Using Your Freezer To Simplify Dinner

Using Your Freezer to Simplify Dinner 

I try really hard not of feed my family food from a box.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Velveeta Shells and Cheese just as much as my kids, BUT alas, I know how bad it is for us.  There are several ways to use your freezer to simplify dinner that keep you eating well, even when life is crazy. 

My kitchen BFF is my freezer! I try to keep several “toss and run” meals in there at all times.  Some of the meals that I normally keep are spaghetti sauce, chili, clean chicken spaghetti, cooked shredded chicken, and lots of veggies. I keep bread in there too!  There are so many freezer meals available on Pinterest, it is crazy.  My Mom and I make a girls day out of it and batch cook freezer meals a few times a year.  This may not seem very minimal, but it simplifies other areas of life. It keeps dinner super easy and makes this Mama happier! (Which is the point, right?)

In Real Life

Here is how it works for my family on a regular basis. Whenever I am making a freezable meal, I just double it.  It makes the same amount of mess, and takes the same amount of time to make two batches instead of one.  That way, when I know that we have a crazy afternoon, those can be table ready in about 10-20 minutes.  It keeps us out of the drive through and eating well.

One thing that irks me about the freezer is when my food gets those white frozen crystals on the top.  It makes it taste yucky and then it is wasted.  So what to do?  Buy a Food Saver!! It is so worth the investment! I use mine all of the time.  It keeps the food so fresh and allows it to last so much longer in the freezer.  Most bags that can be used with a vacuum packer can be put in the microwave, boiled, and reused or recycled.  I have had two models and loved them both.  The first one I owned was this (It lasted about 8 years!):

I currently have this Food Saver:

Honest review:

 I like the smaller, black one better.  The second, larger, white one does a great job.  It has the bag storage on top with the cutter, which is nice.  The downside is that it makes the machine even bulkier.  I order my bags in bulk and they do not fit in the holder.  So, for that reason only, I prefer the smaller, black one that needs scissors to cut bags.  There is a bag cutter out there but I have not personally tried it.  BOTH work great. It is just your preference.  

What About the Bags?

Another plus to the Food Saver is that the bags are not brand specific.  I buy my bags in bulk.  The two rolls last me about a year.  We also keep a close eye on the meat prices in town.  Whenever there is a great sale, we stock up and freeze it in portions that work for our family.

Freezing “Wet” Foods

What if you have “wet” food that you can’t squish in the freezer bags?  Put it into a Tupperware and freeze it overnight.  Once it is frozen, take it out, turn it over and run COLD water over the bottom of the Tupperware.  

This will release the frozen goodies to the top so you can get them out.  Put the frozen block in the freezer bag, vacuum seal, and VIOLA! You have a wonderful, healthy meal ready for next time you are in a time crunch.

I will put mine in the refrigerator the night before if I know ahead of time.  If not, I put it in warm water and its thawed in just a few minutes.  

You can freeze just about anything.  Even without the Food Saver, you can still do the same thing with saran wrap and foil or a zip-lock.  It just won’t have as long of a shelf life.

I would love to hear your favorite freezer meal!

*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Only because I know these brands and love them.  If you purchase from these links, I may get a commission, but it will NOT affect your cost.  See my disclaimer for more information.