The short answer
- One session a week: plan, shop, cook, portion.
- Meals for the next few days go into vacuum containers in the fridge; the rest into bags in the freezer.
- Cool food before sealing, label everything, and reheat until steaming hot all the way through.
- Raw meat sealed with its marinade marinates in the freezer and while it thaws.
A weekly routine
- 1
PlanPick three or four dishes that share ingredients: one tray of roast vegetables can go into a salad, a curry and a soup.
- 2
Cook in bulkRice, grains, a protein, two sauces and lots of vegetables.
- 3
CoolSpread hot food out in shallow containers and put it in the fridge once it stops steaming.
- 4
Portion and sealOne meal per container or bag, so you only open what you eat.
- 5
LabelDish and date on every pack.
Fridge or freezer?
This week: vacuum containers in the fridge
Glass vacuum containers keep prepared meals fresh for longer than an ordinary lunchbox, and they go from fridge to microwave or oven (glass without the lid). Pump the air out again after each opening. Salads stay crisp when the dressing travels separately.
Helps: G-Line glass containers
Later: vacuum bags in the freezer
Everything you won't eat in the next few days goes flat into bags and into the freezer. Soups, sauces and stews freeze first in a container or on a tray, then get sealed. Flat packs stack like books and thaw quickly.
Ideas that work well
- Breakfast: overnight oats or bircher muesli in containers; berries frozen on a tray, then sealed, to add each morning.
- Lunch: grain bowls with roast vegetables and a protein; dressing in a small jar.
- Dinner: curries, chilli, bolognese and soups in single or family portions, frozen flat.
- Raw and ready: chicken thighs, steak or tofu sealed with their marinade and frozen: they marinate as they thaw.
- Sous vide portions: seasoned steaks or salmon, sealed and frozen, straight from the freezer into the water bath (sous vide times).
Sealed food still needs the cold. Vacuum sealing slows spoilage; it doesn't replace the fridge or freezer. Thaw in the fridge, and reheat until steaming hot all the way through.
LAVA AustraliaOfficial LAVA distributor and vacuum-packaging specialists since 2018.
