Freeze your grains for more money and less calories

April 22, 2015 6:06 PM

It's always perfect to DIY your own freezer bags of cooked grains, and because you're in charge, you decide what types of grains and how much.

Grains

Have you taken a stroll through the vegetables section in a supermarket and noticed that you could produce half of their products?

It so happens that frozen grains could just save you the stress of spending so money while helping you keep your calories in check.

You can even mix them up for variety.

Any whole grains will work whether it's rice, quinoa, farro, millet, or barley.

It works best to make a big batch of whole grains at once, but you can also freeze small batches if you have them left over from dinner.

So for those of us that mostly rush in and out of the house because there's barely time to cook a meal, this cuts down half the cooking time for you.

Cook them plain, in broth, or flavored with fresh herbs; Once they're cooked, allow them to cool completely.

Measure them out in half-cup, one-cup, or two-cup servings, label the bags, and freeze them flat to save room and to help them cook faster.

When you're ready to eat your grains, remove the bag or glass container from the freezer.

Pour the contents into a bowl to microwave, or reheat in a small pot on the stove top or add your grains to hot pots of soup or to sauté pans when cooking meals.

You could also place the frozen bag of grains in your lunchbox before heading out the door, and it not only serves as an ice pack, but your grains will also be thawed by lunchtime.

They'll make meals and side dishes in minutes, they are perfect for hot breakfasts or stir-fries, mixed into your bowl of greens, layered in your lunchtime mason jar salads.

What's better? Those plastic freezer bags are reusable so you could just rinse and air-dry.

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