Making Your Own Frozen Meals

So, because I am pretty cheap, and also trying to lose weight, I started thinking about ways to make my own lean cuisines. I practically live on the things some weeks, because they are so easy to grab and go in the morning and reheat later for lunch. So after watching this video on YouTube, I decided to give it a try.

The lady in the video does a pretty good job of laying out the no-duh aspects of a lean cuisine meal. Most have a pasta base, and the bigger the pasta, the more space it takes up, and the more "food" you get. Also, the three main components are usually pasta, meat, and a sauce. Sometimes cheese, most of the time veggies.

So after watching the video, I gave it a try. Here's how it went.

Step 1: Collect the necessary ingredients, and realize that you'll probably make slight variations of the same meal.

Ingredients Collected

• Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta
• Chicken
• Frozen Carrots and Broccoli
• Prego Sauce
• Sweet and Sour Sauce
• Teriyaki Sauce

For this step I used one whole box of Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta. It feels like white pasta in your mouth, but has tons of fiber - I consider it a compromise between whole wheat pasta and the no-fiber stuff you can get for really cheap. Also, it's the only brand of fiber-filled pasta that regularly goes on sale to about $1/box, so when it does, I tend to stock up, because I am a cheap bastard/broke law student.

For the chicken, I used approx. 8 ounces, or a half pound. For the first batch, I charred it on a cast iron skillet with those ridges that make BBQ marks. For the second batch, I sauteed it in canola oil. I did not see a real difference between the two batches in the consistency of the re-heated chicken.

Exhibit 1: pasta and chicken.

Step 2: Cook the pasta so it is firm to the bite, not yet done. Also, cook the chicken.

This step takes some working out. For the first batch, I had to cook the penne noodles (the little tubes) for almost 15 minutes it seemed, way past what I should have theoretically cooked them for, because they were a little to un-done. For the the rotini (shown below) I did the same, but 15 minutes was way to long. They were falling apart! Ten minutes would have been fine.

Step 2.5: Stir 1 tbsp of canola oil (or some other healthy oil) in with the pasta before separating it. It helps with the re-heating.

Step 3: Separate the noodles and chicken into 6 equal containers. 

Three containers are shown here, because the rest are in the wash. The lady in the video saves and re-uses old Lean Cuisine containers for their size, but I find that the re-usable sandwich-sized containers with the lid work just as well. Also, the lids provide a natural 'steamer lid' for the microwave, as well as protecting against drippage when you take these things to work.

And I don't care what the little squiggly spelling error line things, "drippage" is SO a word.

Step 4: Add the chicken, vegetables and sauce.

The lady in the video advocates letting the pasta and chicken cool before adding the rest of the ingredients and freezing. However, I think this is dangerous advice. Having worked many years in the food service industry, I'm always acutely aware that there is a food temperature safety danger zone in which bacteria can multiply and grow rather quickly. You may think that re-heating the food will kill that bacteria, but I wouldn't take that chance. Also, it is for this reason that restaurants try to "chill" their food for storage rather quickly - to avoid the onset of growth of bacteria before it gets a chance to multiply. I suggest you do the same, and do these next few parts quickly and get your meals into the freezer AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

That said, distribute the chicken and vegetables evenly between your meals. Pour the sauce over the top. You may want to use a kitchen scale to tell how many ounces of sauce you're adding, for a more accurate calorie count (as I find measuring cups at this point to be more trouble than they're worth.)

Veggies added

Sauce (and chicken) added. I've found that adding the sauce last helps it better permeate the food when you cook it up.

Step 5: Cover and freeze quickly. 

Below is my stack, ready to go!

Done! And all in less than an hour on Sunday.

Reheating Instructions 

Take of lid, balance askew on top of the container to vent. Auto defrost for 1 lb of food (anywhere from 6 to 8 minutes). Stir, re-cover, cook on high for 3 minutes or until warm throughout.

Feedback and Lessons Learned

• When cooked properly, and defrosted and re-heated properly, these frozen made at home meals are actually pretty awesome tasting. But...
• It is essential not to overcook the noodles! The second batch I made, with the overcooked rotini noodles, came out gross. When reheated, the noodles all fell apart, the whole thing was mushy, and generally just not appetizing at all.
• Furthermore, sugary sauces need to be diluted. With what, I don't know, but the sweet and sour sauce defrosted and then cooked into more of a taffy than a sweet and sour sauce. Not entirely sure why that was, but I need to find an alternative or a way to dilute the sweet and sour sauce before I try it again.
• Broccoli crowns taste better than the stems in these meals. Usually I don't care, but for whatever reason the 'stalk' portion of the frozen broccoli was not appealing to me. I have frozen broccoli from fresh in the past, so perhaps I'll have to get back into that habit as well.

Thus finishes my adventure in attempting to make my own frozen meals. With a few trial-and-errors, I'm sure eventually I'll have this stuff down. Next attempt: frozen chicken fettuccine.