It seems like my days get busier and busier... I'm not sure how, but somehow it seems like there is more and more to do. I'm not sure if it's age and maturity, or just a new found longing to eat at home more like my parents always did, but it seems like eating out gets old a lot faster, and it's certainly WAY too expensive!
Back to these busy days I was complaining about... I've recently learned that I absolutely LOVE cooking - and I absolutely love cooking new things - and I'm actually pretty good at it! However, in light of all these busy days I find myself having less and less time to do it and it's just become to darn easy to order out.
I've been pinning recipes on my pinterest left and right for quite some time now. I've gone from full meals prepared right then, to falling in love with my crockpot, but imagine my surprise when I came across recipes for FREEZER MEALS!!! WHAT??? I love me some Stouffers Lasagna, but I'm seriously disappointed when it comes to the selection of freezer meals in my frozen food department at Publix. I find they don't taste very well, the portions are too small, and like eating out, they are too expensive (unless I get coupons, but that's a whole 'nother blog).
I decided that not only was I going back to couponing this week, but I was going for it with the freezer meals too. I planned my menu, prepared my shopping list, and from then on it was GET OUT OF MY WAY at Publix, because for three hours I was shopping like a crazy woman!
I spent last weekend sorting through all the available recipes for freezer meals on Pinterest. Ugh... I was SOOO unhappy with my choices. Then I came across a blog which may very well be the best thing to come out of Chicago. I'll post a link at the end of the blog. They have a TON of great recipes, and she tells you how to turn each one into a freezer meal.
1.) My freezer is OBVIOUSLY too small to do this on a grand scale. Crap.
2.) To store (and cook) the food, you'll want to get some "OVENWARE", I believe it's by Glad. I found it at Walmart, and you get two for about $5.24. I hope they are reusable. I'll find out shortly. If you find out before I do, let me know.
3.) There aren't really too many shortcuts as far as preparation is concerned, but if you plan your menu and then devote a whole day to the cooking process, you'll save a ton of time during the week.
4.) These meals need to be thawed prior to cooking. That's easy enough... Pull it out before work, and then it's ready to go in when you get home from work. YAY for that!
Okay, so here's my menu for the week. You can click on each meal. That will take you to the recipe. You'll also find these on my Pinterest board entitled "Freezer Meals".
Freezer Beef and Mushroom Stirfry - This is a two part meal. You make the meat and freeze it, then make the vegetable portion and store it in the refrigerator. I made the meat and will make the veggies the night I make it.
Due to running on short on time with picking up our daughter, and an unexpected trip to the local wildlife rescue, we opted to eat the Pasta Milano tonight. My husband doesn't eat tomatoes, or large pieces of mushroom. He ate two plates - and didn't pick out a thing. So, that should tell you how good that was!
The Smothered Pork Chops smelled great going together too. We usually don't use bone in chops, but these looked FANTASTIC, so since the recipe called for them, I think we'll get around it! Can't wait to eat them later this week!
All I can tell you about the Twice Baked Potatoes is that thank God they are good, because I have enough of them to feed an army! I put cheese and bacon in mine, but you can put whatever you want in yours... OOOH! Must remember to try CHIVES next time!
Finally, we'll be having the following meals as well this week. One I actually have to cook, and the other is a crockpot recipe. We're just going all around the world via our dinner table this week!
It was a TON of work getting all of these together, but it wasn't so miserable that I won't be doing it again in the VERY near future. I'm certainly going to enjoy the heck out of being able to just put a GREAT meal in the oven and not having to hassle with the prep. I would highly recommend this method to anyone wanting to save a bit of time in the kitchen during the week. Even if you just did it for one or two meals during the week - like when I go to my belly dancing class and I don't have time to cook beforehand!
I know that some people cook for the month... I can't see myself doing that, but if I can take a couple of hours on the weekend and throw some great meals together to save time during the week when everyone is tired from work, or running to and fro, it's totally worth it!
I'd like to give a HUGE thanks to the people over at "What's Cooking Chicago", "The Cutting Back Kitchen", and "Simple Bites" for all these awesome recipes - and I stole their pictures since I didn't think to take any of my own in this fiasco of a cooking spree!
I had one of my two warp, but the second one seems to be holding up. They are really expensive IMO, to not hold up better! Wish there was a better alternative!