze from Taste of Home -- White wine or chicken broth, apricot preserves or quince jelly, and a bit of mustard. Rated 4 stars.

Orange-rosemary glazed chicken -- Orange marmalade, rosemary, and your choice of vinegar.

Honey-lemon-soy glaze -- The ingredients are -- surprise! -- honey, lemon juice, and soy.

photo by Eating Well

Pomegranate glaze -- Uses pomegranate molasses (with instructions to make your own, if you wish), honey and black pepper.

Barbeque, honey and soy -- Another easy, 4-star recipe, from Taste of Home.

Red-hot honey glaze -- A buffalo chicken style sauce from Bobby Flay. Includes a recipe for a blue cheese dipping sauce.

photo by The Sriracha Cookbook website

Honey sriracha lime glaze -- Although this recipe is for wings, you can use on any chicken pieces. Experiment to find the right level of heat/sriracha for you. Also, I think the added salt is unnecessary.

Korean barbecue sauce -- This is one you might want to make ahead; it has several ingredients, and benefits from some time simmering. I've made this; if you cook it low and slow long enough, you can skip the corn syrup and water part. But don't cook it too high; it burns easily. (Voice of experience!)

Honey-mustard glaze -- You could skip the curry if you don't like curry or don't have any.