AKA There’s More Than One Way to Freeze a Meal!
I’ve taken up a secret task that makes life easier. What is this secret? It’s a blending of meal prep in the form making freezer meals via once a month cooking, batch, and dump cooking according to the busyness of life. If you are thinking this task of preparation and execution is too arduous for you, let me encourage you as to the big pay off. Peace and nutrition! Best of all it can be modified for where you are right now in terms of time, money, and help!
The first option is known as once a month cooking. I’m sure you’ve heard about this method before. It is where a person, or people, come together to make a whole month’s worth of freezer meals in one day. I have done this method before and I think it’s wonderful if you have a friend or a helper. The most streamlined way to execute this method is to break the task into two smaller days. One day to buy the food and then share preparation of chopping veggies, browning the meat, deboneing cooked chickens. The next day you and your friend or helper come together under one roof and assemble the meals. This 2-day method helped us with scheduling and stamina!
Another popular way to pack your freezer is what they call batch cooking. It’s simple. Making one lasagna? Why not make two and then just freeze the second one? Making a pot of chili? Why not double it and freeze the additional portion for another meal? Using this method, you will build your freezer arsenal gradually over time. This is an especially good method to employ if you don’t have a friend or helper to do a full scale once a month cooking session.
One final way I have used to build up my meal stock is called “dump cooking”. These are for recipes that don’t have to be layered and can be dumped into a roasting pan or crock pot. Most of these are simple meat/veggies meals with some sort of sauce. The easiest way to do this is to have your sauces prepared and your veggies cut up. For example, if you have purchased a large amount of chicken, simply divide the chicken into freezer bags, add the necessary veggies, pour in the desired sauce, squeeze out the air and seal. This is also a perfect way to have meals at your finger tips for those crazy days when you need something to grab and stick in the Crock-Pot and go.
Just remember that whatever method you choose, label the meal before you place it in the freezer. Failure to do so will result in “name that lump”.
Where do you find these recipes? That’s easy! Just about every imaginable recipe from casseroles to marinated meats, vegetable dishes, and even desserts can be located on the internet. If you have a picky family and don’t want to be locked into a set menu, just pick and choose your favorites.
Utilizing some form of freezer cooking will save you extra trips to the supermarket, keep you out of the fast food lane, and give you confidence knowing that you already have a good home-cooked meal within reach.
