More Meal from your Frozen Favorites

I tweeted recently with medical blogger, Kristie McNealy, on the convenience of frozen meals.

Kristie had just posted this tweet: "Gross, March is National Frozen Food Month... Do we really need a month for junk food?"

My response: "I make great dishes using Amy's frozen dinners as starters, adding fresh veggies to create a nutritious meal."

Not that I'm an advocate of eating frozen meals on a regular basis, not at all, however, I find they have their place, particularly if you're running short on time, inspiration, or you simply can't be bothered making a whole meal from scratch.

When Whole Foods has Amy's organic frozen meals on sale for under $4, I'll buy a couple. You'll note I added them to my Feb. 28th grocery list, I wanted to demonstrate the value of having good quality frozen meals in your freezer for the reasons I mention above.

Usually I look out for Amy's vegetarian Indian meals because they have the most flavor. I prefer not to buy frozen meals with meat in them because to me the texture of meat in frozen meals resembles soggy cardboard.

One of the ways I make use of Paneer Tikka (pic to left) is with leftover chicken or fish.

The tomato masala sauce is yummy over white meat or a delicate fish like sole, flounder or tilapia and the chunks of soft cheese in the sauce add a delicious creamy texture.

Adding your own roasted cashews gives crunch factor (since frozen meals can be quite soft in texture) and because it comes with spinach and rice this is a well-rounded meal.

Amy's "Rice Mac and Cheese" (pic at top) does very well with the addition of any green veg you might have in your fridge or freezer, i.e. spinach, peas, broccoli, etc. This is important because a meal without color is lacking essential nutrients; and for crunch-and flavor-factor top with a little turkey bacon.

The "Broccoli Pot Pie" (pic at top) is a great side for a spicy protein like a pan-fried, peppery piece of salmon, and if you can be bothered add an additional side of garlic mash or roast potatoes.

So as you can see from my suggestions, frozen meals lend themselves well to jazzing up. I wouldn't chose to eat an Amy's (or any other frozen meal) straight out of the box; I think I'd be very disappointed and still hungry once I'd finished.

Let me know what you add to your next frozen meal in the effort to create a more delicious, nutritious and colorful convenient meal.