Freezer Cooking

[abrannan]

As we all know, eating out is a prime enemy in weight loss, from the unhealthy preparation methods (deep frying) to the mammoth portion sizes, to the overabundance of preservatives. It's always better to eat food you've cooked yourself, even if the meal itself may not seem that much healthier.

Problem is, you've got to cook. After a long day of work, school, whatever, you've got to break out the pots and pans, and set to work making a meal. Even the simplest of meals can take a half hour to an hour of prep, cooking, and cleanup time. That can be a lot of work, especially if you're just feeding yourself or one other person. So, instead, we pick up the phone and order a pizza.

So, in order to overcome inertia, try Freezer Cooking. Basically, you set aside a half day or weekend, and cook two to four weeks of meals that you then individually bag and freeze, essentially making your own TV dinners. I found a great article on how to do it (along with follow-on articles on recipes, and how to gradually get started)
here .

[adeliecp]

This was a good article. I do a little bit of this already, but I really need to step it up and make more because it is so cost-effective...especially compared to those fancy premade vegetarian dishes like Amy's Kitchen.

What I've been doing lately is just freezing about half of whatever I make anyway. I find that Chili and soups freeze really well.

Lentil soup makes a great high protein main course soup I've found. It's so filling and you can add so many different vegetables to really change it. Also, adding just a little bit of strong cheese right before you eat it can really dress up it's flavor. It's amazing what a few crumbles of goat or bleu cheese can do for a dish.

The day before yesterday I made my own "veggie burger" patties and froze them. I've also been working on a vegetarian "chick'n nugget" recipe so I can make the ones like morning star farms sells, which I love.

I guess that the hardest thing for me is remembering to go and eat my delicios freezer meals. I need to make a greater variety so that I don't get totally sick of them. I really need to throw out some old "turkey seitan and stuffing" meals which I made way back in November.

Hmmm....another hint that can work well is finding someone who can do this with you. Cooking can be a great communal activity...I need to find some nearby vegetarian person who'd cook with me once a month.

[abrannan]

There's also a growing couple of franchises that do this sort of thing. Dream Dinners is the first that comes to mind, but I know there's at least one other here in the DC area. Basically, it's a cooking party. They provide the ingredients and kitchen, and you pay for 3-6 servings of a variety of dishes (the menu varies month to month) and you go cook the meal and package it up for freezing. It's a bit pricey, though, requiring a minimum order of 36 servings (total across several dishes) at about $5 per serving.

And their vegetarian selection is lacking, so maybe there's a business opportunity out there for someone...

[adeliecp]

Oh yes, I've heard of them in the Spokane area...though I never did it.

I'm not sure if there are anything like that in the Chicagoland area...I think I checked once a couple of months ago and came up blank...but maybe I didn't search as far into the suburbs...or I lost interest...or I wasn't using proper search terms.

Anyway, I think that $5 a serving is just too expensive for something like that. When i cook things myself I really feel it should taste good but cost way less than a restaurant meal.

Hmm...with the price of TVP being so low and seitan being so easy to make...maybe I should start a vegetarian kitchen operation. The price of seitan in stores is insane. To buy it premade costs like $3.50 for an 8 ounce package...I made about 3 pounds of it from about $2.00 worth of ingredients.

Okay, I'm rambling about my vegetarian ways, I'll stop now.

[salsafy]

Do you make your veggie patties out of lentils and oats? I have a recipe for it but haven't made them yet, I was going to this weekend. I've had seitan once and didn't really like it, but if I made it myself I might. If I was in Chicago, I'd come help you cook!

[BIG ATHENS]

we did this before at home but not for long
+ i love meat couldnt do the veg thing
your much more disciplined than me
i find it amazing that people could live without meat
good job
not a hate letter