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What do you cook normally? I cook most of my meals with leftovers in mind. Just make a double or triple portion, pop into a freezer container, and voila!
I can cook just about anything, but I'm used to eating rich foods. How about the weight watcher's cookbooks?
You might like the "Hungry Girl" cookbooks and I love Devin Alexander. She has a cookbook called "Fast Food Fix" where she converts fast food restaurant foods into healthier meals. She has other cookbooks too. She likes "real" food.
I'm looking for something with healthy food in mind. The Lean Cuisine and Weight Watchers meals have sky-rocketed in price. I figure I figured this is something I can do myself at home.
Plus they are filled with unnecessary amounts of sodium!!!
Just read an article that said the cost of the veggies in frozen TV dinners comes out to $300 a pound
I don't do any special cooking for lunches. I always make more than enough for dinner and freeze the rest in single serve portions (1 cup for me 2c. for my husband). Since every dinner provides a few extra servings we end up with lots of variety instead of a week of just one or two of the same things for lunch. I can add a piece of fruit or a side of veggies (you can always buy a bag frozen if you don't have fresh).
Has anyone ever cooked ahead and froze meals as an inexpensive alternative to store-bought frozen diet meals?
I'm just curious. I would love to start cooking my own meals and freezing them, but I have no clue where to start.
Are there any good cook books i can start as a guide?
You may have already gotten the info you want, but I'll tell you what I have done in the past.
I did make my own freezer meals years ago. You have caused me to think I should do it again.
What I did was not rocket science. I simply made things like small meat loaves, stuffed green peppers....most any thing. (I didn't cook the green pepper, just the stuffing and let it cool before putting it inside) I think most anything can be cooked and frozen. For single serving vegies, I used fresh or frozen uncooked if possible or cooked and cooled; put a portion in a sandwich bag, squeezed out as much air as possible, twisted the bag with a small straw inserted, then sucked as much air as possible, pinched it off and pulled the straw out and sealed the bag. I did the same with the meats or main course yet, if it is something that can be wrapped in plastic, I wrapped it tightly so to keep air out. Doing it all separately lets you decide what combination of main course and vegs you want.
Now that I know about plastic and microwaveing, I would select the veggies I wanted and the main course from the freezer and put it on a glass plate defrosting the main course first then adding the veggies, cover with a paper plate or a glass lid and microwave according to what is on the plate. If you did not want to use the microwave, you could do the same thing with a stove top steamer or in the oven and use aluminum foil... all depending on what foods are being heated. Just experiment and see what works and what doesn't. I have also frozen tomatoes and squashes whole. They are not good for cooking only.
I suggest that you just do it.
Seems like if it was a dry product (pasta, dry beans) etc, it would freeze and be appetizing on reheating. Chili, crock pot stuff, etc would be good.
Meats doesn't sound good.
Anything fresh won't be appetizing reheated.
Tip: We take fruit that is getting old like strawberries and bananas and freeze them and use them for smoothies.
I dropped 60 pounds eating Banquet meals every night. They may not be "diet", but they're only 300-400 calories each. A salad for lunch, one of those for dinner, and some fruit, sugar-free popsicles or jello and you've got a 1200-1500 calorie day.
I dropped 60 pounds eating Banquet meals every night. They may not be "diet", but they're only 300-400 calories each. A salad for lunch, one of those for dinner, and some fruit, sugar-free popsicles or jello and you've got a 1200-1500 calorie day.
Can you maintain this habit for the rest of your life?
Will you keep the weight off for the rest of your life?
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