Tag Archives: convenient

Freezer Meals: Week 9

Happy Wednesday & Happy Freezer Meal Day!

I’ve heard a lot about freezer meals that Pinterest’ers refer to as ‘dumps’. A ‘dump’ is when you pre-prepare a meal, freeze it, and simply dump it in a slow cooker to complete. They’re simple, convenient, and silly-easy.

I thought that today, I’d bring you in on the ‘dump’ theme with 3 recipes that follow this protocol.

First up…

Terriyaki Dump Chicken

Terriyaki Dump Chicken

Terriyaki Dump Chicken [http://acultivatednest.com/2009/02/im-just-dump-cook/]

Dump the following ingredients in a gallon size freezer bag and squeeze out as much air as you can and seal: 1 clove crushed garlic, minced ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, cider vinegar, rice wine vinegar, 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Freeze. To cook, defrost overnight (or you could always go from frozen and just increase your cooking time). Take your bag and dump into a greased baking dish. Cook at 350 in a preheated oven until done. Usually this will take 25-35 minutes. If you want to cook in a crockpot, cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours until chicken is no longer pink.

That’s all – enjoy!

Hearty Beef Stew

Hearty Beef Stew

Hearty Beef Stew [http://www.mommysavers.com/crock-pot-freezer-meals-hearty-beef-stew/]

MommySavers provides us with such a great recipe here – an all-time comfort food. And it’s easy! Simply add the following ingredients, raw, into 2 bags: cubed stew meat, 1 small-medium white onion, 2-3 stalks of celery, 30 baby carrots, 1 cup frozen peas, 8 baby red potatoes, 1 can diced tomatoes. You’ll then need to prepare and mix a sauce: tomato sauce, tomato paste, garlic, garlic and herb seasoning, pepper, and beef bullion. Pour sauce divided into each of the two bags, zip up, and freeze. When you’re ready to cook, thaw in the fridge overnight, pour into crock pot, and cook on low 6-8 hours or high-3-4 hours. Then you’re ready to serve!

Stickin’ Chicken

Stickin Chicken

Stickin Chicken [http://midwestmodernmomma.com/dump-chicken-recipes/]

Not only does this recipe have a fun name, but it’s just insanely easy! All you need for stickin’ chicken are boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 1/4 cup of peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and salt&pepper. Add all to a bag, zip up, and freeze. When you’re ready to cook, preheat your oven to 350 and bake for 35-40 minutes. If you want to crockpot, cook for 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high. Easy, easy! Enjoy.

#NationalTVDinnerDay

Happy Thursday! This week is flying by! I’m thinking every week should only last 4 days…agree?

Today, so I hear, is #NationalTVDinnerDay. I’m not here to support the TV dinner, but rather give you some history on this craze and provide you with equally as easy, equally as convenient, but so, so, so much healthier of options!

According to Wikipedia, the term ‘TV dinner’ is a genericized trademark originally used for a brand of packaged meal developed in 1953 by C.A. Swanson (sound familiar?). In the United States, the term remains synonymous with any prepackaged dinner purchased frozen in a supermarket and heated at home.

I’ll admit, I have been guilty of these, as they are junkily delicious and so easy to pop in the microwave, but I couldn’t tell you the last time I had one, as luckily, in the past decade or so, I’ve become more health-conscious.

To give you a breakdown of health concerns with TV dinners, there are quite a few:

  • The freezing process degrades the taste of food and the meals are thus heavily processed with extra salt and fat to compensate.
  • Stabilizing the product for a long period generally means that companies will use partially hydrogenated vegetable oils for some items (usually dessert), which are high in trans fat.
  • Generally, these meals contain preservatives such as BHT

I know that they’re very convenient, but guess what else is just as convenient? HOMEMADE FREEZER MEALS!

I’ve placed links to all of my compilations of freezer meals to date for your convenience below:

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Take a look, put a little bit of extra effort in, and call it your very own version of a TV dinner. Enjoy!