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This past weekend, I cranked up the BBQ grill (charcoal, of course) and grilled up chicken breasts, tuna steaks, beef round steaks, some bratwurst, boudin, and hot dogs for the kids. Basically, in about 2 hours, I cooked enough food for the main courses or base of about 10 adult servings, with about 4-6 servings left over for lunches, etc. I also threw some corn on the cob and eggplant slices on the grill as well. While I didn’t cook 10 entire meals on the grill (although if you read The Barbecue Bible by Steve Raichlen, it is possible to do) I did save a lot of time for my wife during the week, as all she had to do was reheat or do a quick prep with the cooked meat, and whip up some veggies; as well as saved money since: 1.) We planned our menu for almost the entire week-so no take-out, etc., and 2.) the chicken and tuna were both purchased on sale, the others relatively cheap anyway.
Here was the main dishes of our planned menu:
Sunday- Tuna steaks
Monday- Bratwurst
Tuesday- Chicken
Wednesday- Beef fajitas
Thursday- Grilled chicken salad
There were leftovers from the fajitas, as well as bratwurst that I ate during the week for lunch as well. Now of course, some of these items are not the healthiest, such as sausage, but I believe moderation is the key to everything, so indulging myself from time to time is not a big deal. (Plus, I really like sausage.) You can make this healthier by sticking to chicken and fish, grilling more veggies, etc. But for a change of pace and to keep your meal preparation time lower during the week, cooking outside on the weekends is a pretty good way to go if you ask me.
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I do this all the time, there was an article about in my local paper last summer, it described how you could even use this as an excuse to take the kids to park and have some family time outdoors. Take all your meat and charcoal to one of those big parks that has grills scattered around. Spend the afternoon grilling and enjoying the outdoors with your whole family. You eat that day AND the rest of the week. I am a divorced empty nester, so I just do this for myself, but I love having grilled chicken for chicken salad sandwiches and burgers already cooked when I get home from work hot, tired and hungry. Definitely saves me money and time!
Sarah- You’re right about about getting the kids outside too, although we usually just do it in the backyard, but going to a park is a great idea too! My wife and i really like doing the grilled chicken salad thing too.