Meal Planning: Part II
If you read the last post on meal planning (if not, read here) and are ready to take it a step further, you’re in the right place!
In Meal Planning Part II, you will learn how to take advantage of your freezer to minimize time and food waste. Foods like soups, chilis, casseroles, meats, and vegetables can be easily frozen for future meals and are especially handy for those crazy busy weeks when you need to rely on a meal from the freezer that is ready to heat and eat!
While all foods can be frozen, not all foods SHOULD be frozen. In addition, some foods require additional steps to ensure quality is maintained. Others just don’t belong in the freezer at all because their flavor or texture changes during the freezing and/or thawing process. Items like fruit and meat can just be cut, stored, and tossed in the freezer and hold up pretty well, whereas vegetables, eggs, and prepared dishes require some additional steps to get right. However, if done properly, freezing food will lock in nutrients and freshness so your items come out just as good as the day they went in.
Foods That Freeze Well
Chopped or peeled Fruit
Chopped & blanched vegetables
Cracked eggs in ice cube trays
Spaghetti sauce with undercooked pasta
Meats
Herbs using an ice cube tray
Baked goods
Foods to Avoid Freezing
Whole Fruit (exception: berries)
Whole raw vegetables
Raw eggs in shell
Spaghetti sauce stored with cooked pasta
Dressings & condiments
Block cheese
10 General steps to ensure food is frozen properly:
Use a thermometer to monitor your freezer temperature (it should be 0°F).
Keep the freezer two-thirds full for energy efficiency.
When preparing food that is going to be frozen, season cautiously and add more after thawing. Spices change flavor during freezer storage.
Cool down properly: cool down cooked food quickly before freezing and never put hot food in the freezer. Placing warm food in the freezer (or fridge) can cause the surrounding foods to thaw and increase the risk of them growing bacteria. To avoid this, allow food to cool to room temperature within 2 hours and store in quart-size or shallow containers/zip-top freezer bags. This helps the food cool quicker than if it were in a larger container.
Use the right containers: Ones that are durable, leak-proof, and can handle low temperatures. Great ones are vacuum-seal Ziploc bags, and containers with air-tight lids..
Seal Tightly: Top casseroles with wax paper and cover tightly in foil. Using plastic freezer bags and removing as much air as possible helps protect food from freezer burn.
Leave an inch at the top of containers to allow room for the food to expand as it freezes.
Label and date containers and set reminders to consume frozen foods within three to six months.
Manage the quantities and freeze in batches, so the food can be frozen solid within 24 hours. Adding a lot of food in at once will increase freezing time.
Keep foods with a higher risk of foodborne illnesses, like meat, near the back of the freezer, because the temperature is more consistent.
Tips to Freeze Specific Food & Dishes:
Poultry/Meat/Fish: Break your packs of chicken breasts, ground beef, or salmon into servings you typically cook with, wrap them and stash them in the freezer.
Eggs: Eggs freeze best if cooked such as in a quiche, breakfast burrito or egg muffin. However, if you need to freeze raw eggs it’s best to crack them into an ice tray, freeze, and then transfer the frozen cubes to a freezer bag. To prevent the yolk from changing consistency once thawed, beat the egg white and yolk together before freezing. When you’re ready to use them, just thaw them in the fridge. Side note: Even with this method, the egg’s texture will change a bit.
Vegetables: Vegetables should be blanched before freezing. If you’ve never blanched before, here is a video that shows you how.. Without blanching, vegetables become mush, change flavor, and lose nutrients in the freezer. However, even with blanching, frozen vegetables change consistency and will most likely lose their crunchiness.
Pro Tip: Vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower should first be frozen as individual florets on a baking sheet before being put into a bag to avoid clumping together.
Leftovers: Items like lasagnas, casseroles and spaghetti sauce tend to leave you with leftovers. After you serve yourself, divide into smaller portions and cool to room temperature before freezing in containers.
How to Defrost Food Safely:
Bacteria and microbes become inactive when frozen. However, once the food is removed from the freezer and starts to thaw, bacteria and other microbes start to become active again and you run the risk of foodborne illness if the food is left out between 40 and 140ºF for an extended period (4 hours) before being consumed and/or cooked. This is why it is important to know how to thaw frozen food safely.
There are three safe methods:
The Refrigerator: This is the safest and most hands-off method, but it takes the longest and requires some forethought. Most items take a day or two to fully defrost so you can look at your menu for the week to know when you need to take the item out to thaw. Typically allow 5-7 hours per pound of food.
