Instead, just take a bit of extra time right after you go shopping, and chop up (or food-process) all the goods.
Now divide the ingredients into freezer bags and create a wonderful base for your next 4 meals. Don't worry about measuring or being too particular. Soups are very forgiving. I try to fill my gallon size bags about half-way and find that will serve my family of 6 just fine. Label, and put them in the freezer.
Now you can feel great about yourself because you won't have to feel guilty every time you open the fridge. You will thank yourself (and me) later on a busy night when all you have to do is dump the contents of the bag into a crockpot, along with a few pantry items, and voila! Your healthy and delicious dinner is done. Now you have a beautiful foundation for at least four dinners.
There are endless possibilities for soups, chilis, and casseroles from any of these bags. Be creative and have fun. Check out some of our easy family favorites below.
Tortilla Soup
One bag of freezer vegetables
1 TBS healthy oil (Olive or Avocado)
2 quarts chicken broth
1 can beans (black or pinto)
1 can corn
1 TBS taco seasoning (or to taste )
1 can tomato paste to thicken
Serve with Tortilla Chips, avocodo and cheese toppings
Butternut Soup
1 bag chopped/frozen butternut and onion chunks
1 TBS oil
1 quart chicken broth
fresh herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme; found in refrigerated produce section)
salt/ pepper to taste
1 can condensed milk, cream or milk of choice
If creamy texture desired, blend with immersion blender or upright blender
Serve with favorite bread
Vegetable Chowder
1 bag vegetables chopped and frozen
1/3 cup flour (sprinkle on top of veg before adding broth)
1 TBS oil
1 quart chicken broth
squirt of lemon juice
Fresh Herb to taste
2 c cheese (add later when vegetables are cooked through and soup is hot)
1/4 c Parmesan cheese
1 can condensed milk
Curry Soup
1 bag freezer vegetables (including chopped garlic and ginger)
1 TBS oil
1 quart chicken broth
1/2 c shred chicken (from previous meal)
1 TBS curry powder or to taste
hint of cayenne pepper
2 can coconut milk
salt and pepper to taste
Serve as a soup with Naan bread or over rice
xo-Heather
#MoreFoodLessCrap #Health #Recipe #Food
These look great. I will have to try them soon. Seeing how people incorporate easy healthy ideas is very encouraging.
ReplyDeleteEmily I'm glad you like this! If you are anything like me its hard to know what to do with all of the well-meaning vegetables I buy. This is a fun practice to help us use them up and not let them go to waste!
DeleteGoing to have to give all the processed foods I bought at costco this week to the neighbors to free up room for the good stuff. ;-) (Matti) hahaha
ReplyDeleteHaha! Don't throw it all out just yet. Just add fresh fruit and vegetables every time you serve them until they are gone. Let the kids see you eating fresh fruit and vegetables with your helping and keep talking to them about how good these changes will be. When the processed food does run out, try to replace it with some other homemade version.
DeletePS. I still keep some freezer meals from Costco handy on days when cooking is not an option. Again, its natural to fall back onto family favorites now and then. Just be sure and add salads, fruit and veg when you serve it and then don't worry.