# Beyond Freezer Meals: A Smarter Way to Prep Fresh, Flexible Dinners | Crystal Schmidt (Bonus Episode)

An episode of [Minimalist Moms Podcast | Purposeful Life & Parenting Tips](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1159498258), 29 Apr 2026, 27 min.

Audio: https://prefix.up.audio/s/pdst.fm/e/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/clrtpod.com/m/mgln.ai/e/35/audio2.redcircle.com/episodes/f5dd2a97-04c8-42e5-9436-b5a4ef5e7158/stream.mp3

In this episode, Diane sits down with cookbook author and gardener Crystal Schmidt to talk about her approach to meal prep, outlined in her book Freeze Fresh Meal Prep. Instead of relying on fully pre-made freezer meals, Crystal introduces the concept of “meal starters” - prepping the fresh components of a dish ahead of time and freezing them, then finishing the meal later with pantry staples. We talk about how this method helps reduce food waste, simplify weeknight cooking, and make the most of seasonal produce. Crystal shares practical tips for getting started, including how to choose what to freeze, which vegetables need blanching, and what actually holds up well in the freezer. She also offers ideas like freezing cookie dough for easy treats and using what you already have on hand to build a system that feels sustainable. This conversation is a helpful guide for anyone looking to make home cooking more flexible, efficient, and aligned with real life. Links Discussed in This Episode | • Checkout the podcast storefront for recommendations from Diane. • Subscribe to the Minimalist Moms Youtube Channel • Crystal's Resource: Merlin Bird App • Connect with Crystal: • Instagram | Youtube | Website • Book: Freeze Fresh Meal Prep: 160 Meal Starters and Make-Ahead Dishes for the Freezer About Crystal| Crystal Schmidt is the bestselling author of Freeze Fresh, and creator of Whole-Fed Homestead. With a passion for good food, she inspires others to grow their own produce, create delicious meals, and preserve fresh ingredients. Episode Sponsors | The Minimalist Moms Podcast would not be possible without the support of weekly sponsors. Choosing brands that I believe in is important to me. I only want to recommend brands that I believe may help you in your daily life. As always, never feel pressured into buying anything. Remember: if you don't need it, it's not a good deal! Enjoy the Podcast? Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning into this podcast, then do not hesitate to write a review. You can also share this with your fellow mothers so that they can be inspired to think more and do with less. Order (or review) my book, Minimalist Moms: Living & Parenting With Simplicity. You can contact me through my website, find me on Instagram, Pinterest or like The Minimalist Moms Page on Facebook. Our Sponsors: * Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com * Check out Cure Hydration and use my code MINIMALIST for a great deal: https://www.curehydration.com * Check out DeleteMe and use my code joindeleteme.com/MINIMALIST for a great deal: https://joindeleteme.com * Check out Wayfair: https://www.wayfair.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

