Chill Out! Freezer Meals & Strategies to Make Cooking a Snap

After blogging about the freeze-able breakfast burritos, I've received requests for more freezer meals and ideas.  I love that folks are wanting to do more in-home cooking and eating!  So let me start by giving a few freeze-worthy ideas to make meals easier.  Watch out for future blogs on specific frozen meal recipes.

Breakfast
Problem:  I'm a real breakfast-lover, but find I don't have the time in the morning to prepare some of my favorite breakfast foods so I end up grabbing a granola bar or cold cereal.
Solution: Put breakfast on your dinner menu then cook extra.  Some great breakfast foods that freeze well are pancakes (I prefer to reheat them in the toaster), french toast (toaster reheat as well - gives a little crispness to the edge so it isn't so soggy) and crepes.  Make sure that when you freeze these foods, you do so in small single serving bags.  This keeps you from having to chip off a single pancake from the solid lumpy stack.  Zip-top sandwich style bags work great for this - toss a couple pancakes, slices of french toast, or folded crepes in and stack in your freezer.  Nothing jazzes up a Tuesday morning like a hot breakfast.  You can toss them in the microwave for a few seconds to thaw, then finish in the toaster (with the exception of crepes - they heat quickly in the microwave, top with a little homemade jam (another freezer staple), add a glass of milk and a banana and you're good to go!
Another option is hot cereal - this freezes well when cooked so whether you go for steel-cut oats, teff or wheat berries, cook up a batch then freeze in single-serving, microwavable containers.  A minute or two on high and you've got a stick-to-your-ribs breakfast without waiting 30 minutes for the grain to cook.

Lunch
Problem: I crave a hot lunch, but don't have the time to cook in the middle of the day.
Solution: I always recommend leftovers for lunch.  Not only does it give you a hot lunch that is more likely to be a good balance of grain, veggies and protein, but it also reduces food waste and cost.  However, if you're not big on traditional leftovers - think hot sandwiches, quesadillas and burritos.  No, I'm not talking about the cheap burritos you lived on in college. Again, using dinner as the ideal prep time, try making a few extra grilled cheese & ham sandwiches.  They defrost well in the microwave, then finish them in a toaster or a few seconds in a grill pan.  This will crisp up the outside nicely while the microwave helps get the inside delectably hot.  Try something a bit more exciting, like a little chipotle, monterrey jack and some grilled onions and peppers for a southwestern twist on the classic grilled cheese.  There's also my favorite - caprese grilled cheese - fresh mozzarella, slice of tomato and plenty of basil.  Same theory applies to quesadillas - add in some black beans, a little salsa or maybe some shredded pork or chicken.  A few seconds in the microwave and a quick flip in a hot skillet or grill pan and you're set to go.  Burritos follow the same plan as the breakfast burritos in the previous post.  When you put them on your dinner menu, make sure you have enough leftover to wrap up some refried beans, pepper jack cheese, smoky salsa and maybe some sauteed corn and onions.  Perhaps you'd rather go with a more southern style - mash up a can of baked beans, add some shredded bbq pork and a little cheddar cheese, fold up burrito style, wrap in foil and freeze.  A couple minutes in the microwave and you've got a burrito a good sight tastier than those college standbys.

Dinner:
Problem: I want to serve my family more home-cooked meals and less take-out and processed foods, but I simply don't have the time or energy to spend 1-2 hours in food prep after work. 
Solution: Make the freezer and the crockpot your friend.  Ok, I'll save crockpotting for another day, but simply having some things prepped and in the freezer make pulling dinner together a snap.  Here are a few things I love having in my freezer for that last minute dinner plan:

• Browned, ground beef.  Buy it on sale, take 30-45 minutes on a weekend and brown it all up.  I freeze mine in 1 cup quantities (about 1/3 pound).  Then I can pull it out and after 1 minute in the microwave I can toss it into spaghetti sauce, add taco seasoning for taco night, or layer it with frozen veggies and use my Sunday leftovers of mashed potatoes and gravy to pull together a quick shepherd pie.  (Microwaving each component as you go and layering them hot cuts the baking time down to less than half.)  Sloppy joes take mere minutes when the hamburger is browned and ready.
• Shredded pork, beef and chicken.  Crockpots come in very hand here.  Having a few different meat options makes it easy to pull together enchiladas, taco salads, exotic salads (like teriyaki pork, black bean and mango) and hot sandwiches. 
• Never make just one.  At any given time I have lasagne, chicken pot pie, shepherds pie, enchiladas and sloppy joes in the freezer.  I always make two and freeze one, while making sure to write the cooking instructions on the foil so that my kids can easily pull it out and get dinner going if I find that I'm running a little late.  

