Fast Food or Freezer Meals

It's 4:00 and you have been running the kids around since they got home from school. You have managed to find a time when everyone will be home for dinner, but not a time before that when you will be home to prepare it. You wish you had a personal chef, or at least an Alice. Most Americans, when faced with this situation, will hit the drive-through at their favorite fast food joint, pick up take-out from their stand by Asian restaurant, or pick up a pizza on the way home. All of these options are fine on rare occasions. In 1995, about 27% of all meals and snacks were eaten out. Families are over scheduled and have an abundance of convenient choices to cut out meal preparation time. Unfortunately, this trend has horrible consequences. According to an article in the International Journal of Obesity, "When children and adolescents eat too many of their meals away from home, their overall diet quality suffers. While a direct causal relationship between eating meals away from home and overweight and obesity has not been confirmed, many studies show an association between meals eaten away from home and risk for overweight or obesity. For example, a study of adolescents in Minnesota found that those teens who ate fast food more often ate more calories and fat, and drank more soft drinks. They also drank less milk, and ate fewer fruits and vegetables."  The 2006 publication of the findings of the Keystone Forum on Away-From-Home Foods highlights a number of studies linking frequent restaurant meal consumption to excess calorie and fat intake, higher body weights and higher body fats in both adults and children. In other words, convenience is significantly compromising our health. 

While there are some healthy dining out options, nothing compares to a home-cooked meal shared in the comfort of your own home with those you love. Some of our family's most interesting conversations happen around our own dinner table. This is where we find out what was learned in school, how friends are doing, what bullies are saying, and what news items deserve discussion and explanation. We learn about triumphs and trials while nourishing body, mind and relationships all at once. I will admit that sometimes we also experience bad manners, complaints, and drama. However that is the exception. It has been hard work to establish a tradition of prioritizing family meals in a society that schedules activities throughout the evening hours. We have made some sacrifices, but every effort has been worth it.

Here is my solution to those days when there is no time for preparation: Once I have my meal plan for the week (or month), I look it over and see which ones would freeze well. I then double that recipe and prepare one to eat and one to freeze for later. This only works if you are in the habit of meal planning because you have to anticipate a busy day and take the meal out of the freezer the day before. It doesn't require much more effort to double most recipes, and the payoff is huge. Most Italian and Mexican meals freeze well. One of my favorite types of meals to double and freeze are crock pot meals. Here is a tried and true recipe (not yet doubled):

Cilantro Lime Chicken with Corn and Black Beans

Ingredients (serves 6):

1 lb chicken breast
Juice from 2 limes
1 can chicken broth
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
16 oz frozen corn
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Place all ingredients in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. Seal bag and shake to mix ingredients together. Lay flat to freeze.
• To Prepare from Frozen: Remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on low for 8 hours (or high for 4 hours).
• If desired, shred chicken right in the slow cooker about 30 minutes before cooking time is complete.

 To make two meals at once, simply double the ingredients and put half into the crock pot (cook on low for 8 hours), and half into the freezer bag. I like to make rice bowls out of it. To do this, I cook enough brown rice for my family in the rice cooker and serve the chicken mixture over the rice. We top it with pico do gallo, sliced avocados (or guacamole), and cheese. The whole family likes this meal!