A month ago, a coworker invited me to a Pampered Chef Freezer Meal party. I will admit that I went in to it with a little bit of an attitude: "I'm going to have to buy all their seasonings and the meals will be full of processed goo and not taste great."
Four hours of fun, three glasses of wine, $170 for groceries and seasonings, and 14 meals later, I was happily proved (mostly) wrong. Here's how my thinking changed:
1) I'm going to have to buy all of their seasonings - well, yes. This is a service they're offering after all, and I felt like the $70 was more than worth the ideas and ingredients I got, plus not having to do the dishes and getting a free dinner was a bonus! I discovered a few ingredients I would have normally given the "side eye" to, like cherry balsamic vinegar, which costs the same at the grocery store as it does from The Pampered Chef.
2) The meals will be processed - I was expecting lots of Cream-of-Something-Soup recipes and chemical bombs, but this really was mostly lean protein, fresh vegetables, and spices. (The sodium content, on the other hand...notsomuch. But fret not, as I modified them just for you.)
3) The meals won't be good - Of the 7 different meals I made (I doubled up, so that's how I got to 14), I found 4 recipes I'd make again. And none of them were bad--there are just things I made like chili and barbecue chicken where I prefer my own recipe.
Since then, I've modified their recipes to include even more veggies, less sodium, and found non-Pampered Chef freezer recipes online. And these aren't complete meals--they're more like main dishes, so in some cases I've bulked them up to be a full meal. In other cases, you'll only need to fix one easy side.
Here's the first of the modified recipes. A disclaimer that this one is the most carby/processed of the four I've modified so far. But it's good comfort food, and if you can hold yourself to one portion, around 360 calories.
This will make 2 freezer meals that will serve 4-6 people each, leaving extra servings for leftovers or second helpings.
If you're only serving 2-3 skinny people and a British toddler (ahem, Will & Kate), you could halve this and end up with 4 small freezer meals.
Don't let this ingredient list scare you. If you're like me, you already have the garlic, broth (you can use water too), and bags hanging around. You'll need:
Step one: Chop/press the garlic, and cook it with the sausage over medium/high heat in a medium skillet until sausage is browned.
Step two: Chop the bunch of basil.
Step three: In each gallon bag, add 4 ounces of cream cheese, half the basil, and half the sausage/garlic. Seal the bag, getting rid of as much air as possible, and squish the ingredients together. This works great when the sausage is still warm!
Step four: Add a jar of reduced sodium marinara to each sausage mixture bag (once again--if you don't use reduced sodium marinara and reduced sodium broth, this will likely be too salty for you!). Squish it all together again. You're now done with the gallon bag.
Step five: Make breadcrumbs out of the croutons in your blender/food processor/or rough chop them with your knife. Grate the cheese, if needed.
Step six: Add half of the breadcrumbs and half the cheese to each of the quart bags.
You're done (for now!) Freeze those suckers for up to 3 months!
To prepare:
Step one: Defrost the bags 1-2 days in advance.
Step two: Dump the sauce mixture, 3 cups of reduced sodium broth or water, and 12 ounces of shell pasta in to a large skillet. Yep, you'll have sauce, broth, and pasta all in the same skillet.
Step three: Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Preheat the broiler to high. Cook the pasta mixture uncovered until it is al dente,about 15ish minutes, stirring frequently. I usually taste a shell or two close to the end to make sure it's cooked enough.
Step four: Top with the breadcrumbs and cheese, and broil it for 1-2 minutes until the top is golden-brown. Watch it, or it'll get too crispy!
Serve it up with a side salad and you're done! Makes 8 servings and reheats well.
Calories: 360, Fat: 13 g, Carbs: 43 g, Fiber: 4 g, Protein: 18 g
Up next: Maple Pork Tenderloin with Apples!
Four hours of fun, three glasses of wine, $170 for groceries and seasonings, and 14 meals later, I was happily proved (mostly) wrong. Here's how my thinking changed:
1) I'm going to have to buy all of their seasonings - well, yes. This is a service they're offering after all, and I felt like the $70 was more than worth the ideas and ingredients I got, plus not having to do the dishes and getting a free dinner was a bonus! I discovered a few ingredients I would have normally given the "side eye" to, like cherry balsamic vinegar, which costs the same at the grocery store as it does from The Pampered Chef.
