One Month of Make-Ahead Meals

With our genius make-ahead meals plan, a single day in the kitchen cooking meats, veggies, rice and sauce will score you the building blocks for almost a month's worth of easy dinner recipes. Get all the recipes below, then pick any or all of the ones you like to create a customizable grocery list.

By Teri Tsang Barrett | Photography by Marcus Nilsson

THE BIG DAY

These simple guidelines map out the best way to cook up your five building-block recipes on Saturday or Sunday -- so you can get out of the kitchen faster than ever during the weeks ahead.
-- Get plenty of resealable sandwich-size and freezer storage bags when you buy your ingredients.
-- Get family and friends into the kitchen to help. Grown-ups and big kids can chop and little kids can help organize ingredients. Have everyone clean as they go!
-- Make the building-block recipes in the following order.

NOW WE'RE COOKIN'!

PORK: Preheat the oven and get the meat going.
TOMATO SAUCE: While the pork is in the oven, start the sauce so it can simmer at the same time.
VEGGIES: Next up, vegetable prep. Arrange the cut veggies on the baking sheets and, as soon as the pork is out of the oven, increase the oven temperature and pop them in.
CHICKEN: Have all the ingredients ready. If you need the baking sheets the vegetables are on, scrape the veggies onto a platter or cutting board to cool. Simply line the sheets with parchment and get roasting.
RICE: While the bird cooks, make the pilaf.

After you make your building-block recipes, you're all set to put together these superfast weeknight meals. You can cook any or all of them, in any order that pleases you, but if you follow the sequence below you'll get the most variety possible.

20 WEEKNIGHT DINNERS AT A GLANCE: