Planning, planning and then planning some more. I try to plan, on the weekend, a loose dinner plan for the week based on what I have in the freezer (I have a med sized deep freezer). I only plan for about 4 dinners per week. The rest of the time we will eat leftovers. Wednesday night we usually eat at church prior to Faith Formation so that night is always taken care of. On the weekends I will sometimes do some bulk cooking. Last week I made 3 lbs of sloppy joes. I put 1/2 of it in the freezer for later and DS15 ate most of the rest over the course of a couple of days. I also made a huge pot of White Turkey Chili (kind of spicy which DH & DS are not so fond of) and put individual servings in the freezer for work lunches. I also try to cook up/stirfry older veggies at least once a week. I add in the going bad spinach, zucchini and peppers if we have any. I have a real fondness for stirfried cabbage which is awesome in a wrap for lunch.
Annie, thanks for the link. I hadn't thought to freeze chopped onions & veggies. I've been putting them in the fridge and forgetting about them.
It never occurred to me to freeze coffee but I may not do that because it will tempt me to make chocolate cake or brownie. But I think I'll try the veggie ends and chicken innerds. Those would be easy to throw in the crockpot to make stock.