"Investment": Freezer

When I moved out of my parents' house, I started to buy frozen dinners.  It was convenient - I didn't have to cook for myself which was a big plus when I was super tired after work.  It also was too hard to keep fresh food in my apartment for myself; so much of it would go to waste because it went bad before I could eat it all.  It was also difficult to go to the grocery store often enough to keep fresh food around.  However, I've gained weight, the list of ingredients on frozen dinners is disturbing, and I am spending so much money on frozen dinners!  I decided enough was enough, and I had to figure out something else.  I needed a way to keep simple, nutritious ingredients for extended periods of time.  There are many options: canning, freezing, drying.  After doing some research online and weighing my options, I decided freezing was the best option for me.  By freezing vegetables and fruit, I'll always have simple, nutritious foods available to cook with.  I also can freeze leftovers and half prepared foods (such as preparing seasoned hamburger patties and freezing before cooking).  However, my freezer did not have enough space to support this kind of lifestyle, so I had to buy an extra freezer.



Specifically, I bought the Danby White Upright Freezer by +Danby Appliances from +Abt Electronics.  I love how it is small enough to fit in my one bedroom apartment and is not a chest freezer.  After I got the freezer, I started to research how to eat for one using a freezer more.

My Freezer

One of the easiest things to make is smoothies.  There are many varieties, you can use frozen ingredients, and they are quick to make!  So I went to +Costco Wholesale and bought lots of fruit and vegetables in bulk.  Because I bought in bulk, it was fairly inexpensive.  I chopped it all up and put it in freezer-safe bags.

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

My favorite recipe of the moment is peanut butter banana smoothies.  I'm not sure the exact measurements because I just eyeball it.  Here is my guess for the measurements:

1.5 cups of frozen banana chunks (where a chunk is a one inch slice of a banana)
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2/3 cup of ice
1/2 cup of milk
1/4 cup of plain, 0% fat yogurt (I love Fage!)
3-4 mini ice cubs of lettuce mixture (see recipe in my other post) - added just for more vitamins!

Place the ingredients in your blender in the following order: banana, peanut butter, yogurt, milk, ice.  Blend until the smoothie starts flowing through your blender.  Then continue blending for another 15 seconds.

Tip: It works best for me if I start at a low blending speed and slowly increase the speed.  Otherwise, the blender only blends the softer ingredients and doesn't get the ice into the mix.