If you've got some good bread in the freezer, some cooked meat, frozen veggies, and shredded cheese - you can pull together a myriad of meals from as many cuisine types without the long cooking/prepping time.  The key (as it is with everything successful in life) is planning it out in advance and taking some time on a weekend or evening to get your building blocks in place, then put your menu down on paper.  After all, decision making takes up a large chunk of meal prep time as well.  Good luck and good eating!

Don't Bake Your Apples - Crockpot Them!

I love baked apples.  They smell and taste like fall, plus they are loaded with lots of health benefits. There might actually be something to the phrase "an apple a day keeps the doctor away."  But I don't always have an hour to wait for them to bake in the oven when I'm ready for an afternoon snack or a dessert for dinner.  My solution?  Crockpot.  Yep - take 5 minutes in the morning, and they are ready and waiting for you anytime that afternoon or evening.  Here's what it looks like:

Slice and core your apples and place them in your crockpot.

Put a small (1/2 teaspoon) amount of butter in the center of each apple half.

Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.  (I love cinnamon and it has wonderful health benefits - so I don't skimp on this step.)

Cover and turn crockpot on low heat.

You can look, but don't take off the lid.   You'll love the way your house smells as the apples cook.

When you're ready - they are waiting for you in all they gooey, apple-ness.  There's a cold front moving through my area tomorrow - and I know what I'll be putting in the crockpot that morning!

Avoiding the Thanksgiving Food-Coma

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We all have experienced the painful effects of overeating at a holiday meal – the dreaded “food coma” and even though we all know that we should listen to our body and  stop when we are satisfied, we somehow end up revisiting the food coma every year.  There are few strategies you can put in place to help you enjoy a meal-centered holiday without ending up sprawled on the couch with your pants unbuttoned. 

1.    Put your favorite Thanksgiving foods on the menu before or after the holiday.  Knowing that you’ll see your favorite foods again can prevent “now-or-never” bingeing. 
2.     Eat a decent breakfast – don’t go into Thanksgiving meal starving because excessive hunger leads to overeating.  
3.     Try to keep your Thanksgiving plate balanced: ¼ meat, ¼ grains, ¼ starch.  Start out with normal-sized portions and keep second helping to your absolute favorites.  
4.     Make visiting a priority – slow down during the meal and enjoy some conversation.  This will allow your body time to register when it is beginning to be full.  
5.     Plan some fun physical activity after the meal.  Knowing that there is a family football game or even a walk around the block after the meal is cleaned up not only aids digestion but also gives one more reason not to push our eating over the brink. 

One thing worse than a food coma is food poisoning, s o be sure to:

• not leave food out for more than 2 hours
• use refrigerated leftovers within 4 days
• if you can’t use leftovers that soon, toss them in the freezer and use within 2 to 6 months
• always reheat your leftovers to 165 degrees F.

Fresh Living segment on holiday eating

The Trick to Balancing Treats

Halloween is here again and that probably means your home has been inundated with miniature sized candy.  Does this mean it has to be a day of painful deprivation?  Of course not.  Here are a few tricks to keep the treats in balance:

• Focus more on your good eating habits today - be sure to drink 8 glasses of water and try to get 9 servings of fruits and veggies in.
• Stick to a regular meal schedule today - don't skip a meal in anticipation of treats tonight.  Halloween candy does not constitute a well-balanced meal.  
• Plan out and enjoy the anticipation of your favorite treats.  Mindfully eating a few pieces of your favorite candy is much preferred over mindlessly eating whatever is at hand.
• Prioritize your candy consumption.  Have a piece or two of only your very favorites.  It's not worth wasting calories on mediocre sweets.
• Have a plan in place for leftover candy.  Whether you donate it to the food bank, toss it in the garbage or save a few favorites in the freezer for later enjoyment, make a plan and stick to it - don't leave it out on the counter to tempt you the next few days.  (Notice I didn't say send the leftovers to work?  Healthy eating at work is hard enough without a bowl of Halloween-dregs candy at every turn.

