Making frozen meals for convenience, health, and to save a few dollars

[One]

I was talking about the new year with my spouse and how we could refine our budget while improving quality of life. I mentioned making our own frozen meals for convenience. A couple of days later I saw these on the counter. It's so much easier to live a frugal, healthy lifestyle when the spouse is on board and is adaptable with a willingness to change. We're going to make a big batch of regular chili and also chunky chicken chipotle chili next.

[pecunia]

Those looked good, healthy and another advantage for some of us would be portion control.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Those look fabulous. And yes, big bonus points for a spouse that listens & adapts, as well as takes the initiative. Awesome!

[MarciaB]

Well done!

One of the things I like to put together is crock pot kits, where I assemble all the ingredients for a crockpot meal, put it into a ziplock bag and freeze. Then when I want to cook that all I have to do is dump out the bag, turn on the crockpot (slow cooker) and go. Easy peasy.

[One]

Well done!

One of the things I like to put together is crock pot kits, where I assemble all the ingredients for a crockpot meal, put it into a ziplock bag and freeze. Then when I want to cook that all I have to do is dump out the bag, turn on the crockpot (slow cooker) and go. Easy peasy.

Thanks for the tip, we use the crock pot regularly but haven't tried that. Sounds like a good idea.

[Sugaree]

We do a lot of freezer meals, including smaller meals specifically for lunch at work.  I do crockpot kits too.  One of the more indulgent things I do is put the food inside a crockpot liner bag and then seal it inside a ziplock.  Put the whole thing, bag included, in the crockpot and turn it on.  Easy dinner.  Easy cleanup.  I do reuse the outer zip lock as much as possible.  I also make large batches of rice in the crockpot on the weekends and freeze it for busy weeknights when I might not have 45 minutes for brown rice to cook.  I'm on the lookout for good reusable containers.  I'm stuck between the convenience of plastic bags and aluminum pans and feeling like that is wasteful.

[Linea_Norway]

We often make too much food for dinner, which then becomes a frozen meal. Sometimes it is just the meat and veggies that are leftover, some other time only the sauce or a complete meal. All goes into the freezer with description and date and we eat it later. Very convenient when you ever have little time or energy to cook.

Edit: I should add that always, when we make pizza, we make a whole oven plate full of pizza and eat only half of it. The other half we put in the freezer for another time.

[littlelykke]

We do this too! Sometimes, I just plan a whole afternoon of cooking. I then make about 3-4 complete meals, like soups and chili. Put them all in one or two person portions and put them in the freezer. So convenient. When we get home late, I don't really feel like cooking anymore. I can just grab something from the freezer, defrost it, reheat it and eat it. Faster than getting food delivered.

Maybe we could share some freezer recipes here as well? I'd like to get some more suitable for freezing meals, as not all meals still taste as great as when you make them fresh, after you've frozen them.

I'll go first. One of my favorite things to eat is soup. Especially on cold days. I find it even easier to make a large batch of soup and then have enough left to freeze several portions as well.

This is one of our favorites in winter: Ribollita (Tuscan 'farmers'soup)
The ingredients listed here, will make enough for 4 portions. I usually double this.

1 onion, chopped
1 big carrot, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 tin of cannellini beans (1 tin is 400 g. You can of course also cook dried beans and add them).
1 tin of tomato cubes (again, 1 tin is 400 g.)
1 liter of vegetable broth
200 g. of kale (or cavolo nero).

Heat some oil in a pan, put in the onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Toss and glaze for about 5 minutes.
Now put in all the other ingredients. Set to simmer 20-30 minutes. And you're done!
Eat immediately, wait till the next day of freeze them.

[MarciaB]

Ribollita is my go-to soup as well. Easy to make, super tasty, freezes well. It also is one of those soups that is happy to take bits and pieces of old vegetables from your crisper drawer like parsley, eggplant, mushrooms, etc. Throw in herbs from the garden if you want. I also sometimes add parmesan rinds. You really can't go wrong.

Also, I have an immersion blender ("stick blender") and usually puree the soup partially to add texture.

[Tabitha]

Ribolita sounds like a great fancy name for what I've always called Crisper Soup (for clean out the crisper drawer.)

I love the idea of pre-made freezer meals for those too rushed mornings, or for pre-packing work lunches.  What containers do you use?

[MarciaB]

My favorite container to use for pre-made crockpot meals is one that is rectangular and roughly the size of my crockpot. Tupperware/freezer type thing. You fill it with the meal ingredients and freeze. When it's time to use it you just empty the frozen "brick" into the crockpot, turn it on and walk away.