3 Easy Ways to Get Started with Freezer Meals

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Do you have weeks where meal prepping just doesn\'t seem to fit in the schedule, or you just really don\'t want to? Then the week turns into a nightmare trying to grab for food you normally have ready and... nothing is there.

One thing I\'ve gotten into recently is freezing meals or bulk prepped items to have at the ready! It\'s the greatest time saving method to keep your nutrition on track and not being tempted to run out to a drive thru.

Imagine being able to reach into your freezer and pull out a \"microwave meal\" that was cheap and didn\'t have any added craziness in it? Don\'t get me wrong, our house isn\'t one to avoid chicken nuggets but if I can prep some foods to heat and eat I choose that any day.

1. Selecting the right supplies

To start, you will likely need to grab some freezer level containers, some plastic wrap and/or storage bags (for the bulk items). Having these will be key to not having your food get freezer burnt. I\'ve always steered away from freezing food that wasn\'t sealed with my Food Saver for fear of it getting ruined. But, I ordered these containers and plastic wrap sheets on Amazon which have done really well!

Ideally these would also be dishwasher safe since you don\'t know what may cook on when you reheat. Plus that just means the containers are even tougher to reuse.

The plastic wrap, in my opinion, is a key supply to help minimize how much air gets to your food. This can be the super sticky type of wrap or looser sheets. I prefer to have a sheet pre-cut as I am still not great at tearing off from the roll of plastic wrap...

2. Meal Selection

Once you\'ve got the right supplies you can plan out some meals. I recommend starting with a few simple meals. \"One dish\" meals will be less stressful to pack away and measure vs meals that have many individual ingredients.

Some great starter meal ideas include:

• Chili and rice

• Burgers and a veggies

• Chicken/Pork/Shrimp Fried Rice

• Egg Roll in a Bowl

• Taco Bowls

• Beef and Broccoli

• Baked Ziti

There are tons more that would do well, either as individual meal prepped containers or larger family size ready meals! The scope of this post is more on the meal prep, grab and go side but all of these ideas and tips can translate over to larger meals.

For those, or simply for just cooking a large amount of protein to have ready, you\'d use freezer grade storage bags instead of containers. There\'s a ton of value into having bags of cooked chicken, burgers, meatballs all at the ready too!

3. Packing and Storing your freezer meals

LET IT COOL! I can\'t stress enough that letting the food cool down can make or break how your meals will taste after being frozen for a week or two. If you pack it away too hot the condensation will create a nice ice layer over your food, which can be fine for a few days, but if you freeze a few weeks of meals it could really change how they reheat.

I like to pack the food into a large container and refrigerate overnight. Adds in some time but it has yet to fail me! It actually is nice to spread the cooking and packing out so it feels less overwhelming so win-win!

Once you\'ve measured out all of your containers, tuck the plastic wrap as tightly down onto the food as possible, including around the edges. Press out any air you can see to the best of your ability (there will inevitably be some). Then put the lid on and try to squeeze any out then as well.

For storage bags, this process is much easier since you can manipulate the bag and really see how much air is in there.

And there you have it! Three simple steps to getting started with freezer meal prep. If you have questions, comments or other tips that have worked for you please share them below!