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Oh How I Love Freeze-Ahead Meals
August 2016
Have you ever wished you could fill your freezer with meals that are already prepared and ready to heat and eat? Oh, yeah, they're in every supermarket freezer cabinet, but you’re not convinced they’re that healthy or they don’t come in the foods your family likes and they are very expensive.
You could make your own freeze-ahead meals and sauces. It will take some time but it can be so comforting knowing you have those meals for those evenings you simply don’t want to cook.
Preparing freeze-ahead meals will take time - there's no getting around it. You will want to plan which meals to prepare, make a shopping list, go purchase the food and then do the actual cooking. This is fine if you want to do a huge, bulk meal prep and finish with a month (or two) of dinners in the freezer.
Or you could do as I do and simply cook four times the quantity i.e. this week I had sweet'n'sour chicken on the meal plan. On Monday night when I was preparing our dinner, I simply made four quantities of the recipe. It didn't take any longer, OK about 10 minutes all up, but there are now three full meals in the freezer. They just need to be thawed and heated next time sweet'n'sour is on the menu, and I can do that while the rice is cooking (I don't find freezing cooked rice a time saving so I rarely freeze cooked rice).
Tonight I made a quadruple batch of Haystack mixture and froze three meals for the future. Again, it only takes a few minutes in prep time and saves me around half an hour the next three times we have Haystacks.
I do this with just about everything we eat. Pasta sauces, taco and burrito fillings, meat loaf, rissoles, meatballs, casseroles, soup, stews, pies, sausage rolls, quiche - pretty much everything on our meal plan. It doesn't take long to fill the freezer with ready to go meals when you cook like this.
One of the easiest types of meals to do as a freeze-ahead meal is a casserole. You can put the ingredients together in an ziplock bag and pop it into the freezer. When the time comes to eat it, it will be so easy you’ll be glad you spent the time making it. Just thaw, put in a casserole dish and bake.
Lasagne is one of the most popular meals for families to make ahead and freeze. You will need noodles, spaghetti sauce (homemade or store bought), cheese and meat. Prepare the lasagne as if you’re going to eat it right away except you won’t bake it now. When you have added the last cheese layer, place a cover on the pan. Let it cool in the refrigerator or place the casserole pan in a sink of ice water prior to freezing to ensure it freezes uniformly.
You can also make your favourite soups to freeze for later use. Chili is welcome in the colder months but you might not always have to time prepare it. Make a big pot of chili, break it down into normal amounts needed for your family, and place the containers in the freezer. When chili is on the menu you can bake some cornbread while the chilli is heating for a complete meal.
But I have a secret, a secret that brings down the cost of the meals I cook in bulk, making them more affordable, without compromising on taste or quality. The secret is simple: I cut down on the main ingredient and add more vegetables, grain or sauce (I agree with Manu, you can never have too much sauce!).
For example when I make pasta sauce I use 1.5kgs of mince) and 6 tins of tomato soup (or the MOO equivalent). I also add grated onion, zucchini and carrot. This recipe makes four meals of six servings for around $12, or $3 per meal or 50 cents per serve.
When I make taco or burrito filling, I use 1.5kg of mince, four tins of baked beans and two tins of diced tomatoes. Mixed with three tablespoons of MOO taco seasoning this gives enough filling for six meals for my family of five for around $13.50, or $2.25 per meal or 45 cents per serve (for the filling - you'll need to add the cost of the tortillas and salad).
I do much the same with casseroles, adding more carrot, parsnip, potato, sweet potato and onion. A beef casserole costs around $17 to make, or $4.25 per meal or 70 cents per serve. I usually serve casserole meals over steamed rice or with mashed potato.
My aim with our meals is to keep the meat component under $5 per meal. Cooking ahead and stretching helps to do this.
The main benefit of freeze-ahead meals is they are so helpful when you’re rushed for time. The effort of cooking four times the recipe at once may seem excessive but the few extra minutes it takes is definitely well worth it.
