I love cooking, but I find that even simple meals can take up a lot of my time, when you consider the cleanup involved. However, I love having home-cooked meals ready and waiting for me when I get done with a busy day. Cooking at home saves money, and is much healthier than eating out. You can save even more money and time by preparing freezer meals ahead of time. I use gallon freezer bags to package the meals, which I will write the name of the recipe and any instructions needed to cooki it. Most of the freezer meals I make can be thawed in the refrigerator a day ahead, then dumped in the slow cooker to cook all day while I am busy with my day. At the end of the day, I have a delicious, healthy, hot meal prepared, and it took almost no time at all! I set aside one day per month to prepare as many freezer meals as my grocery budget allows, usually 10-12. You could do freezer meals for the week or freezer meals for the entire month. I will do a quick inventory of ingredients that I have in my pantry, refrigerator, and freezer ahead of time, and then I will purchase ingredients to supplement what I already have. Spending one day to chop up all of the produce and bag the ingredients saves time and cleanup later! Here are my family's favorite freezer meals, the ones we prepare the most often:Creamy Chicken ItalianoItalian sausage spaghetti sauceChicken Pot PieHamburger vegetable soupChicken noodle soupSalsa chicken (for tacos and nachos)Chicken marinaraBBQ Pork or chickenHawaiian Pork ChopsChili (Can be made meatless to save even more money)Most of the above recipes I have found online, on Pinterest, or in slow cooker cook books. Do you use freezer meals to save time and money? What are your favorite freezer meal recipes?
Sounds like good ideas there Prose. My roomate does a lot of the freezer meals. He only shops and cooks once a month typcially and will package his food items and freeze them so if he wants a meal all he has to do is unfreeze it. He does sometimes make rice and vegetables to go along with it though.
I'd definitely do this more often if I had a larger freezer I could store more meals in. I've only got a little one though so I have to use the space in there for things I really need first of all and then add in meals around it. I do have quite a bit of soups and sauces in there though so I can just make some pasta and pour that over the top.
Having always prepared all my meals from scratch - this - although I don''t generally do it all on one day - but instead - always make more than one meal every time I cook - is something I've been doing for as long as I can remember As apart from being less time consuming and way more economical all round - especially as it ensures that nothing ever goes to waste and is healthier too - as all the ingredients are fresh and frozen at their prime - it has a whole host of other benefits - for example - with a plentiful supply of ready made meals available that are both quick and easy to prepare straight from the freezer - you never have to spend extra money on eating out or ordering a take out - on those days when you don't have time to cook or when unexpected visitors arrive. Helps to keep meals interesting too - as not only can you switch them around from day to day without having to spend much time in the kitchen - but they're also a great aid when needing something for lunch at short notice - particularly as the majority of previously frozen meals - can easily be transformed - with the addition of a few easily prepared extra ingredients - into deliciously tasty lunchtime meals or snacks - that can be eaten either at home or at work.
I've considered trying this out, but haven't gotten around to it yet. One thing I like about this vs. just simply pre-cooking a bunch of meals and freezing them, is that your meals would taste fresher since you're cooking them each day. Not all cooked meals hold up well once frozen. For example, I tried making a bunch of breakfast burritos and freezing them, only to find out after reheating some of them that they lost all their flavor and were incredibly bland. The other nice thing about this method is it helps you portion out your ingredients, so you know how much of what you need in advance and don't waste certain ingredients due to them going bad before you get around to making a given meal.
I cook in advance and freeze the meals for later also. I cook for a week at a time if I know I am going to be real business. It does save time and money when you plan in advance what you will cook and it already mixed together.
I do this too but only in smaller amounts. I eat out a lot so I don't rely on home cooking as much so I don't make that many freezer meals but I do store some from time to time when I feel like i am going through a phase where it could be helpful. If I feel like I'm going to be very busy and still want to eat relatively healthier and stay away from restaurant food for a while I'll prepare frozen soups in portions and also some wrapped vegetable burritos.
This is not to demean your lifestyle regarding food. We also used to have freezer food and we actually go to the market once a week and put everything in the freezer. But when we moved here in 2001, there is a nearby market that we can go to every day. So it is now our policy to cook fresh food that is not frozen. There are times that our housemaid would go to the market everyday of the week just to buy fresh produce from the market.