2) The meals will be processed - I was expecting lots of Cream-of-Something-Soup recipes and chemical bombs, but this really was mostly lean protein, fresh vegetables, and spices. (The sodium content, on the other hand...notsomuch. But fret not, as I modified them just for you.)
3) The meals won't be good - Of the 7 different meals I made (I doubled up, so that's how I got to 14), I found 4 recipes I'd make again. And none of them were bad--there are just things I made like chili and barbecue chicken where I prefer my own recipe.
Since then, I've modified their recipes to include even more veggies, less sodium, and found non-Pampered Chef freezer recipes online. And these aren't complete meals--they're more like main dishes, so in some cases I've bulked them up to be a full meal. In other cases, you'll only need to fix one easy side.
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| Ten freezer meals I made myself for $100 and 2 hours of time. |
Cheesy Shells and Italian Sausage
This will make 2 freezer meals that will serve 4-6 people each, leaving extra servings for leftovers or second helpings.
If you're only serving 2-3 skinny people and a British toddler (ahem, Will & Kate), you could halve this and end up with 4 small freezer meals.
Don't let this ingredient list scare you. If you're like me, you already have the garlic, broth (you can use water too), and bags hanging around. You'll need:
- 16 ounces bulk (not in casings) chicken or turkey sausage - hot or not, your choice
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 24 ounce jars of reduced sodium marinara sauce (I like Trader Joe's brand - it is important to try to use reduced sodium or it'll be too salty)
- 8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
- 1 5 ounce bag of whole grain croutons or 2 cups whole wheat seasoned bread crumbs
- 4 ounces shredded Parmesan cheese (you can use the bagged stuff, grate your own from a block, or buy it pre-grated from the fancy cheese case, just don't use the stuff you shake from the jar)
- 1 bunch fresh basil
- 24 ounces of medium sized pasta shells (you can use whole grain if you want, but it's worth it to pick up De Cecco brand when it's on sale because it's sooo good) - this isn't used on prep day, so put it in the pantry
- 6 cups of reduced sodium chicken broth (again, Trader Joe's brand is good, or you can use water, especially if you don't used reduced sodium marinara) - this isn't used on prep day, so put it in the pantry
- 2 gallon bags + 2 quart bags, labelled with the recipe name and date
Step one: Chop/press the garlic, and cook it with the sausage over medium/high heat in a medium skillet until sausage is browned.
Step two: Chop the bunch of basil.
Step three: In each gallon bag, add 4 ounces of cream cheese, half the basil, and half the sausage/garlic. Seal the bag, getting rid of as much air as possible, and squish the ingredients together. This works great when the sausage is still warm!
Step four: Add a jar of reduced sodium marinara to each sausage mixture bag (once again--if you don't use reduced sodium marinara and reduced sodium broth, this will likely be too salty for you!). Squish it all together again. You're now done with the gallon bag.
Step five: Make breadcrumbs out of the croutons in your blender/food processor/or rough chop them with your knife. Grate the cheese, if needed.
Step six: Add half of the breadcrumbs and half the cheese to each of the quart bags.
You're done (for now!) Freeze those suckers for up to 3 months!
To prepare:
Step one: Defrost the bags 1-2 days in advance.
Step two: Dump the sauce mixture, 3 cups of reduced sodium broth or water, and 12 ounces of shell pasta in to a large skillet. Yep, you'll have sauce, broth, and pasta all in the same skillet.
Step three: Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Preheat the broiler to high. Cook the pasta mixture uncovered until it is al dente,about 15ish minutes, stirring frequently. I usually taste a shell or two close to the end to make sure it's cooked enough.
Step four: Top with the breadcrumbs and cheese, and broil it for 1-2 minutes until the top is golden-brown. Watch it, or it'll get too crispy!
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| Poor photo-taking skills compliments of me, my camera phone, and the glare of the television. |
Calories: 360, Fat: 13 g, Carbs: 43 g, Fiber: 4 g, Protein: 18 g
Up next: Maple Pork Tenderloin with Apples!