Everyone needs a quick convenient meal at times. If you need a quick meal between work and your kids school program or simply something to take to work for lunch, a gourmet frozen meal can be the ticket of the day. If you make your own frozen meals you can be assured of a tasty time saving meal.
There may be times when you have no choice but to grab a frozen meal from the grocery store, but many times, you have another option. Make your own gourmet frozen meal.
By making your own frozen meals, you get to choose what goes into your food. If there is an ingredient that someone in your family will not eat, you can leave it out or prepare an individual portion without that ingredient. In addition, you are in control of the amount of sugar and sodium that is added to your meals.
While most people simply choose their family’s favorite recipes to cook, others like to experiment a little here and there. If you are in the mood to experiment the try one of these, Broccoli Beef, vegetable soup, corn chowder, chicken curry or beef stew. They work very well in the freezer.
Rice and pasta do not do well in many freezer recipes, they tend to be overcooked by the time the food is cooked and then re-warmed. If you are cooking these recipes, just freeze the sauce and cook the rice or pasta separately. If you have a rice cooker just throw in the rice and water so you can let it cook while you warm the rest of the meal. Pick up fresh pasta and it cooks in boiling water in about three minutes.
If you want to stock your freezer with gourmet meals, just start cooking two or three times your normal size meal. Remove excess food to the refrigerator as soon as the food finishes cooking so that you are not tempted to over eat and the quality of the food is preserved.
Another option is to set a couple of days aside for shopping and cooking. Shop one day and cook the next. You should be able to prepare several meals at once for your freezer. Plan to double and triple those recipes so that you quickly fill the freezer.
One of the best options for storing your food in the freezer is a vacuum sealer. Choose the sealer that has a heat seal to preserve the quality of your food. The bags are very heavy weight and prevent freezer burn. They can be used to heat food in the microwave or as a boil-in bag in a pot of water.
For those of you who aren’t up to this sort of planning and time, there are actually renowned chefs who prepare frozen gourmet meals.
Don’t count on your local grocer to carry truly wonderful food that you can love. Instead, take a look online for a high quality gourmet dinner delivered to your door, frozen and ready to heat, serve and enjoy.