Women at work and their tips, challenges, advice, complaints, and experiences

As you may have noticed from my participation in Menu Plan Mondays and Slow Cooking Thursdays, this planning meals ahead thing is really making a difference in my household.  Granted the menu plans are more of a weekly guideline, open to change or adaptation, rather than a rigid "must do", but even just having them up on the white board by the kitchen makes a difference.  Sometimes I just don't want to make what was originally planned for a certain night; other times I forget to take out the meat to defrost or don't get the slow cooker started in a timely manner, so nights get switched around or substituted from time to time.

Even with some opportunity to change and adapt, having a plan makes a big difference, as does having a well-stocked pantry and kitchen.  I've always been a big believer in having plenty of canned goods, such as fruits and veggies, along with frozen meat, on hand.  Over the past few months, however, I've noticed that we've been able to stock up on a few other things that I hadn't thought of before.

Here are five items that we now make a concerted effort to keep in the freezer, and how we've been using them:

1. Frozen waffles: we used to just buy plain ol' Eggos, but switched last month to Kashi's GOLEAN blueberry waffles.  I spotted them in a 40-pack at our local Costco and decided that the higher fiber, lower fat, and fruit were a much better decision.  Am I glad I decided to try them!  My six-year-old is addicted, and I feel much better about giving her these for breakfast (or any other meal) than I did with the Eggos.  Everybody in the family loves these waffles.  My daughter likes a "sandwich" of waffles, with just a bit of butter in the middle.  My hubby likes them with syrup alone, and I like to plop fruit, such as sliced peaches, on the top of a single waffle.  I think we're getting a much more nutritious product for our buck.
2. Frozen yogurt or light ice cream: Okay, so if you're feeling like an ice cream sandwich, perhaps you could make one with a scoop of frozen yogurt and some of the Kashi waffles.  Or top it with this next freezer must-have:
3. Bags of frozen berries (individual types or mixed berries).  Great on yogurt, frozen yogurt, ice cream, waffles, in cake mixes, pies - the list goes on.  You can even put them on things like chicken, fish or pork for a new twist.
4. Cookie dough: buy pre-formed cookie dough balls or make your own dough in batches and freeze it.  Either way, the next time you come home from work or an outing and want something sweet but homemade (or want to serve up a treat for unexpected guests!), it's easy to toss a dozen chunks of dough on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes and have something warm, sweet, and tasty.
5. Frozen pies: again, pre-made or made ahead and stocked up yourself.  One more thing to have on hand for a night when you want to treat the family or take something special to an ailing neighbor or a celebrating friend.  Pre-made apple, cherry, or other types of pies are always handy to have on hand, especially if you are going to make something tasty in the Crock Pot.  Pop a pie in during the last portion of the cooking period or during dinner, and again, you've got a homemade (or semi-homemade) dessert in a jiffy. 

Any of these can save you on the cost of expensive desserts (with the exception of buying pre-made pies and cookie dough) and calorie-laden treats.  After all, you can't get much more nutritious than berries and a nonfat frozen yogurt, can you?  And it'll still hit your sweet tooth where it hurts - or craves, as it were!

(A little disclaimer here: we've been indulging in a little bowl of vanilla Dreyer's topped with Hershey's each night for the past two weeks.  Hey, pregnant people need calcium, right?  It's a great help for portion control though, gals.  Knowing that my relaxation/couple time with my hubby will be spent with a serving of ice cream and chocolate means I don't pig out over it.  Almost anything in moderation - and that way neither of us gets a sudden urge and eats a whole pint of Haagen Daz!  Fewer calories, fewer bucks spent.  It's all good!)