One of the best ways that I know to make healthy foods for my family quickly, and be able to do so on a moments notice – is to utilize the freezer.
School gets out at 3 and soccer starts at 4 and runs until 7? Homework somewhere in there, and oh, by the way – I need a poster board and you have a conference call and Jimmy needs help with his reading? How will we have any dinner at all, much less one that is nutritious AND delicious?
Advance prep work will save you every time.
Case in point: I have several of the above bags in my freezer right now. When I buy fresh fruit, I take a few minutes to wash it and cut it into smaller pieces. Strawberries, blueberries, mango, banana, peaches and/or raspberries are all great choices. I fill an ice cube tray with vanilla yogurt and when it’s frozen, I stick 3-4 cubes into a baggie with an assortment of prepared fruit. Then I freeze the entire baggie. The next time I need a quick smoothie, I dump a bag into the blender, add protein powder and juice, and whiz it up. It makes a smoothie quickly and it’s a great breakfast or afternoon pick me up.
I often put two cut up chickens in the crock pot. I add a bit of water, some cut up onions and minced garlic, and cook on low. When the chicken is finished cooking, I pick the bones out and then put the chicken into baggies in the freezer. Tacos, taquitos, or quesidillas are a cinch.
I prepare several pounds of ground beef with onions and garlic. (There’s almost never a recipe that you make with ground beef that doesn’t require garlic and onions, right?) drain it and freeze it, and you’ve got the basics of spaghetti sauce, sloppy joes, pastitsio, tacos – the list goes on and on. Literally – this tiny trick cuts dinner time prep in half – or more. I’ve even made the beginning of spaghetti sauce – brown the ground beef and sausage, add the onions, shredded carrots, garlic and spices, continue on with the worchestershire sauce and the red wine – all the way up until the tomato sauce. I’ve frozen that mixture before and it’s afforded me the opportunity to make sauce in literally 10 minutes.
Even when I make chimichangas – I double the filling and freeze half. The next time we have a craving for Mexican – it’s on the table in a flash.
There are recipe sites that offer meal plans that help you prepare an entire month’s worth of cooking for the freezer, with a minimum of money and quite often, a maximum of flavor.
Do you utilize your freezer when planning for your family meals? What are your favorite tips?
Making extra meat for freezing and using later is probably THE easiest thing people could do to free up a little time in the kitchen. I boil chicken, then shred up for easy meals later. I also freeze bananas that are going bad so I can use them in breads later. Just let them thaw a bit (don’t mind the brown color) and throw them right in the recipe!
Great ideas, Carmen. Practical, doable and yummy. Hope to read more of your tips for healthy meals for families! The smoothie idea is especially brilliant.
Such simple, but GREAT ideas. I always mean to do this, but it rarely happens. As my kids get older (and busier), I need to rely on advance prep more and more. Love the smoothie bags–some of my kids are not good fruit eaters, but in a smoothie they wouldn’t notice a thing.
the smoothie trick is an excellent one. I also have frozen bananas to make banana bread or banana ice cream. I amke spicy chicken in the crock pot put it in a container and let them make whatever dish they want with it. Great ideas!
I admit, humbly, that I don’t use my freezer to freeze anything that isn’t raw meat, or convenience foods like chicken nuggets, etc. However, I’m telling myself that this fall and winter (since I do little actual cooking in summer; hubby grills
) I’m going to utilize the “prep then freeze” shortcut more often. Somehow, for years I didn’t know you could freeze stuff like that, simply because neither my mom nor my grandmother did it. So it’s not something I’m in the habit of doing, but I’m trying to overhaul my cooking habits. Nothing wrong with them, just need to expand a bit! And articles like this give me a good idea of where to start!
I love that idea for the smoothies. Do you have a favorite protein powder that you use? I keep thinking I should look into finding one that is good, but never have the time.
I’m new (cringe) to the crock-pot and thinking-ahead methods, and wow, why was I not doing this years ago??! Thanks for the tips. I’ve been wanting to make smoothies in the am, but didn’t really know how (Neophyte), so I appreciate the info. Great column. I don’t have tips yet, but I’ll share when I have them.
This is definitely the next step in getting dinner prep streamlined for me. Thanks for the kick in the booty!
I have done this a lot in the past but have fallen off the wagon. I really need to do it, it’s always worth it! Thanks for such a timely reminder. I really need to get in gear!
Brilliant ideas there Carmen, thank you.
I wish my kids would drink fruit smoothies. Maybe I’ll try again!
I also do the ground beef freezer trick, but I also rely on my crock pot, and the GREATEST INVENTION OF THE WORLD — the crock pot liners!!!! It makes clean up even easier, and by the time we’re all finished with dinner, that is a major plus! I wasn’t utilizing my crock pot because of the clean up (I have an extra large model that doesn’t fit in the dishwasher because of my extra large family) until the liners appeared on the grocery shelf. In fact, my family’s favorite recipe is your crock pot cream cheese chicken!
just canned (!!!) tons of tomatoes, and roasted bunches more with garlic and herbs for the freezer. Popped them in baggies, and we’ve got the start of pasta sauce, pizza sauce, and a half dozen soup recipes. Put that with your frozen meat and onions, and dinner is on the table. I think I hear some ground beef calling me next Sunday….
Carmen, THANK YOU. You always have some fabulous information/tip just when I need it. I am going to put together some smoothies tomorrow.
I really want to be you!
I never seem to get organized enough to do this. My best bit is going to Costco and buying the ginormous packages of ground beef and pork loin chops. I freeze the beef in approx. 1lb zip bags and the chops individually.
How big of a crock pot do you need to do two chickens? I have an oval 6qt (I think). Do you use the meat within a week or a month or a quarter? My husband wigs out when I don’t use frozen stuff fast enough.
I’m putting this post in Evernote so I can remember about the fruit and yogurt. I bet my little kids would love the smoothies!
Awesome ideas- I’m going to bookmark this one and get ingredients and do these things asap! I always need help with dinner ideas and these are fabulous!
any time i make a meat loaf, i make an extra and freeze it. i’ll make a huge pot of spaghetti sauce and put extra sauces in containers for later use. i also take smaller containers and put left overs in them and freeze them for a healthy quick lunch option.