Tonight, I reaped the rewards of cooking ahead. Granted I only had to cook for 2 tonight, but still..........I was only in the kitchen as long as it took me to say "Your dinners done". For someone who doesn't like to cook, this was a dream.
I have been dilegently cutting, packaging and freezing extra servings for the last couple months. I used to do this sort of thing in spurts. Since joining here, I've gotten more excited about freezing parts to dinners than actually putting a big dinner on the table.
So, today, I took out several big slabs of a pork tenderloin (have to call these pork chops for my autistic kiddo, then he eats them. If I call it a roast....no go) and a baggie of home made applesauce from the freezer. Microwaved a dish of leftover cauliflower from last night(when I cooked 2 heads instead of 1) and then zapped the meat & applesauce. Tossed a quick green salad and whoosh.......I'm out of the kitchen. Total time: less than 15 minutes.
Nights like this really make me see the benefit of the packaging and labeling. I've got pork, roast beef, turkey and ham all done the same way currently. Plus a few sides .........and several desserts.........all packaged up so I can take out however many servings I need. (the number I cook for changes from 1 to 6)
I can't imagine how much money this saves me. Since I'm no good with numbers, chances are, I'll never know....
And, the time saved is amazing. It truly doesn't take much longer to cook 2 times the food needed; tossing 2 tenderloins into the crock pot as opposed to 1??? Really. Took a bit of time to cut and freeze......but not nearly as much as cooking another meal from scratch.
And, to top it off, we get to skip the frozen meal aisle of the grocery store too!
My Own Brand of Frozen Dinners
April 26th, 2006 at 04:31 am
April 26th, 2006 at 01:14 pm 1146057242
April 26th, 2006 at 02:26 pm 1146061578
April 26th, 2006 at 08:08 pm 1146082115
April 26th, 2006 at 09:02 pm 1146085373
Even if I'm just browning ground beef for a casserole, I'll do 2 times what I need, & pop half in a zip lock for another meal. I hate to spend time in the kitchen, so anything I can do to make it easier helps.
I tend to think of my cooking ahead, just like a savings account.....and my freezer is the "bank". I try to get a couple things in each week, not just main dishes.........but other items too. Frozen salads are a big help....desserts for unexpected guests, etc.