One of my favorite meal planning tricks is to cook in bulk and freeze.  While it may seem stressful to allocate time, I find it easier to invest up-front time because the future benefits are priceless. 

This past weekend I prepared three soups, Sweet Potato & Red Lentil Bisque, Beet and Apple Soup, and Acorn Squash Soup with Tumeric. I tripled both the Beet and Sweet Potato Soup and singled the Acorn Squash because it was the first time I made it.

I chose to prepare all of these simultaneously because of the combination of ingredients and how they crossed over to each recipe.  There were onions in all three recipes, and carrots, apples, veggie/chicken stock, and coconut milk in two of the recipes. The prep consumed most of the time as all the recipes needed little attention once they were in the pot.

You can prep all the ingredients the day before to make it easier if you don’t have a chunk of time to invest.  The benefit of bulk cooking is that at the end of the day, I had 18 containers of a variety of soup, each having portions of 2-4 servings.  A HUGE WIN!

Frozen soup is excellent for lunch, an addition to any email, or as a complete meal depending on the ingredients. 

Do you have kids and often wonder what the ***** are we have for dinner?  Are you trying to limit trips to the grocery due to COVID-19?  Whatever your reason, this is a helpful strategy to make dinner time a little bit easier, reduce stress, and give you a chance to breathe at 5:00.

A helpful hint when doubling recipes, you may need to add more coconut milk or stock if the soup is pureed and thick. Adjust to your desired consistency.