My dinner last night was a perfect example of how prepping ahead can make it possible to make a meal that looks/tastes like you spent hours on it, but really was super simple. I found the recipe for the picture above, Chicken, Mushroom, and Orzo Soup, in Rachael Ray's magazine (Everyday with Rachael Ray). The recipe called for boxed chicken stock and boneless, skinless chicken breast that you'd cook in the pan before adding the rest of the ingredients.
Lucky for me, though, I made and tons of chicken and stock. I freeze the stock in Ziploc containers and shred the chicken and freeze it in packs of foil/plastic bags (usually I put between half a cup and one cup of shredded chicken per pack). That way, I always have those on hand to defrost for soups, salads, wraps, casseroles, you name it. In the long run, this is a LOT cheaper and less wasteful than buying box after box of stock and tons of packs of chicken. And with a few hours on a weekend, you save so so much time later on when you're swamped during the week.
The recipe also called for cooked orzo, sliced mushrooms, and chopped celery. I prepped all of that while home in between classes making lunch. I also thawed the stock and chicken. Then, when I came home from class at 5 p.m. (starving!), all I had to do was sautee the celery and mushrooms in a little olive oil, add the chicken, a drained/rinsed can of white beans, and the stock, and let that heat up. The recipe didn't call for this, but I added a parmesan rind that I had hanging out in the fridge (you can't just eat the rind, but it adds a ton of flavor when you let it simmer in a soup for a bit). It probably only took 15 minutes to put together.
One of these days I'll post my mom's stock recipe (the only one I use).
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