Take-aways

Take-aways. Hmmm. How many take-away meals do you eat in a week? Generally, take-aways are heavy on the fats and starches and the portion sizes are out of balance - bad for general healthy and the waistline. And bad for the wallet.

I'll admit that it's very nice to occassionally be relieved of kitchen duty. You don't have to prepare, cook or clean up afterwards. Occassionally. But you can easily prepare and freeze home-made ready meals in bulk. Hamburgers, chicken burgers and bolognaise sauce are all simple to prepare in bulk. Then you can serve those burgers on whole grain rolls, with a healthy serving of salad. And boiling up a pot of pasta takes very little time or effort.

Many recipes can be doubled up, while you're preparing one meal for immediate consumption you're getting the health benefits of a second meal with minimal extra effort. Just make sure you label your extra meal, stuff can become unrecognisable once it's frozen. And put the date on, too.

Invest in some of those rectangular foil boxes, they stack well in the freezer. If you're careful, you can re-use them three or four times.

I have had great success with frozen home-made lazagne (mince, chicken and vegetarian), soups, pizzas, stews and casseroles. I try to keep my freezers organised - one shelf/basket for ready meals, one for breads and muffins, one for vegetables, etc. Even if you only have an 'ice box' at the top of your freezer, you'll be surprised at what you can fit in.

Now all you have to remember is to take something out to thaw in the morning.