So yes, enjoying Halloween is definitely doable with a little planning.  I can promise you that there is a twix and a hundred grand bar (and maybe a mounds for the freezer) with my name on them out there today, but there is also a big water bottle, a banana, clementine, veggie soup and dried fruit & cereal mix out there with my name on them as well.  Happy, healthy Halloween!

The After-School Sandwich Bar & Grill

If you and your kids are tired of the same old routine for after school snacks, try opening up the After School Sandwich Bar & Grill.  Tap into your kids creativity and possibly their competitive natures by setting out some:

• whole grain bread or tortillas
• nut butters 
• cheese slices
• dried fruits (raisins, or berries)
• sliced fruits (apples or mandarin oranges)
• grill pan, sandwich press or toaster

When a half sandwich or quesadilla involves protein from nuts or cheese plus some fruit and the whole grain from the bread or tortilla, you've got a nutritional knock-out that is just the right size for snack time.   Plus you're kids may come up with some creative and gourmet combinations.  For example:

• grilled whole wheat tortilla, colby jack and granny smith
• toasted wheat bread, almond butter, mandarin orange slices and a few mini-chocolate chips
• peanut butter, dried berry panini

Let your kids (and your own) creativity run wild and with very little prep or clean-up you've got a fun, new after-school snack to add to your repertoire. 
Find more tips on Studio 5: Art of After-School Snacking

Going Green for Vitamin C

We all know that dark green foods are packed with nutrition.  And since it's cold & flu season, a lot of people start thinking about upping the vitamin C in their diet.  Well, green is the way to go for vitamin C - broccoli, kale, green peppers, and kiwi all contain fabulous amounts of America's favorite health-boosting vitamin.  But did you know that green tomatoes contain almost twice the vitamin C that red tomatoes do?  To me that means one thing: it's time to serve up some fried green tomatoes!  Don't worry, I'm talking pan-frying in just a touch of olive oil here, so no need to fret over the term fried.  This time of year as I get ready to tear out my garden, I hate the idea of wasting all those cute yet unripe tomatoes, so to me, fall is the season for this dish.  I cooked up a few for my lunch today (since the rest of my family fails to appreciate the culinary appeal of a tart, crispy-coated, green tomato slice). 

I love to mix a little BBQ sauce with some plain greek yogurt for a delicious dipping sauce.

If you're not sure you're quite ready for the southern dish of fried green tomatoes straight up, try them on a BLT.  I love the Fried Green Tomato BLT recipe from Cooking Light.  Whether or not you're getting vitamin C from green tomatoes or broccoli, be sure to load up your diet with plenty of fruits and veggies and you'll easily have enough vitamin C in your diet to face whatever winter dares to send your way. 

Getting the Real Story on Going Gluten-Free

There are a multitude of folks out there that are required to go gluten-free.  Celiac disease, gluten intolerance, and certain allergies make a gluten-free diet essential.  However, for anyone without a medical reason to eliminate gluten, my advice is this: don't.  Not only does it add a layer of complication to grocery shopping, cooking and eating out, but it carries a nutritional challenge as well.  Often it becomes difficult to meet fiber and certain vitamin requirements when gluten is eliminated.  Certain B-vitamins, magnesium and iron are just a few examples of nutrients that might be deficient in a gluten-free diet. 

Now, for those that struggle with a medical diagnosis that requires a gluten-free diet, here are a few resources and suggestions to get you started. 

• For basic information on celiac disease visit: www.celiac.org and www.celiaccentral.org
• For tips on what foods to watch out for and label reading: foods to avoid

As you start replacing foods such as tamari for soy sauce, and corn for flour tortillas, you may feel a bit overwhelmed.  Take heart - there are more gluten-free products out there than ever before.  Just be sure to read your nutrition labels so that you can make the most nutritious choices.  Just because it carries the label "gluten-free" doesn't mean it is a healthful choice.  Look for a high-fiber, low-sugar content.  And remember that it is vital that you keep the rest of your diet as healthful and balanced as possible.  That means really going for 9 fruits and veggies per day and eating low-fat, high-quality protein, and cooking more at home. 

Going gluten-free may be challenging to be sure, but it is far from impossible.  With planning and practice you can achieve a healthful balanced diet in spite of your diagnosis.