2010 - Healthy Choices Part 3

Thanks to my morning sickness (see past posts) I discovered the blessing of freezer meals. –
This is something I’ve known about for a long time, but hadn’t actually done till this year. –After a few weeks of being really sick I realized I had to do SOMETHING about my method for feeding my family so we weren’t eating take-out or hot dogs every night.

Thankfully I did have good days sprinkled in there, so out of desperation I started using those days to cook as many meals as I could and then freeze them. I bought a few more 9X13 pans with lids. (I already had a bunch of small casserole pans with lids I used to make up a week’s worth of meals to send with Andrew one fall when he built a new home and only came back on weekends.)
Even after the morning sickness ended I realized I was hooked.
I had gotten so used to being able to pull healthy, yummy home made meals out whenever, - not only for us,-but also sudden company! I even was able to send food out to others who needed a meal even if that day I wasn’t technically ‘cooking’ for my own family!!


And this method worked perfectly with my ‘do things in spurts’ personality. One good day of cooking feeds us for weeks.- Not every single meal, - but enough to let me do more than spending each day going from one meal prep to the next.
I’ve even gotten to the point that I pretty much always make up extra of whatever I do and freeze the rest.

WARNING: you must be sure to label and date things well, - or that container of crystallized tan stuff could be chicken broth, - wait, - no, it looks chunky, - maybe soup? No – I think its fajita filling…. or is it that chicken stir fry I made, um, how long ago was that?


My standby casseroles for the freezer are lasagna and enchiladas. (Beef or chicken, whatever I have more of at the time)
I usually make a couple 9X13, then 4 each of a smaller size pan that feeds us three just fine. The bigger pans I save for when company comes, and use the smaller ones more often.

(This has been GREAT when smaller parts of my family come for weekend…I can pull out a good meal and don’t have to spend all day in the kitchen while they are here)
And it has been a lifesaver since our church fellowship has a potluck every Sunday for those who can make it... - since my saturdays are NEVER laid back or easy, - coming up with something to bring saturday mornings only makes it harder to leave on time. Frozen cassaroles have been great!

I also make huge batches of meatballs, which are very versatile since they can be added to spaghetti sauce, or stand alone with potatoes, salad, etc for a complete meal.
I even recently hosted a last minute Christmas party and pulled out a couple bags, baked them and served them as finger food with toothpicks and BBQ and other sauces.
I prefer to freeze them raw and then thaw in microwave briefly and cook them at the time because they are so small they cook up so well, and I don’t want them to dry out from over heating. I use a sweet meatball recipe but if your favorite is savory they would probably work in soups and chili also.

I just started making chili by the gallon (thanks to my friend Emily) -

I freeze some gallon bags for full meals, and then some quart, since my husband loves chili on baked potatoes. We like making loaded potatoes for a meal. So having a small bag for a topping is really nice.

Another standby is pinwheels. Tortillas with a layer of cream cheese, topped with
a) Chopped green onions, black olives, and shredded cheddar.
b) Shredded ham, cheese, and chopped green onion.

Roll up the tortilla and slice. – I then place them on cookie sheets (touching is fine) and freeze until they are somewhat hard, then I place batches laying flat in quart Ziploc bags.- I can stack a double stack since they are thin.

(I also do this for meat balls, - let them ‘set up’ in freezer on a pan so they are easy to handle then put them neatly in rows in a bag.)

Pinwheels are SO great! Another very versatile option. – I love pulling them out when I need a ‘bread item’ to go with a meal – they can go Italian, OR Mexican, - dip them in spaghetti sauce OR salsa. They make a great snack, or finger food.
Just pull them out of the bag, put on a plate and microwave (or bake) until the cheese is hot and melty.

And last but not least, muffins and quick breads do really well frozen. - I pack my mad hatter mini-muffins in quart bags (9 just fit in flat bag) for when I really need a shot of chocolate! (see previous post for recipe)

You might be able to get more in a bag my just tossing things in, - but I prefer the pre-freeze and flat stack method, - because:
-I don’t need huge quantities for my family –
- it is easy to see what is inside and how many,
-quicker to defrost
and finally, -
-it is easiest to store since I can just stack piles of meatballs, mini-muffins and pinwheels in not much space.

I feel I have only begun to scratch the surface with freezing foods, but already just these things I do regularly have made a huge difference for me!