Homemade frozen meals... suggestions? ideas?

[deevergote]

I've decided that I spend way too much money, and eat far too much crap. I'm always buying sandwiches at the local convenience store, frozen Lean Cuisine or Smart Ones dinners (not too bad, but very high in sodium), and lately even fast food (I always regret that minutes after my last bite!)

Anyway, I want to come up with some good ideas for meals that can be made easily, cheaply, and in bulk... so I can cook a bunch of em on Saturday morning, stick em in the freezer, and have a meal in a few short microwave minutes!
My work schedule is hectic and unpredictable, and I'm often totally exhausted by the end of the day... so it's difficult to come home and cook. That's why I always take the easy way out. I just don't have the patience or desire to spend 30 minutes cooking, then another 30 cleaning up after working 10-15 hours!


So, I'd love to hear some suggestions. Simple is good. Healthy is good (low in fat, high in protein, fiber, vitamins, etc...) Tasty, of course, is good!


So far, I'm thinking of a simple meal made of lean chicken breasts (cooked on my BBQ grill, so cleanup is simple), green beans (never terrible when frozen and reheated), and rice (white or long-grain brown... I'll see what I feel like doing.) I'm thinking I may do the same with salmon instead of chicken as well.
So that's two ideas.

Ideally, I want to be able to cook a batch of one on a Saturday or Sunday, changing it up from week to week, and end up having a selection after a couple weeks.

I'm thinking of dinner meals right now... but breakfast and lunch are also areas I need to address. Lunch would have to be able to travel, as I work on the road 4-7 days a week. I'm trying to avoid having to prepare meals either right before or right after work!

[AccordWarrior]

I've got lasagna in the freezer my Mom made for me on Christmas Eve.

Simple, easy (just put it in a baking pot in the oven) and quite good.

[stewie]

id say make a giant batch of meat sauce and freeze it, then you can just boil some noodles whenever you want, defrost the sauce and mix together and make a pasta, or lasagna.

[eriemoto.]

I wouldn't cook any more than a week's worth to store in the freezer, but you have the right idea so far.

I eat a lean breast of chicken with a boiled sweet potato and a handful of steamed spinach at least twice a day. On days that I want red meat, I get 90% or leaner ground beef and grill it. It does get dry, but I mix in lots of mustard and it's really good.

I use a George Foreman grill to cook almost all my meats. It's quick and easy to clean, well worth the money IMO. I can have chicken breasts done in 5 minutes.

[deevergote]

I've got lasagna in the freezer my Mom made for me on Christmas Eve.

Simple, easy (just put it in a baking pot in the oven) and quite good.

Very true... though lasagna is basically cheese with a beef/tomato/pasta garnish. There's a reason why Garfield is so fat! I do love a good lasagna, though... and one pan really can feed you for a week easily.

id say make a giant batch of meat sauce and freeze it, then you can just boil some noodles whenever you want, defrost the sauce and mix together and make a pasta, or lasagna.

Very true. I'll have to see if I can successfully freeze noodles as well. That would make things even easier.


I have a bad habit of leaving my dishes unwashed after I eat... so keeping the dirty dishes limited to the one microwave container and whatever utensils I used would make life easier (and keep my house smelling better!)

[agol]

for lunch peanut butter and jelly is easy... i add oreo crumbs/ marshmellow fluff/ or butterscotch chips. pretty good and mixes up the flavor. this can be easily complimented by a small bag of chips. for dinner, pastas are easy to make and sauces such as Alfredo and mariana can be easily reheated. you can also pick up some ground beef and cook it then add it to a canned sauce... done this plenty of times. thats my 2 cents though.

[deevergote]

I wouldn't cook any more than a week's worth to store in the freezer, but you have the right idea so far.

I eat a lean breast of chicken with a boiled sweet potato and a handful of steamed spinach at least twice a day. On days that I want red meat, I get 90% or leaner ground beef and grill it. It does get dry, but I mix in lots of mustard and it's really good.

I use a George Foreman grill to cook almost all my meats. It's quick and easy to clean, well worth the money IMO. I can have chicken breasts done in 5 minutes.

That's a good idea with the mustard (and the sweet potato and spinach... both are REALLY healthy). I have a George as well... just discovered it the other day!


Why wouldn't you store things more than a week? I've eaten stuff stored for months. At the very least, it just dried out. As long as the freezer remains cold and things don't thaw out, frozen food can last a very long time. At least that's what I've learned in my research.
I don't expect things to stay in there for longer than a few weeks. Like, if I make 12 meals one week, chances are good that they'll all be gone in 2-3 weeks... if they aren't, then they're probably not tasty enough, and I should just chuck it to free up containers!

