The House Smells So Gooooood!!

Today I put on the first of the freezer meals.

Sweet&Sour Pork

Trying to find recipes that go from freezer to table and maintain some sense of flavour and colour and nutrition is important. I did some research around the safest foods to freeze and how.

These were my favorite sites:

The Canadian Government Site for safe food handling practices. Some of it is plain common sense, but good to know.
http://healthycanadians.gc.ca/eating-nutrition/safety-salubrite/index-eng.php?utm_campaign=CHS1213&utm_source=google_en&utm_content=ADV0096-12_sem-ad-1_en&utm_medium=cpc&utm_keyword=%2Bcanada%20%2Bfood%20%2Bsafety#a2


Also, I liked reading about freezer friendly meals from Prevention magazine and Martha Stewart. I trust the preparation and advice on both these sites.

http://www.prevention.com/food/cook/freezer-friendly-recipes-make-ahead-time

http://www.marthastewart.com/274277/freezer-friendly-foods


There is lots of info out there on Pinterest regarding people making "make ahead meals", and the mixing of raw meat and veggies in a bag with sauce then whacking it in the freezer made me feel uneasy. And it should. Meat in one freezer bag and veggies in another if you must. Also, some veggies to not freeze well raw. It changes the cell structure and can modify the texture upon thawing.

 One biggie was potatoes....from everything I read, do not freeze raw potato...it won't kill you, but they turn black, can go mushy on thaw and turns the starch to sugars changing the flavours. Not worth it...cook the potatoes first! If it were okay to do, it would be on some trusted food sites like above....Pinterest is not a trusted food site to me. Good ideas, then do your research.


So, what did I cook first? I did the Sweet&Sour Pork. I was able to put away three servings for a later date. Just the thought of having three potential days of not pulling my hair out at 6pm when I get home from work was worth the effort.

All the ingredients cost me $11.21; making each meal to serve 4 a mere: $3.73

Complete: S&S Pork with Fresh Mixed Veggies

Spaghetti and Meatballs, Cabbage Rolls, Shepherd's Pie....hmmmm, what to do next?
At the very least, the house smells really good!

Till next time!