I think it’s time that I write a post about freezer meals, since they have saved my sanity when it comes to making dinner. I love cooking and experimenting, but I just can’t do it every day. Freezer meals make it possible for me to feed my family healthy meals every day, while saving me time and money. This method of freezer meals, also, makes it possible to save leftovers for a few months, instead of having to eat the same thing twice in one week, which is an issue in our house.
Last Monday, I made a wonderful meatless chili in my crock pot (seriously the best cooking device ever invented). Our tiny family didn’t even eat half of it, so I broke out my freezable Tupperware, piled the leftover chili on in, and froze it for later. I put some chili in the fridge for myself for later that week, because I don’t mind eating leftovers in the same week. Well, this Monday came around, and it was time for Meatless Monday again, and rather than slaving over some other meatless meal that could have been a dud, because I’m not a pro at meatless yet, I baked some potatoes in the oven, reheated the chili in the microwave, and within 10-15 minutes of work, we were eating dinner. The potatoes took an hour to bake in the oven, but I was playing outside with my family while that was happening.
Yes, this came from my freezer!
If you have a larger family that would eat through the entire pot of chili, the simple solution is to make twice what you normally would. You’ll only have to spend one hour or less of chopping for two meals. The other great thing about making your own freezer meals is that you can portion control everything. I put my meals in small Tupperware or Ziploc bags, so that I don’t have to thaw and then refreeze my meals.
This is the Meatless Chili that I made.
Serve alone or over a potato with cheese and sour cream.
Ingredients
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 2 medium zucchini, diced
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 3 tablespoons cornmeal
- 1 pkg McCormick Chili Seasoning Mix, original
- 2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
- 2 15 oz cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 15 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 C of quinoa
- 1 C of water
Instructions
- In a crock pot, combine onion, garlic, green bell pepper, zucchini, carrots, cornmeal, seasoning packet, diced tomatoes, pinto beans, and kidney beans.
- Cook for 8 hours on low.
- In the last 15 minutes, bring water to a boil in small saucepan.
- Add quinoa to water and return to boil.
- Simmer on low for 15 minutes, or until the quinoa has absorbed all the water.
- Add quinoa to the chili.