Mar 14 2010
Gourmet-Quality Frozen Meal From Your Own Home
Everyone needs a quick convenient meal at times. They can be more nutritious than fast food and eaten at home. You can grab one of these meals when you have a busy schedule and feed you family an nutritious gourmet frozen meal.
At times you may have no choice other than grabbing something quick from the grocery store, but many times, you have another option. Make your own gourmet frozen meal.
By making your own frozen meals, you get to choose what goes into your food. You can choose to leave out ingredients that are not your family’s favorite or increase the spice a little here or there. Additionally, you can choose how much salt or sugar is added to the meals your family eats.
While many people just prepare the meals they know their family likes to eat, others like to experiment. If you are tired of the same old family favorites, here are some ideas that freeze well. Vegetable soup, beef stew, chicken curry, corn chowder or broccoli beef.
Rice and pasta do not do well in many freezer recipes, they tend to be overcooked by the time the food is cooked and then re-warmed. If you are cooking these recipes, just freeze the sauce and cook the rice or pasta separately. If you have a rice cooker just throw in the rice and water so you can let it cook while you warm the rest of the meal. Pick up fresh pasta and it cooks in boiling water in about three minutes.
There are a couple of ways to stock your freezer with gourmet frozen meals. The first is to double or even quadruple a recipe that you are cooking for your family’s dinner. As soon as the food is done, remove the excess to the refrigerator to begin cooling.
Another option is to set a couple of days aside for shopping and cooking. Shop one day and cook the next. You should be able to prepare several meals at once for your freezer. Plan to double and triple those recipes so that you quickly fill the freezer.
One of the best options for storing your food in the freezer is a vacuum sealer. This device uses special bags that can be made any size and removes the excess air before heat sealing the bag. Without air in the bag, the gourmet frozen meal is less likely to freezer burn.
For those of you who aren’t up to this sort of planning and time, acclaimed chefs will actually prepare a gourmet frozen dinner or lunch for you.
Don’t count on your local grocer to carry truly wonderful food that you can love. Instead, take a look online for a high quality gourmet dinner delivered to your door, frozen and ready to heat, serve and enjoy.