Weekday evenings are often so busy with work, picking up kids, etc. that you don’t have the energy or energy to make dinner from scratch. You end up relying on eating out and side dishes, which leads to increased food costs, unbalanced nutrition, and self-loathing…The solution to such problems is to make pre-made meals in bulk on the weekend. This time, I’d like to introduce some ideas that can be easily made even by beginners, and can be made for a week to enrich your daily meals.

The trick to making ahead of time without having to worry about it is to make a combination of not only “finished products” but also “half-cooked products.” If you cook everything completely, you may get tired of it halfway through, or it may lose its flavor when you reheat it.

First, make 3 to 4 standard side dishes that are convenient for lunch boxes. For example, simmered carrots'', simmered hijiki’’, salt-boiled broccoli'', and marinated mushrooms’’ that last a long time. These last for 4 to 5 days in the refrigerator and are colorful, so they make a great addition to your menu just by adding them next to the main side dish.

Next, prepare the “half-cooked main side dish.” We recommend freezing the seasoning. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, put them in a zippered storage bag, rub them with soy sauce, sake, ginger'', salt koji’’, ``tandoori chicken base’’, etc., and put them in the freezer. On weeknights, just defrost and fry in a frying pan for a piping hot main dish. The great thing about it is that the flavor is well absorbed, so it tastes better than making it normally.

It’s also a good idea to make ``homemade cut vegetables’’ by thinly chopping onions, carrots, green peppers, etc. and freezing them. You can use it as is for miso soup ingredients, stir-fried vegetables, yakisoba, etc., saving you the trouble of taking out a cutting board and knife.

If you put in just two hours on the weekend to prepare something in advance, your mind and time will be dramatically different on weekdays. Please have fun trying to make your own while playing your favorite background music.