Freeze Fresh Meal Prep by Crystal Schmidt

Soon-to-be-released FREEZE FRESH MEAL PREP by Crystal Schmidt offers “160 Meal Starters and Make-Ahead Dishes for the Freezer.” The photos are lovely – very colorful and appetizing. The recipes themselves are relatively straight-forward, and Schmidt includes many comments offering helpful advice (e.g., type of containers to use for freezing). I did think this type of cooking might require a bit of a mindset shift.  Honestly, I would rather cook and freeze a complete meal for some future time than cook, freeze, and still have to prepare a meal (even something as simple as Sloppy Joes) based off the frozen “starter.” It is worth a try, though, and Schmidt nicely splits this cookbook into categories like soup starters (full of nutritious vegetables and usually requiring a blender), meal starters, vegetable side dishes, and pie, crisp, crumble and cobbler fillings (based on fresh, seasonal fruit treats). A few sample recipes? How about Versatile Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce or Egg Roll in a Bowl? Booklist called FREEZE FRESH MEAL PREP “perfect for beginners. … This is a must-have for readers who enjoy eating fresh, homemade meals that cut down on prep time.”