Cold Water: This type of defrosting requires less time than the refrigerator but more attention. Place food in a water-proof storage bag, then into cold water. Change water every 30 minutes until food is thawed.
The Microwave: Defrosting in the microwave is your last-minute go-to for smaller items. Unwrap the food and place it in a microwave-safe dish. Defrosting time is dependent on the size and the type of the food you are defrosting. Microwave settings vary, but you should have a defrost setting as an option. As a general rule, decrease the power to around 30-50% depending on what you are defrosting. The low power setting allows food to warm gradually and evenly throughout without solely cooking the outside.
Use the lower 30%-35% settings for larger, more dense items such as large pieces of meat.
Use the higher 45%-50% settings for smaller loose food that can be mixed throughout the defrosting process in order to evenly distribute heat, such as frozen vegetables.
Cook the food immediately after defrosting.
Reheating Frozen Food:
If you don’t have time to make sure the food is fully thawed out, you can throw it in an Instapot and it should have your meal ready in about 45 minutes. Depending on the meal, some foods are better cooked from a frozen state whereas others should be thawed fully before being used. The taste and texture can be affected by how long you let some foods thaw. For example, meat is better cooked after it has been fully thawed, while vegetables are better cooked from a frozen state. To guarantee food safety, make sure the food is cooked to an internal temperature of at least 165℉ when ready to serve.
Frozen Shelf-Life:
Frozen food is generally best consumed within 3 - 6 months but at the latest 9 months. This is why labels are important to keep track of how long the food has been in the freezer. Here’s a guide for how long frozen food lasts.
Food # of Months
Casseroles 2-3
Soups & Stews 2-3
Raw bacon 1
Raw pork chops 4-6
Raw steak 6-12
Ground beef 4
Cooked chicken 4
Cooked fish 4-6
Frozen veggies 8
Whole chicken or turkey 12
Freezer Friendly Recipe ideas:
Zucchini Pizza Casserole: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/zucchini-pizza-casserole/
Spinach & Artichoke Chicken Casserole: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/spinach-and-artichoke-chicken-casseroles-5652405
Slow Cooker Cauliflower Chickpea Curry: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/slow-cooker-freezer-pack-cauliflower-and-chickpea-curry-4708759
Turkey Chili: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/big-batch-turkey-chili-3364931
Empty Fridge Challenge:
In the United States, roughly $165 billion worth of food is wasted every year. That's enough to fill 730 college football stadiums and the majority of it is at the household level. You can help decrease this with a daily effort of using what you have. Not to mention how much money it would save you!
Make a household pact to finish all groceries before going grocery shopping again. I know it can seem daunting to look in the fridge, see minimal ingredients and feel like you can’t make a meal out of it. However, you will be surprised by what you can make by mixing fresh items with dry staples (i.e. grains, beans) and freezer items. To help, you can also input your ingredients into websites like MyFridgeFood, Supercook, and FoodCombo to see what you can make with what you have. If you don’t want to rely on a recipe, you most likely can create a stir-fry, casserole, omelet, soup, etc with the food sites you have. Not only will you be surprised how easily you can make a filling meal with limited ingredients, but you will also feel accomplished, help reduce waste on the planet, and save money! This is also an exciting time to get creative, expand your palette and try new recipes you haven’t made before such as throwing warm sweet potato cubes on a salad or making a tropical tuna salad by adding fresh peppers and mango.
Use the ‘Kitchen Inventory’ handout (here) to get a bigger picture of which ingredients you will have remaining after you make the recipes in your meal plan. Then you can make a plan of how you can use the leftover ingredients.
Reduce food waste tip:
Make a dressing or marinate out of your almost-gone condiments. Anything from mayonnaise, yogurt, mustard, Thai-chili sauce, etc. and add in oil, vinegar, herbs, and spices to the almost finished bottle. Give it a nice shake and you have yourself a delicious dressing.
Within this next week I encourage you to take a full inventory of your fridge, freezer and pantry. Safely defrost and consume any frozen items that are towards the end of their life span. Maybe whip up a new casserole or recipe you haven’t tried yet. It is an opportunity to get creative. See if there are any ingredients in your fridge and pantry that can be used to create a freezer-ready meal that will save you money and time on a future busy night. If you succeed in the Empty Fridge Challenge, maybe you treat yourself to a night of your favorite takeout or even pass the challenge on to your neighbor. If you found the last two blog posts helpful, stay tuned for part III, which will wrap up the series and give you a complete set of resources to be a master meal planner.