[bobbycos]

why freeze noodles, they only take 5-8 minutes to cook properly and cleanup is extremely fast

the chicken breast precooked and frozen is a great idea. Spanish foods can be made easily and frozen, my wife does it alot.

chinese food can be frozen too easily for future use.


mail order bride cooks very well too

here is an idea, my great aunt used to make pasteles in bulk and freeze them. we used to buy a dozen off her and cook up two or three at a time.

take a trip up to nyc and we'll try to hook you up

[blizzard335]

Fried rice.

Cook some rice in the rice cooker, go take a nice shower and crapper, and a few minutes later, hot steaming rice, ready to be stir fried!

Prepare earlier chilli paste, perhaps minced meat, chicken, or the easiest way, some hotdogs (chop em up)

And stir fry away!

4-5 minutes tops, fresh, hot, tasty and fulfiling

mmmmmmm

[eriemoto.]

That's a good idea with the mustard (and the sweet potato and spinach... both are REALLY healthy). I have a George as well... just discovered it the other day!


Why wouldn't you store things more than a week? I've eaten stuff stored for months. At the very least, it just dried out. As long as the freezer remains cold and things don't thaw out, frozen food can last a very long time. At least that's what I've learned in my research.
I don't expect things to stay in there for longer than a few weeks. Like, if I make 12 meals one week, chances are good that they'll all be gone in 2-3 weeks... if they aren't, then they're probably not tasty enough, and I should just chuck it to free up containers!

That was more of my own preference, but since you're always on the road, freezing a good 12 meals would be fine. Just make sure it doesn't stink before you eat it and label them with dates. Eating frozen, healthy food is better then junk food/fast food!

[evil_demon_01]

Lasange (I think I spelt it right), Quiche, Pizza.
All relatively simple, quick to make, and the quiche and pizza give you your own options of what you want in them.

Depends on what sort of meal your going for - 3 course, something filling, or just a snack.

Btw - Cooking meat and freezing it again is murder, you lose all the best flavour, and it tends to get tough upon reheating.

[islandhopper]

Buy cheap fish fillets in bulk, like talapia (it's cheap and tasty!) cook the fish the way you like and re-freeze it after it rests for 5-7min. Boil a few bags of mixed veggies, blanch them and freeze them as well. Cook a batch of white rice, or brown or wild, whatever, and let it cool. Portion out the rice into freezer friendly AND microwave friendly containers along with a fish fillet and a liberal helping of vegetables.

Once its all portioned out, put all the meals into the freezer. When you want to eat, throw one in the microwave and nuke it for 5min. Take it out and mix the veggies in with the rice (not entirely necessary but it worked well for me) and nuke it again until hot and the fish is tender again.

Hope that helps! This was an excellent diet for me while i was working very long shifts (14+hrs) doing very laborious duties. Very, very nutritious and very, very tasty! I sometimes added some shoyu and/or wasabi to spice things up a bit.

[bobbycos]

Fried rice.

Cook some rice in the rice cooker, go take a nice shower and crapper, and a few minutes later, hot steaming rice, ready to be stir fried!

Prepare earlier chilli paste, perhaps minced meat, chicken, or the easiest way, some hotdogs (chop em up)

And stir fry away!

4-5 minutes tops, fresh, hot, tasty and fulfiling

mmmmmmm

what asian foods can be frozen for a time, i remember the pics you posted
of the end of Ramadan feast. can those be frozen for future use

[deevergote]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys!
Affandi, those are some great ideas. The one thing I don't mind cleaning is my frying pan... because it's a good non-stick one that's SO easy to cook (not that I haven't left it dirty in the sink for weeks at a time in the past...)

Colin, I know meat sucks when it's frozen... but even dry frozen meat will be cheaper and healthier than the crap I'm eating now! I'm hoping to come up with the most palatable ideas possible. If I have to cook something that involves more than simply a few microwave buttons, and more dishes than I can wash in 2 minutes... I won't do it. I'll run down to Wawa and buy a sandwich for $6 that will add to my currently unattractive gut.

[wherm]

If you don't mind spending a whole saturday making meals, and you have lots of freezer space, I suggest looking into a book called, "Once a month Cooking." It's pretty cool. There are 2 two week menus, and 2 one month menus. It gives you your entire shopping list for whichever you pick, then it tells you what do do with everything. Basically you will pre-cook everything, bake it, and then freeze it. Then it has specific instructions for how to properly re-heat it when you're ready.

Then, my suggestion is to buy a bunch of tupperware plates with lids and partitions, fill them up with the leftovers and refrigerate/freeze those for lunches during the day.