Freezer Meals

One of my Dinner Diva newsletters had an idea I just love. I may try this concept of making your own Freezer Meals. She specifically cited meatloaf. You make up the meatloaf, then freeze it raw. Defrost and cook when ready.

That's what stopped me from making make-ahead meals before. They were essentially frozen leftovers that always came out soggy and terrible. With the Dinner Diva concept, you leave it raw and ready to cook. No soggy meatloaf when you cook it, because it hasn't been cooked before.

Wow! What a revelation. I began to think of all my favorite recipes, many of which could be easily frozen in their ready-to-cook state, defrosted overnight, then popped into the oven or crock pot. My mind races ahead to soups and stews, casseroles, and even pre-preparing roasts/meats but adding the veggies at the last minute. Wow, now there's a marinade that really has a chance to work on a steak.

I'm so thrilled with this concept, I can barely stand to go to work today. I so want to play with this. Why not do it? Why not pull those meals out of the pantry, and make them ahead of time so they're ready to cook in a flash? I'm dancing in place, anxious to try this out.

If you have a suggestion, please comment. (Comments made in Facebook may be cross-posted to my blog so my Fat Frog Diary friends can see.) I also welcome recipes to post. What recipe would you do ahead and freeze?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Doc has a Spiffy New Office!

I'll repeat this on LapBandTalk.com, but I'm guessing my bariatric surgeon, Dr. Michael Baptista, is getting more and more successful. He's moved from his partnership with another doctor and into his own spiffy new office MUCH more conveniently located for me, in Arlington right off 9A and Monument in the Brooks Rehab Building. Now, I'm not saying his former partner was a bad doctor-- not with that many awards-- but I didn't like the other doctor and that's the honest truth. I'm allowed my opinions, and my two experiences with the former partner were unpleasant. Now I feel much freer to help Dr. Baptista with his newer patients! I'm pleased to say Dr. Baptista asked me to start attending the monthly support group so I can provide cheerfulness and inspiration to a group that has recently begun to focus on negativity in his opinion. One subject he mentioned specifically I could help with was the low carb diet. Many have difficulty in going beyond what&
Read more

Is Humiliation Part of the Treatment?

Just how much humiliation am I supposed to take? Today was a group session at the surgeon’s. You know what I learned? What an ass one of the surgeons is. That’s it. After the weigh in, in which I gained a whole half-pound, we had the usual and repetitive lecture on how important it is we shrink our livers. I was feeling pretty good about my weight, actually. I’d had a full bladder and heavy winter clothing on, but the scale said only half a pound. I could live with that. I knew also I’d had a few too many macadamia nuts over the past few days and vowed to cut them out. Finally, the surgeon appeared. He was as handsome as rumor had claimed. I had a hard time understanding his accent, since he was from South Africa. The Afrikaners I’ve known can seem to mumble a bit to our American ears. I’d had an Afrikaner teacher back in real estate school and I’d adored him, so I was prepared to like the surgeon, Dr. Cywes. How wrong I was. After introducing himself and matching faces to files, he im
Read more

The Legend of No Desserts in One-der-Land

Once there was a woman named Alice who fell down a spiraling hole of guilt and shame while following an elusive White Rabbit of Beauty. She discovered a magical place called One-der-land, though at first it seemed a place of madness and horror. I'll occasionally recount (not in chronological order because this is a place of madness, after all, at least to Alice) some of her adventures. Alice landed at the bottom of the Shame Spiral in tears, her body shattered by so many years of abuse, both from within Alice herself and from others, who felt she didn't deserve anything. She wondered if she'd ever be able to get up, but she managed to heave herself erect and walk, still hoping for another glimpse of the beautiful White Rabbit. Alice had to rest often, and had trouble breathing, but the path seemed familiar somehow, as if she'd traveled upon it or at least seen it many times. Her feet swelled, her knees hurt, and upon occasion she considered just lying down at the side
Read more