If I'm really busy I will cook a lot then just put some in the freezer. I will just reheat it after. But if if not really busy, I'll cook enough food to be consumed for one meal, then I will cook again for the next meal. I love cooking, I don't really have a problem with it as long as I'm not busy.
Yes you can freeze a lot of "components". I garden and I simply put my cut up veggies in freezer bags...zucchini, peppers, onions, celery and especially herbs and spices (like parsley or basil). Then you can whip em all out and make a stew or soup quite quickly and easily. Since you said prepared foods you can as the crowd said easily freeze this homemade soup, stews or even chili. Since you say you use a slow cooker and do not have any leftovers, you may have to plan the leftovers. Get a large pot, put it on the stove, boil your chicken or beef (brown the beef first) add your veggies and let it cook. You can make the stew or soup for a dinner, and then just take that pot and portion it into freezer containers for two. You can also make your own "frozen dinners" (think about what you see in the box). One thanksgiving I cooked at a friends house in the high desert and brought a dozen freezer containers (some even have dividers). I made up a dozen turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy with a smidge of cranberry individual dinners. My friend said they were great and she had months of a special treat.
I usually don't freeze foods to eat at a later date. I usually just store them until they are ready to be thrown away. Although I know plenty of people who freeze foods to use at a later date. I am not anti freezing foods or anything, I just don't do it.
Over here, we freeze food when it is raw and when it is already cooked, but only the ones with sauces or soup. We just put it in those plastic ice cream or microwavable containers. It's quite a task to re-heat them though, because they're quite frozen and it's hard to take them out of the container.
This reminds me of when I was younger and my mother would fix double of the meal she knew we loved and would freeze 1 for a later day that month. She was very organized and had a whole month of meals planned. As for Lasagna yes you can freeze it and it taste 10 times better than just fixing and serving. It gets to soak up the sauce as it freezes and when you reheat it the flavor is mixed everywhere. I still find my mother fixing meals and freezing the leftovers till a day labeled "Leftovers" as our meal for that evening and she will bring everything out that are small portions to be eaten that evening for Supper. I am currently trying to learn how much food to make that we can eat then and save for another meal. I hope this was helpful and good luck to everyone.
It would be a pleasant idea if you want to save money. I think it all depends on the containers you put the food in because sometimes the food can lost taste. I am a fan of fresh food but when on a budget I take this route and sometimes you can be too tired to cook on a particular day. But it is a very wise idea to always have a stock of food for atleast 2 to 3 days in the event you may be too tired or something so.
