Freezer Meals- Getting Started

I got to spend the majority of my afternoon yesterday in a parking lot, waiting. Waiting for the police, waiting for the other guy's company to come take pictures, waiting for the tow truck. As you can probably tell, my bumper got torn off the car when the big white truck tried to turn left to exit the parking lot...but my car was in the way. 

It could have been worse, so much worse. No one was hurt, the kids and I weren't even in the parking lot at the time, we had a witness who stayed until I got everyone's information, and the other driver called me out after it happened (good thing I have The Meals Maven advertising on my car!). It looks pretty cut and dried. I'm hoping I get my car back by the time yoga starts up in September. 

That being said, it threw a loop into my dinner plans. Hooray for leftovers! I was way to sun-stunned to even contemplate cooking when I got home, and it was easy to heat up a bowl of soup for everyone. The leftover soup was destined to become a freezer meal for a future need, but it served a present need instead.

So let's talk about why it's important to cook ahead and keep freezer meals. I'm not exactly a pessimist, but I am a realist. As Robbie Burns said, "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry" (paraphrased). I love planning, and am not a big fan of surprises, but for all the planning I do, life happens, as it happens for everyone. 

Without further ado, here are a few good reasons why it's a great idea to cook ahead and use your leftovers.

1. Unexpected car accidents (what else could be first after a day like yesterday?)
2. Family illness- your own, or someone you take care of- it's so hard to cook a meal when you're cleaning up vomit or tending a fever! Or lying in bed because staying upright isn't an option, as I discovered last winter.
3. A friend's need.
4. Busy extracurricular that sneaks up on you- sometimes I think I'm superwoman, but that's not always true. 
5. Lazy summer days- I like cooking, but I like taking a break, too, especially when it's really hot.
6. Budget crunching- some months/seasons are more expensive than others- such as Christmas, back-to-school, and so on- if you cook ahead when you've got some financial breathing space, it makes it easier on the tighter months.
7. Return from vacation reprieve- the last thing you want to do when you get home from a vacation is go grocery shopping so you can cook dinner. 
8. Vacation meals- if you rent a kitchenette, or tent with a cooler, it's helpful (and cheaper) to have meals ready to go.
9. Save money- by ensuring you are using up as much of your leftovers as possible, you aren't buying more food that you just threw away.
10. Help the environment- food waste is bad, not only for your wallet, but the landfill as well. Not just because we are running out of space to throw our garbage, but also because all that garbage has to decay, and those gasses don't do any favours to the environment. I think John Oliver expressed it really well in this episode of Last Week Tonight.
11. Healthier- I believe, hands-down, that anything you cook at home from scratch is better for you than anything you buy, whether fast food or freezer meals from the grocery store.
12. Setting the example- there is so much advertising geared to the little people in our lives about fast foods and convenience meals. It would be easy for them to grow up not knowing any better. We need to take responsibility for the global issues surrounding obesity and other health related issues, and teach our kids about this, now.

Here are a few pointers about stocking your freezer. Sometimes it feels overwhelming, or perhaps hard to start, but if I lived for 12 years without a deep freezer and still managed, so can you.

1. Start slowly. It might seem like there isn't much there for you to use, but give it time. If you double a meal twice a month, in 6 months you'll have 12 freezer meals, and that's nothing to sneeze at.
2. Label and date everything. You may think you'll remember, but you won't.
3. Store the dated food with the oldest in the front, in decreasing order. That way you will use up the oldest food first.
4. Freeze properly. Some foods, like soup, stews, and sauces do really well frozen flat in a freezer bag. Fill about 1/2-3/4 full, lay mostly down to remove the air, and zip. Freeze flat on a cookie sheet, and when it's frozen solid it can be stored upright like a filing folder. Other meals, like casseroles, are better frozen in a foil container, such as the ones you can buy from dollar stores. The most important thing to remember when freezing food is to remove all the air, or as much as possible. Air leads to freezer burn.
5. Thaw properly. Take your casseroles out the night before, and allow to thaw in the fridge. Keep your frozen foods thawing on a tray or in a container, because sometimes they may start to leak a little when thawing, either due to condensation or a broken seam. You can thaw your sauces and soups in the microwave, if necessary. My microwave has a defrost setting, and that works well enough so I can thaw it enough to get the food out of the bag and into a bowl or pot to reheat.
6. Take inventory. Your meals will do you no good if they're buried in the bottom or at the back of the freezer and you forget about them. Most freezer meals will keep for several months, but there is a shelf life too, and you want to make sure you use them and replace them periodically.
7. Dinner starters are almost as helpful as complete meals. Before I had a deep freezer most of my freezer meals were meal starters. By this I mean sliced proteins, small amounts of leftovers to go towards a future meal, and so on. 
   One of the greatest ideas I've come across was from a childhood friend. She would take leftovers small bits- a tablespoon or 2 of mixed vegetables, a little bit of tomato paste, etc.- and decide on what meal those would become. She'd keep putting these small amounts of foods into the same labeled freezer bag or container, and when the bag was full she'd have a meal ready to go. Her favorite one to do this with was chili. I find myself doing this with things like rice, beans, onions, and so on to make chili or mexican casseroles; leftover fish, shrimp, and so on to go towards something like jambalaya or seafood chowder. The same rules apply: freeze flat, get rid of the air, and label/date everything.
8. Don't limit yourself to dinners. Busy mornings make for rushed breakfasts. If you're rushing out the door, depending on very little nutrition to get yourself started, start freezing yourself some breakfast foods, such as egg sandwiches, hearty muffins, and so on.

I hope these ideas will inspire you to get started on making the most of your resources, and enable you to eat more at home, eat less fast food, save more of your food budget, and organize your freezer in a way that suits your needs. 

I've got a post coming up pretty soon on healthy lunch box ideas. With the kids heading back to school shortly, and the restrictions placed on what we can pack for them, I think it's a timely post- keep watching for it!

Enjoy the last couple of weeks of summer! 
Until next time,
Stacy