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Old 04-21-2013, 06:52 PM   #1  
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Default Mason Jar Meals

I found this website that talks about making mason jar meals and thought this was a brilliant idea for WW because you can make a meal and mark the mason jar with how many PP that meal equals. I suppose you can definitely do the same thing in plastic containers but honestly, food looks kinda nice in mason jars. I've already premade salads and fruit cups in mason jars but I will look at doing soup and entree meals that will be easy to heat up and eat, with the PP already calculated and posted on them.
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Old 04-22-2013, 01:47 PM   #2  
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I usually make full dishes, portion them into servings, label, and freeze. That way I always have single-serving meals at my disposal.
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Old 04-22-2013, 04:10 PM   #3  
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Originally Posted by Munchy View Post
I usually make full dishes, portion them into servings, label, and freeze. That way I always have single-serving meals at my disposal.
There are only 2 of us eating "people food" in my house. If a recipe makes a larger portion I scale it down the first time. If we like it and it freezes well, I make it by the recipe and freeze single portions like Munchy. My favorites to freeze are Slow Cooker Italian Meatballs (4 meat balls and sauce 5PP); Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili (1 1/4 C. 5PP); Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore (1 thigh, 1/2 cup sauce, veggies 4PP); and Stuffed Pepper Soup (1 1/3 cups soup, 1/2 cup rice 7PP).

I use plain ol' quart size freezer bags that I label with name of recipe, PP value and date.
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Old 04-22-2013, 07:24 PM   #4  
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I'm in school full-time and have two toddlers so anything that makes it easy to grab healthy food quickly is a huge help. I was drawn to the mason jar meals because, as I mentioned in another post, I am brand new to WW and one of the tips they shared was putting healthy foods into containers that make them visible and appealing.

I will definitely look for good recipes to make preportioned freezer meals (like the meatballs!). Thanks for the tip!

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Old 04-22-2013, 08:07 PM   #5  
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I'm in school full-time and have two toddlers so anything that makes it easy to grab healthy food quickly is a huge help. I was drawn to the mason jar meals because, as I mentioned in another post, I am brand new to WW and one of the tips they shared was putting healthy foods into containers that make them visible and appealing.

I will definitely look for good recipes to make preportioned freezer meals (like the meatballs!). Thanks for the tip!
All of the recipes I mentioned are from skinnytaste (dot) com.
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Old 04-23-2013, 09:54 AM   #6  
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I'm a single mom to a busy five year old and we are a mainly non-processed household, so I get it! You don't necessarily need to look up "freezer meals." Most recipes freeze well - just make an entire family sized dish, look at the number of servings, and divvy it into that number of containers, label, and freeze.

The easiest things to freeze are in liquid (stew, chili, soup) but pasta dishes, rice dishes, and casseroles also freeze just as well. In order to freeze the casseroles, I often let them freeze for a few hours until solid, but not completely frozen, cut into number of "square portions" then put the squares into gallon ziploc bags, side by side. That way I just take out one serving at a time.

Two of my five year old daughter's favorite foods that I pull from the freezer are cooked homemade squash/chicken nuggets or zucchini/turkey meatballs.

Squash chicken nuggets: Mix 1lb ground chicken, 2 grated yellow squash (squeeze water out) and 1 egg. I season with a bit of adobo, but you can use salt, pepper, whatever you want. Form into chicken nugget shapes, bread in whole wheat panko, and bake at 425 on a lightly sprayed cookie sheet for about 15 mins.

Zucchini turkey meatballs: mix 1lb ground turkey, 2 grated zucchini (squeeze water out), 1 egg, grated Parmesan and Italian breadcrumbs, I use adobo too, form into meatballs and bake at 425 for about 15 mins.

For freezing: Let cool and use a spatula to make sure the nuggets/meatballs are not stuck to the cookie sheet. Freeze on the cookie sheet for about four hours or until solid. Transfer the food into labeled freezer bags. This way you can take out as many as you want at a time and they're not stuck together. You can microwave them, use a pan, or even the oven before serving.

I make freezer burritos for us similarly in that I cook the filling, fill high fiber wraps, then sprinkle with cheese and roll into burritos. Freeze them unbaked on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, you can transfer to a freezer bag. When I'm ready to eat, I warm it somewhat in the microwave and brown it in a dry pan for a crispy burrito. You can make these with meat, veggies, beans, whatever - even breakfast burritos with eggs, lean meats, cheeses, and veggies. They can be a lifesaver for the morning!

I have successfully frozen cauliflower macaroni and cheese as well, which is helpful with the little one, though I usually just whip up two servings if she asks for it, and refrigerate the rest.

I freeze tomato sauce, BBQ sauce, enchilada sauce, etc in jars so I don't need to constantly make it. One goes in the fridge, the rest in the freezer.

Last edited by Munchy; 04-23-2013 at 10:01 AM.
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Old 04-23-2013, 10:00 AM   #7  
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Oh, and as mentioned, www.skinnytaste.com is a great resource, as is www.cookinglight.com, www.eatingwell.com, and www.eatbetteramerica.com. I also just discovered www.peanutbutterandpeppers.com and I've been browsing that lately.
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Old 04-23-2013, 10:35 AM   #8  
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Thank you so much for those resources! I will definitely take some time to peruse those sites. One additional one I found yesterday is slenderkitchen com.
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