Comments on: A Little Effort Ahead of Time Can Really Save You Later

By: panamamama

panamamama — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 01:06:25 +0000

I put cooked meat from turkeys or chicken I buy on sale in portioned bags in the freezer. Then, like tonight- I took out a bag and made BBQ sauce and had BBQ sandwiches for the kids and BBQ baked potatoes for us! Easy!

By: scrapper al

scrapper al — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:53:00 +0000

I keep wonton or other Chinese dumplings in the freezer. Usually, they are homemade, but sometimes I buy them. They make a quick lunch or dinner, just bring a pot of water to boil, add the dumplings, and bring to a boil again. Fast and easy (though making the dumplings can be tedious).

By: angelamills

angelamills — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:17:24 +0000

I cook huge batches of rice and freeze them in ziploc bags. I also cook a big batch of steel cut oats once a week and we reheat them in the mornings.
I also just started making a large batch of beans each week and keeping them in the fridge. I want to try freezing them, too. Love the sloppy joe idea…yum!

By: nicole

nicole — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:31:15 +0000

My tip is only helpful if you have a smoker. We have an electric smoker and I love it. We can smoke two chickens at one time, and we eat one for dinner and then shred the other one and freeze it in 1.5-2 cup portions. I use the frozen chicken in soup, pot pies, salads, pasta, whatever. We all love the flavor of smoked meat. I think we paid about 200 dollars for the smoker, but it was worth every penny because it is so low-maintenance. Once you turn it on and set the temperature, all you have to do is add wood chips every 1.5 hours or so.

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:20:38 +0000

I actually just started doing this myself. One of our favorite meals is chicken ziti and the sauce freezes beautifully.
Brown one lb ground chicken and 1 lb chicken sausage in a skillet. Add garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Add 2 jars pasta sauce and 2 bay leaves. Simmer for at least 30 minutes then serve over pasta. Half of this recipe feeds my family of 4 without a problem.