If you make ahead just two meals a week that gives you six nights free from cooking over the next month - so handy when life gets super busy.
You could make your own freeze-ahead meals and sauces. It will take some time but it can be so comforting knowing you have those meals for those evenings you simply don’t want to cook.
Preparing freeze-ahead meals will take time - there's no getting around it. You will want to plan which meals to prepare, make a shopping list, go purchase the food and then do the actual cooking. This is fine if you want to do a huge, bulk meal prep and finish with a month (or two) of dinners in the freezer.
Or you could do as I do and simply cook four times the quantity i.e. this week I had sweet'n'sour chicken on the meal plan. On Monday night when I was preparing our dinner, I simply made four quantities of the recipe. It didn't take any longer, OK about 10 minutes all up, but there are now three full meals in the freezer. They just need to be thawed and heated next time sweet'n'sour is on the menu, and I can do that while the rice is cooking (I don't find freezing cooked rice a time saving so I rarely freeze cooked rice).
Tonight I made a quadruple batch of Haystack mixture and froze three meals for the future. Again, it only takes a few minutes in prep time and saves me around half an hour the next three times we have Haystacks.
I do this with just about everything we eat. Pasta sauces, taco and burrito fillings, meat loaf, rissoles, meatballs, casseroles, soup, stews, pies, sausage rolls, quiche - pretty much everything on our meal plan. It doesn't take long to fill the freezer with ready to go meals when you cook like this.
One of the easiest types of meals to do as a freeze-ahead meal is a casserole. You can put the ingredients together in an ziplock bag and pop it into the freezer. When the time comes to eat it, it will be so easy you’ll be glad you spent the time making it. Just thaw, put in a casserole dish and bake.
Lasagne is one of the most popular meals for families to make ahead and freeze. You will need noodles, spaghetti sauce (homemade or store bought), cheese and meat. Prepare the lasagne as if you’re going to eat it right away except you won’t bake it now. When you have added the last cheese layer, place a cover on the pan. Let it cool in the refrigerator or place the casserole pan in a sink of ice water prior to freezing to ensure it freezes uniformly.
You can also make your favourite soups to freeze for later use. Chili is welcome in the colder months but you might not always have to time prepare it. Make a big pot of chili, break it down into normal amounts needed for your family, and place the containers in the freezer. When chili is on the menu you can bake some cornbread while the chilli is heating for a complete meal.
But I have a secret, a secret that brings down the cost of the meals I cook in bulk, making them more affordable, without compromising on taste or quality. The secret is simple: I cut down on the main ingredient and add more vegetables, grain or sauce (I agree with Manu, you can never have too much sauce!).
For example when I make pasta sauce I use 1.5kgs of mince) and 6 tins of tomato soup (or the MOO equivalent). I also add grated onion, zucchini and carrot. This recipe makes four meals of six servings for around $12, or $3 per meal or 50 cents per serve.
When I make taco or burrito filling, I use 1.5kg of mince, four tins of baked beans and two tins of diced tomatoes. Mixed with three tablespoons of MOO taco seasoning this gives enough filling for six meals for my family of five for around $13.50, or $2.25 per meal or 45 cents per serve (for the filling - you'll need to add the cost of the tortillas and salad).
I do much the same with casseroles, adding more carrot, parsnip, potato, sweet potato and onion. A beef casserole costs around $17 to make, or $4.25 per meal or 70 cents per serve. I usually serve casserole meals over steamed rice or with mashed potato.
My aim with our meals is to keep the meat component under $5 per meal. Cooking ahead and stretching helps to do this.
The main benefit of freeze-ahead meals is they are so helpful when you’re rushed for time. The effort of cooking four times the recipe at once may seem excessive but the few extra minutes it takes is definitely well worth it.
If you make ahead just two meals a week that gives you six nights free from cooking over the next month - so handy when life gets super busy.