As my twenties are progressing I’m developing an interest in gardening, storage solutions and meal prepping. Yep I’m old before my years and proud. You can imagine my wholesome excitement when AO.com kindly sent over a Beko Upright Freezer (£399) for me to test out. I’ve since been eyeing up dairy free Ben and Jerry’s and the new vegan range at Iceland to stock it up with.
I always make an effort to eat healthy, home cooked food and on days that I’m feeling a bit zapped or don’t have the time to cook from scratch, a frozen meal already stashed away is a lifesaver. Anything that can sway me from pizza and chips is a job well done. If your freezer has the space, don’t be afraid of cooking up huge batches at a time as this will save you heaps of time and money in the long run. So long as you’re stocked up on staples such as grains, pasta and salad you can put a meal together in lightening speed despite having an empty fridge. Vegan frozen meals will last up to 6 months in the freezer giving you plenty of time to get through it all. A trick of mine is to leave meals in the fridge overnight before freezing once they’re cooked so that the flavours have time to combine and mature properly.
As we’re currently renting and don’t have any free kitchen space, I went for the Beko Upright Freezer as it can be stored outside in the garage. It has a huge capacity of six drawers and two shelves with flap closures for easy access. The freezer also has an alarm function if you accidentally leave the door open, ensuring no ice lolly casualties. All that it is missing is an interior light!
Plant Based Meal Prep Ideas for Your Freezer
- Chickpea and spinach coconut curry
- Lentil ragu
- Sweet potato and black bean chili
- Beetroot soup (recipe here)
- Bombay potato curry
- Chickpea burgers
Not only does meal prepping save time but it’s a great way of saving money too. I usually find that my local Waitrose has loads of reductions an hour before closing and that midweek is the best time for bargains. I stocked up on three punnets of fresh organic blueberries that were all down from £2.25 to just 65p each. I put them straight in the freezer once I got home to either add to smoothies or as a topper for porridge etc. Most of food you find in the reduced fridge can be frozen, making it really cheap to stock up on meals for the coming weeks. I got a vegan mac and cheese down from £3.50 to 99p too.
More freezer prep ideas:
- Individual smoothie bags ready for the blender
- Protein balls
- Homemade pizza dough
- PYO berries
- Pesto, pasta sauces and hummus
Although I use plastic ziplock bags for my smoothie prep mixtures, I wash them out after each use to reuse so that no plastic is wasted. I also bought loads of glass storage containers from Ikea for my meals as they’re much more sturdy and durable than plastic versions. I find the 600ml size perfect for a generous portion!
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