We’ve heard all about the benefits of enjoying a sit-down dinner at home. The dinner hour can be a special time of checking in, conversation, and bonding, not to mention nourishment. Unfortunately, in order to arrive at the the DINNER HOUR you have to pass through the DINNER PREP PERIOD, which often commences with the frantic realization that everyone is already hungry and how is it already 6:00 and wait, is there even any food in the house?! Followed up with rifling through the pantry and fridge, plus the often irresistible urge to throw in the towel and go get takeout. Of course, this all plays out during the WITCHING HOUR, when some people are trying to wrap up their workday, while others need help to do their math homework, or help just to sit still enough to open their math book.
If only there were a way to always have something on-hand for dinner.
Frozen Food to the Rescue
We all know that a good frozen pizza can be a life-saver. It’s definitely an important staple to keep in your freezer and replace as needed. What other “emergency meals” do you keep in your freezer? Meals that you can grab and cook with little-to-no effort, that people actually want to eat? The end of summer is a great time to take stock of your freezer and how you can beef it up bit.
There are various ways and intensities with which you can step up your freezer game:
- Stock up on favorites from the store–and make sure you replenish them as needed
- Make a double portion of a fresh meal you are cooking and throw it in the freezer to have again when it is needed
- Study up on what foods freeze well and how to best prepare meals to freeze
- Go all out and spend a day filling your freezer full of meals that you’ll love!
Tips & Resources
- Freeze your favorites! You won’t pull out a freezer meal unless it’s something you know you’ll love
- Keep a list of what freezer meals you have and what fresh ingredients (e.g., buns) you’ll need on serving day
- Prep and freeze meat in your favorite marinade. Take it from the freezer and put it in the fridge the night before you plan to use it. It will thaw and sit in the marinade all day, and be ready for you to grill, slow-cook, or pressure-cook. These are so quick to prep and so yummy to have on-hand
- Stock up containers
- Gallon bags are great for freezing items flat for simple storage
- Use disposable 9×13 pans are great for casseroles
- Find tupperware that is shaped in the right size for transferring foods into your slow cooker or pressure cooker
- Helpful Websites
