Cooking TipsFreezing Meals Ahead for the Beginner
By now, youð€™ve probably heard of making recipes ahead to have frozen meals on-hand for busy nights.  There are many books on the subject and even businesses like Dream Dinners, where the customer goes to assemble their meals for freezing. Youð€™ve thought, WOW, what a great idea! But thatð€™s as far as it got. You donð€™t have the extra money for Dream Dinners and you still scramble to put dinner on the table night after night. Well you can EASILY change that! I say easily, because, for the beginner, itð€™s easy to get started preparing meals ahead for your freezer.
Marinating Meats
The simplest way to get started with preparing meals ahead for freezing is with meats and marinades. The front page of your grocery flier usually shows which meats are on sale. Just by buying meats, when they are on sale, I figure Ið€™ve saved about $50 per year on chicken alone. Itð€™s true, but I wonð€™t bore you with the math! If chicken breast is on sale for less than $2 per. lb., I like to buy at least six pounds at a time, an average of twice per month.
Chicken Thighs
Rather than starting off with six pounds of chicken breasts, make it even easier by starting off with purchasing two each, two pound packages of boneless chicken thighs. Each 2 lb. package will contain six to eight chicken thighs and serve an average size family nicely.  For either my teriyaki chicken recipe, or my Thai chicken recipe, I simply double the marinade and set it aside. I have two gallon-size Reynolds Handi-Vac vacuum freezer bags ready, each bag has the appropriate item, cooking directions, and date marked on it. I place six to eight chicken pieces in each bag. Next, I pour half the marinade in each bag and seal the top. I lay the bag on the counter and vacuum seal using my Reynolds Handi-Vac vacuum sealer, which is the subject of my last article. You do not need to use a vacuum sealer, but I highly recommend the small investment (avg. cost $10.00) as using a vacuum sealer preserves the freshess, taste and texture of your frozen foods. Once sealed, place the bags in your freezer. When you are ready to cook, take one of the bags out the day before to defrost in your refrigerator and cook as directed.
I have a son in college, and I like to prepare single servings of Thai and Teriyaki chicken for him to take to his dorm room. I use the quart size Reynoldð€™s bags for his servings. With the directions written on the bags, itð€™s a snap for him to cook these up, and heð€™s the envy of all his buddies in the dorm!
Hamburger Meat
Once you get a taste of freezing meals ahead (pun intended) you may love this way of pre-preparing meals. So go ahead, donð€™t let that big 4 lb. log  of hamburger meat scare you! With just a little prep time now, that can be approximately four, four serving meals later!
Start off with making four hamburger ÂÜ lb. patties. Place a piece of waxed paper between each patty, and place four patties in your Reynoldð€™s vacuum sealer bag and seal. For an even quicker meal that you would simply reheat, try preparing taco meat ahead. Brown 1 lb. of meat and follow my recipe for taco seasoning as directed. Once your taco meat is completely cooled, it is ready for sealing in a vacuum bag. This works the same way for ð€ÇSloppy Joesð€Ý also. Prepare, cool, freeze for a quick meal on busy nights.
Marinated Steak Tips
Check your grocery flier, steak tips do go on sale! At my grocery store, I can save up to .50 per pound. My recipe for grilled marinated steak tips is a family-favorite. I will buy three pounds of steak tips and double my marinated steak recipe. Following the same general instructions above, I place half of the steak tips in each bag with half of the marinade and freeze.
If you have never tried freezing meals ahead before, I hope you are inspired to give it a try. You will love opening your freezing to the variety of meals waiting for you, and freezing marinated meat, is just the tip of the (frozen!) iceberg.
The recipes for teriyaki chicken, marinated steak tips, tacos and Sloppy Joes are in my cookbook Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms soon to be available.