Homemade Convenience

It's not always easy to make changes.  One of the things that I find myself struggling with is the loss of the convenience foods that we used to eat so readily.  Foods like microwave dinners, boxed cereal, canned biscuits, and sliced bread.

Vegetarian Chili

My goal is to keep our diet as wholesome and real as possible.  Most often that means cooking our meals from scratch and that is not always the quickest route.  So I've been hunting down some recipes that will freeze well in single or double portion sizes.  Then we can enjoy the benefits of home cooked goodness and the convenience of grab-and-go meals.

This week my husband cooked up a large pot of vegetarian chili.  We will eat a lot of it in the coming days, which will not need to be frozen, but I did put up 4 single portion bags of chili in the freezer.  These are perfect for Hub to take to work in the morning.  By lunch time, it will have thawed and can easily be poured into a bowl and warmed in a microwave.

Also this week, I have experimented with freezer biscuits.  These biscuits are rolled and cut and then frozen uncooked.  You can then take out as many as you want to go with your dinner, allow them to thaw for 30 minutes, and then baked for 8-10.  They will make a good substitute for the canned biscuits we used to eat.

Freezer Biscuits

I have tried a couple of different cereal recipes.  Cereal is a big deal in our house because both of my kids eat it almost every day.  My son, who is entering adolescence will often eat 2 bowls in one sitting.  A box of cereal averages about $4.00 each so I'd like a box to last a little longer than 3 days.  Many varieties of cereal are full of sugar, artificial colors and lots of preservatives.  And they are mostly puffed with air and not very filling.

Homemade Cheerios

So far I have made home-made Cookie Crisp and Cheerios.  Both are made with whole wheat flour, oats, and minimal sugar.  They are very filling and my son now is full after eating only a half of a bowl.  They have no preservatives so they are kept in sealed containers to maintain their freshness. I usually make a double batch so they last all week.  Then I don't have to think about making more cereal in the middle of the week.  I think I could also freeze additional batches too.  I'll have to try that.