Monday, June 6, 2011

A Different Take on Freezer Cooking

I love freezer cooking (when I have the time) and truly believe it’s a good, cost effective way for busy moms to get convenient meals on the table relatively easy. With that being said, as a mom who works outside of the home, sometimes it’s pretty impossible to find the time to get food on the table let alone cook up extra meals for the future.


To combat the time element while still eating meals together as a family, I sometimes take advantage of a meal service that will provide a complete frozen meal for me. Typically there are different options to choose from and I’ve found that the food is usually tastier and less processed than buying pre-packaged frozen dinners.

I have used two different meal services in my area and have found each of them to run about $16 - $17 per meal (for four people). This is quite a bit more expensive than if I cook myself but is significantly cheaper (and usually healthier) than if I have to take my family out for dinner.

Here was the May menu for one of the places that I go:

Entrée’s

• Sweet Thai chili chicken with vegetables
• Liver, bacon and onions
• Seafood tetrazzini
• Pork chop suey with white rice
• Chicken enchiladas, rice & beans
• Sweet & sour pork
• French toast,sausages, OJ and muffins
• Pasta & meatball stew
• Velveeta tex mex beef & potatoes
• Hawaiian pork chops with rice a ronni
• Lasagna roll ups salad and bread
• Smoked kielbasa and vegetables

Side Dishes (2 sides for each meal)

• Creamy herb Yukon gold smashed potatoes
• Pasta & peppers ( hot side dish)
• Parsley red potatoes
• Confetti corn
• Fruit fluff
• Broccoli and almonds
• Glazed carrots
• Peas and carrots
• Asparagus
• Corn & broccoli bake
• Herb vegetables
• Mexican skillet rice (contains chicken)
• Mini apple pie
• Loaf of sweet bread

As you can see it’s a pretty wide range of menu choices and contains both entrees as well as side dishes. I’ve used services that will provide the food and space but expect you to assemble (they will typically assemble for an additional fee) and I’ve used services that do all the prep work themselves.

Below is a link that I found on the Internet that lists a bunch of meal prep companies and the city they reside in. I’ve only used one of these companies so I can’t vouch for them, just trying to provide you with some information if this is a service you would like to explore. If you don’t see your city on this list I would try looking up “meal prep” or “freezer cooking” and your city or surrounding cities to see what’s available.  If you have used any of the businesses on this list I'd be interested in what your experiences have been.

Easy Meal Prep Vendors

Have you had any experiences with meal prep companies?  What has been your take on them?

4 comments:

  1. i've always wanted to try that! they have a couple places like that around here and when i was working full-time it was super tempting. now that i've cut back it wouldn't be in the budget,but still a neat idea!

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  2. It definitely is a little bit more expensive and I don't do it all the time. However it is a good way to get some food in the freezer for those weeks that are just so crazy we just can't cope! I think making the sacrifice of not paying someone to freezer cook is well worth the opportunity to work less. I'm glad it's worked out for you.

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  4. As a 60 year old Mama of 7 kids I have little ones and grown children as well. I sometimes chuckle at some of the Mom's who think they have it all figured out. I'm not certain any of us ever have it all figured out! I keep the Polish Sausage in the Freezer and I cook whatever I can as I can, often making extra chicken, and ground beef, I make extra trays of Lasagna and when my freezer gets empty and I have no more time I buy a large ham and let everyone grab as they can or get one of the grown kids make some sides to go with it. I love community and am always learning, I want more friends in life ! Visit at my blog glossy money please come and teach me something. I love to learn!

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