Busy holidays made easier by prepping treats, dinners in advance

Weekly meal prep is a popular habit for those who want to get a head start on work-night meals.

I have friends who make soups and sauces, chop veggiesand plan ahead on the weekend to avoid the dinnertime scramble. The same can be done in the weeks leading up to the holidays.

If you have some extra time, the oven is on or you're in the kitchen anyway, you can mix up batches of pastry or cookie dough, simmer your cranberry sauce or toast a batch of spiced nuts to pack away.

Save them for those rushed weeks later in December when you know you'll have extra people in the houseor when you'llbenefit from a stash of gift-able treats to grab on your way to a party.

So how do you know what freezes well?

Things that contain some moisture, such as soups, stews, sauces and preserves, freeze very well.

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Doughs, such as cookie dough, pastry dough and scone dough, also do well.

Although the baked goods themselves freeze just fine, they're more susceptible to freezer burn. The dough itself can generally be baked from frozen.

A batch of scones, for example, baked fresh from frozen dough will have a better texture than baked ones that have been frozen and you'll want to rewarm them in the oven anyway.

Here are a few things to make ahead and tuck away to alleviate some of the work when the holidays get busy.

Braised beef and onions

Last weekend, as I braised a beef roast to pull apart and serve with buns during the Grey Cup game, it occurred to me I could stick two roasts in a larger pot. Here's a recipe for braised beef and onions.

Ingredients:

Canola or olive oil, for cooking

2-4 lb beef blade roast

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced

2-3 cups beef or chicken stock or beer

cup barbecue sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp grainy mustard

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 149 C (300 F).

Set an ovenproof pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add a drizzle of oil and brown the roast on all sides.

Add the onions to the pan and cook for a few minutes, until starting to brown.

Add the stock, barbecue sauce, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar and mustard.

Cover and cook for three to fivehours, or until the meat is very tender.

Using two forks, pull the meat apart in the sauce and serve on soft buns.

Homemade raincoast crisps

These are infinitely adaptable. Add any kind of chopped dried fruit (try figs, cranberries or apricots), nuts and seeds you have on handor recreate another flavour combination you like. I came up with them for my second cookbook, Grazing: Portable Snacks and Finger Foods for Anytime, Anywhere, published in 2005.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

tsp salt

1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

2 cups buttermilk

cup brown sugar

cup honey

1 cup raisins

cup chopped pecans

cup roasted pumpkin seeds, optional

cup sesame seeds

cup ground flaxseed

Preparation

Preheat oven to 177 C (350 F).

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt.

Stir the rosemary into the buttermilk and add it along with the brown sugar and honey.

Stir a few strokes, then add the raisins, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, flaxseed and rosemary. Stir just until blended.

Pour the batter into two eight-by-four inch loaf pans that have been sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden and springy to the touch.

Remove from the pans and cool on a wire rack. The cooler the bread, the easier it is to slice really thin. You can leave it until the next day or pop it in the freezer.

When you're ready to bake them again, preheat the oven to 149 C (300 F). Slice the loaves as thin as you can and place the slices in a single layer on an ungreased cookie sheet.

I like to slice and bake one loaf and pop the other in the freezer for another day.

Bake them for about 15 minutes, then flip them over and bake for another 10 minutes, until crisp and deep golden. Try not to eat them all at once.

Serving:Makes about eight dozen crackers.

Turtle-stuffed shortbread

Shortbread dough freezes beautifullyand can be easily sliced with less moisture and more butter. It doesn'tfreeze as firm as other doughs. Otherwise,thaw it until it's pliable enough to wrap around Turtles and bake.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, at room temperature

cup icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tbsp cornstarch

tsp salt

1 box Turtles (a dozen or two. You'll need extras.)

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 177 C (350 F).

In a medium bowl, beat the butter with the icing sugar and vanilla. Add the flour, cornstarch and salt, beating on low or stirring by hand just until the dough comes together.

Wrap pieces of dough around Turtles to completely contain them.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until very pale golden.

Serving:Makes one to 1dozen cookies.

Hear more from Julie Van Rosendaal about how she squirrels food away for theholidays:

• MORE RECIPES|Recipes reimagine porridge, hearty breakfast of childhood
• MORE RECIPES |Try these classic '80s recipes with truly timeless tastes
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With files from theCalgary Eyeopener.