Freezing Meat/Veggies Saves Time
Eat at home more often by bulk freezing and making multiple dishes.
May 31, 2007
With our fast-paced lifestyles, sometimes it’s easier to stop at a fast food place to pick up dinner than slave for an hour making a main dish and sides. However, there may be an easier way to get healthy meals quicker. The only requirement is a little extra time on the front end for preparedness’ sake.
-Freeze Seasoning Veggies- You can buy fresh seasoning vegetables like green and red peppers and onions, chop them up and freeze them for seasoning meats, soups and casseroles.
-Freezing Prepared Meats- Freezing prepared meats is a great way to save time and quickly assemble casseroles, conveniently. Once they are frozen, you will have enough for several main dishes. Here's how.
Buy your meat in 5-10 lb lots. A convenient way to do this step is to prepare your meats and separate them into 1 or 2 pound packages for freezing. Then, if you want to be extra organized, you can place your small packages into a large Ziploc bag so you will always know how much you have on hand.
With chicken you can bake the chicken with your seasonings(or boil, if you prefer). To bake, you can place up to 10 pounds of frozen chicken breasts into a couple of 9x13 pans and baste with olive oil, garlic (or garlic powder) and pepper (or whatever seasoning combination you prefer). Then, bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes. When the chicken is no longer pink in the center, remove it from the oven and put your next batch in. When the chicken is nearly cool, cut it into 1 inch cubes and separate into 1 lb plastic bags. Then, freeze.
For ground beef, you can cook 5-10 lbs at a time depending on the size of your pans. Simply season with a little salt, pepper and chopped onions. (You can add peppers here as well.) Then, brown the ground beef on the stovetop. When it cools, separate it into 1 lb. bags like the chicken.
-Always Make Two (or Three)- If you are already going to be cooking in the kitchen, why not make 2 (or 3) of what you are cooking and freeze the extra. This way, you are cleaning the kitchen once for 2 meal preparations and saving a lot of time in preparation of the second dish. (Disposable, aluminum pans are a must for this, so all your 9x13 pans aren't stuck in the freezer.)The easiest dishes to do this with are casseroles like, chicken pot pie, chili (without the noodles), lasagna, shepherd’s pie, meatballs, etc. You can even do this BBQ chicken and it tastes delicious.
This way, when you are in a time pinch, you can pull a casserole out in the morning to defrost in the refrigerator and pop it into the oven when you get home. Then, your family benefits with a homemade, quick and healthy meal.
