Easy Freezer Meals

I like to have a nice lunch at work, but I don’t like paying the price of café meals. Some store-bought freezer meals are inexpensive, but they’re usually devoid of nutrition and taste. I love those Tai Pei frozen meals that come in a take-out type of box, but at $2.50 a box, that’s more than I want to spend each day for lunch.

So I decided to make my own healthy Asian frozen lunches. It was a fairly simple procedure with a minimum of cooking. Essentially all I cooked was rice and chicken, and also some instant noodles. In one setting I made a total of about 30 lunches.

I buy the rice, chicken breast, shrimp, and frozen vegies from Sam’s Club for further savings.

Here’s how I did it. Maybe the next time I do this, I’ll take photos and put them up here.

Items Needed:
Quart-sized zip-top freezer bags
10 cups dry white rice (or a combination of white and brown for added healthy benefits)
1 bag (10 lb) boneless, skinless chicken breast, thawed
1 bag (2 lb) frozen cooked shrimp (Keep frozen. Buy the ready-to-eat kind: already peeled, cleaned, and deveined)
4 packets (4.7 oz) Asian Sides® Teriyaki Noodles
2 large carrots
1 bag frozen peas (keep frozen)
1 bag frozen corn (keep frozen)
1 bag (4 lb) frozen Asian stir-fry vegies (with sauce packets)
Sesame seed oil
Olive oil (or other cooking oil)*
Any Asian sauce as desired (soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, stir-fry sauce, oyster sauce, etc.)
Other options: green onions (diced), Asian cabbage (chopped), celery (diced)

*Since sesame oil is expensive, I like to augment it with another healthy oil, such as olive.

Preparation:

Cook rice according to package directions. I do this in a large Dutch oven.

While rice is cooking, cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. Begin stir-frying with sesame oil and olive oil. (I do this in a large electric skillet at 350-400 degrees.) Cook just until done. Add Asian sauce as desired.

While rice and chicken are cooking, cook 4 packets Instant Asian Teriyaki noodles according to package directions. I do this in a second Dutch oven.

While those are cooking, peel and shred two large carrots.

If adding green onions, celery, and/or Asian cabbage, you can lightly stir-fry them if desired. Cook only until tender-crisp.

When each item is done (rice, chicken, noodles), set aside to cool. This works best in large flat pans, such as cake pans.

If desired, stir-fry some of the cooked rice with sesame oil and olive oil. (I did half of the rice.) Add Asian sauce as desired. (I used a mixture of oyster sauce and Kikkoman's stir-fry sauce.)

Packaging:

When everything is cool, put the following in quart-size zip-top bags. (Amounts can vary. For my husband, I’ll pack in as much rice, chicken, and vegies as the bag will hold. For my own lunches, I like to keep it around 8-10 ounces.)

3 oz fried rice or Asian noodles
3 oz cooked chicken pieces / OR / 6 pieces frozen shrimp
4 oz vegies

OR

1 cup steamed rice
3-4 oz chicken pieces
Frozen Asian stir-fry vegies
Portion out the sauce that came with the vegies.
Add any other sauce as desired. Just pour a couple tablespoons into the bag.

Squeeze all the air out of the bags and zip shut. Lay flat on freezer shelves, preferably in a single layer. When frozen, rearrange the bags as desired.

To serve:
Partially open bag (to allow steam to escape) and lay on a plate or in a bowl.
Heat in microwave 4-5 min or until heated through. (Allow more cooking time for larger meals.)