Good Morning. Anybody Cook for the Week?

Just wondering if anyone cooks for the week and freezes portion-sized meals. Any tips? Has anyone invested in one of those vacuum sealer thingies? I'm really thinking about the vacuum sealer. I hate meat that stays too long in the freezer and gets all tough. I'm thinking it would save us money in the long run. [sigh] Just another gadget to go on my wish list along with a George Foreman grill?

Y'all have a great Saturday!

--gina

 I have one and they are  FABULOUS  for  freezing   say  diced fresh tomatoes from the garden when U simply dont want to see  another fresh tomato in September   for when Ure DYING to taste some in a dish in March .....

I strongly recommend the  travel sized  one from walmart  .... and the  tiniest  sleeve of bags  unless U have a HUGE family .   I think i bought the tiniest  and one size up and use both - the second for really bulky items like fresh broccoli  florets .

Keeps  everything pristine  ( no freezer burn)  and  U can really pack a lot away  .. super cool ...

You mean you can freeze fresh tomatoes? Dang!!

Yep rich tasting vitamin containing skins n all - I ust dicem throw em in the bag and add em at the very end of my ( canned based) sauce or stew recipe in early spring for an amazing POW of homegrown garden fresh taste ....

you wont believe how the months of sun and just the whole FLAVOR of the summer comes through ... same thing fresh HERBS HEAVENLY .....

The whole reason Im crazy about this appliance is I find I can skip so many steps of the usual pain in the butt canning freezing thing thats mostly was invented i think to save space . U know .... blanching and icing then peeling and then dicing with tomatoes ...blanching and icing with broccoli . U can still do it that way of course if U want ....

I just wash and trim my broccoli florets put em in a bag and suck the air out ..... and when i cook with em theyre fresh ....

in technical terms that means i can put up the excess produce from the garden every few days when i pick in ten minutes boom bam boom no muss no fuss no bother ..... and into the deep freeze it goes ....

I really like the fact that i dont spend half my day in the kitchen.... and yet i dont waste any wonderful fresh homegrown produce either ....

I have to say that my friend and I did cooking for a month and it was wonderful. I think she had found a web site or book and we picked recipes and planned the shopping trip and cooked all day and ended up with meals for the freezer. I cant wait to do it again. We just used freezer bags and containers to put in the freezer.
 

In preparation for surgery I cooked and froze meals for my family for a month, and it ended up lasting 6 weeks because they had enough leftovers from many of the meals to have them twice in a week.  It definitely opened my eyes to cooking ahead. I do it sometimes, almost always for myself. I also buy fresh fruits and veggies a couple of times a week and immediately come home, clean and cut, and put them in individual serving containers so they are easy to grab and go. I buy fish and scallops in individual serving size packages, so it is easy to grab one to cook for myself if my family is eating something I can't (or won't).

Haha, Gina, you might as well have lopped off the last part of your question, as far as I'm concerned. 

"Anybody cook?"

;)

I rarely do. It's just not economical to cook for one, especially at the portions I eat.  Plus, my job feeds me 2 healthy meals a day.  I bring the leftovers home for breakfast.  :)

I don't cook ahead...  but what I do is plan a 2-week menu and shop according to that.  So I have all my ingredients ahead of time and I know each day what I'm going to make.... then there's no guessing at 4:30 what will be for dinner, or thinking that I'm just too tired to get all the stuff I need.  It's all planned and I have everything I need.  This works great for me. 

I like to cook this way too!

C - O - O - K 

I can spell it!!