## Transcript

[0:00] \[SPEAKER_01\]: For those of you that are new around here, I released bonus episodes that serve a niche part of my audience, so if this content is something that doesn't fit what you're looking for, check out the other episodes that drop this week, or join me back here next week for episodes that you don't want to miss.
[0:13] \[SPEAKER_00\]: My very favorite thing is a chicken tortilla soup starter.
[0:18] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And so a starter, and I have a lot of different starters in the book, but it's basically a way to freeze the fresh part of a recipe, and then when you want to make it you thought and add pantry staples, meats, broth, that kind of stuff.
[0:31] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And so for this chicken tortillas soup, I saute onions and peppers and garlic and add in fresh tomatoes and simmer that down with some spices, and then add sweet corn at the end.
[0:40] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And now I have this really flavorful mixture, and all I have to do in the winter is thought.
[0:45] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Heat it up in a pot and add, I usually add leftover chicken to it, a can of beans, a carton of broth, and I have a really delicious homegrown dinner in, I mean, less than 10 minutes.
[0:57] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It is so fast and easy, it's so, so delicious.
[1:01] \[SPEAKER_01\]: This is Diane Bowden, and you're listening to the minimalist mom's podcast.
[1:04] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Today's guest offers a different way to think about meal prep.
[1:08] \[SPEAKER_01\]: One that's a little more flexible and a lot more realistic for everyday life.
[1:12] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Because instead of spending hours making full freezer meals, she focuses on something she calls meal starters, prepping the fresh parts of a meal ahead of time so you can pull things together quickly when you actually need them.
[1:22] \[SPEAKER_01\]: In today's episode, I'm joined by Crystal Schmidt, author of Free's Fresh Neal Prep, to talk about how her background and gardening led her to create a system that helps preserve seasonal produce and simplify cooking at the same time.
[1:35] \[SPEAKER_01\]: We talk about what foods freeze well, what to avoid, and how to get started in a way that doesn't feel overwhelming.
[1:41] \[SPEAKER_01\]: She also shares practical ideas that make the approach feel really doable.
[1:44] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I'd say this conversation is especially helpful if you're trying to waste less food, cook more at home, and create systems that actually support your life.
[1:52] \[SPEAKER_01\]: If you enjoy this conversation today, be sure to hit five stars or share it with a friend that could also benefit from the content.
[1:58] \[SPEAKER_01\]: And as always, thank you so much for tuning into the minimalist mom's podcast.
[2:01] \[SPEAKER_01\]: There are so many podcasts you could be listening to, and it doesn't go on notice that you tune in week after week.
[2:07] \[SPEAKER_01\]: So thank you, thank you.
[2:09] \[SPEAKER_01\]: And with that, here's my conversation with Crystal.
[2:17] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Crystal, thanks so much for joining me today.
[2:19] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I'm excited to dive into our topic.
[2:20] \[SPEAKER_01\]: You have a new book coming out, and it's called Freeze, Fresh, Meal Prep, 160 meal starters, and make a head dishes for the freezer.
[2:29] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Thanks so much for joining me.
[2:30] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Well, thank you so much for having me.
[2:32] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Yeah, so let's start here.
[2:34] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I usually start with asking my guests, what prompted you to write this book?
[2:38] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Why is now the time?
[2:39] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Why did you want to become an author and get this out into the world?
[2:42] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Oh gosh, well, you know, we grow a big garden every year.
[2:45] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I do a lot of preserving.
[2:47] \[SPEAKER_00\]: We live in a cold climate.
[2:49] \[SPEAKER_00\]: So we kind of grow and preserve all that we can in the summer months.
[2:53] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And then right out the winter, eating the foods that we put up.
[2:57] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And freezing has always been my very favorite way to preserve food.
[3:02] \[SPEAKER_00\]: But there's really not, there hasn't been a ton of great information on how to freeze fruits and vegetables successfully.
[3:09] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The information out there is very antiquated.
[3:12] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It's very uninspiring, really.
[3:15] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And so I wanted to create some resources for people like me, who are growing a lot of vegetables and fruits that they want to put up, or for people who just want to meal prep,
[3:31] \[SPEAKER_01\]: What is gardening, meal prep cooking?
[3:35] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Was this something that you were interested in as a child or something that developed in adulthood?
[3:40] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I feel, this is something I feel very fortunate about.
[3:43] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I actually grew up one of my earliest memories is sitting in my grandma's garden eating ground cherries while she waited and she taught my dad to garden and he taught me so I come from, I do come from a long line of people who
[3:56] \[SPEAKER_00\]: like to grow food and who like to preserve food I'm very fortunate in that way that I I got started in it very early.
[4:03] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Yes, and then I would say when it comes to
[4:07] \[SPEAKER_01\]: being thoughtful to or it may be even intentional to make the decision to freeze vegetables.
[4:13] \[SPEAKER_01\]: You're thinking to steps ahead, right?
[4:15] \[SPEAKER_01\]: You're thinking, okay, I want to use this in the future.
[4:17] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Maybe I'm not ready to right now.
[4:19] \[SPEAKER_01\]: So I would ask you how has gardening shaped your perspective on food waste and intentional preparation?
[4:28] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Oh, gosh.
[4:29] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Well, first of all, it's if you, and I know not everyone is fortunate to be able to garden, but if you do, you know first hand the amount of time and work and labor and effort that it takes to produce every single little thing and you don't want to waste a drop of that.
[4:46] \[SPEAKER_00\]: So it does make you much more aware of the cost of food waste.
[4:51] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And of course, nobody wants to waste things that they bought from the store either.
[4:56] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And I hate throwing away food.
[4:57] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Even, you know, you buy up one of those big tubs of spinach and then you don't end up using it.
[5:01] \[SPEAKER_00\]: You've got half of it left like you don't have to throw it away.
[5:04] \[SPEAKER_00\]: There are ways to use those things that maybe you you have left over that you didn't quite get to lots of options for that kind of stuff to.
[5:14] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Yeah, so let's start here for the listener that feels overwhelmed by meal prep.
[5:19] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Where's the blood best place to start with freezer cooking?
[5:24] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I think a good thing to do is to look at the things that you like to eat, look at what is on your weekly rotation, and then also look at the things that are in season.
[5:36] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And that's where my book is maybe a little bit different than a lot of other meal prep books, is that the focus of this really is on seasonality.
[5:44] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It is how can we take the fresh fruits and vegetables that I have now that.
[5:48] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Maybe you grew, maybe you found a sale on at the grocery store, maybe you went to a farmer's market, maybe you took the family to an orchard and did some picking, how can we take those things and make something that is one really delicious, but two helps you to make a meal later easier.
[6:05] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And I think that starts with first just, just look at the things that you like to eat and then look at what is in season where you live and how can you pair those two and put them together.
[6:17] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Yeah.
[6:18] \[SPEAKER_01\]: And where do you live?
[6:20] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I'm from Wisconsin.
[6:20] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Okay, so you're in the Midwest, which, yeah, I mean, thinking ahead like I said, preparing for the harvest for the winter so that you can have either canned goods or frozen foods that you can pull out.
[6:32] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I mean, we're not harvesting food you're around here.
[6:35] \[SPEAKER_01\]: So I think that that helps you be even more entrenched all
[6:38] \[SPEAKER_01\]: You know, if you want to sidetrack a little bit to your social media and the things that you talk about, I mean, you have the best way to freeze onions preserve cabbage and tomatoes like you said freezing vegetables is not necessarily some like you think about or that I've necessarily come across as often it's more fruits I've seen so I guess what's your favorite thing to freeze and let's talk a little bit more about that.
[7:01] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Okay, I have, well, I give you one, my favorite savory and then my favorite sweet thing.
[7:06] \[SPEAKER_00\]: So my, I frozen a lot of stuff.
[7:10] \[SPEAKER_00\]: My very favorite thing is a chicken tortilla soup starter.
[7:15] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And so a starter, and I have a lot of different starters in the book, but it's basically a way to freeze the fresh part of a recipe.
[7:22] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And then when you want to make it, you thought and add pantry staples,
[7:27] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And so for this chicken tortillas soup, I saute onions and peppers and garlic and add in fresh tomatoes and simmer that down with some spices and then add sweet corn at the end and now I have this really flavorful mixture and all I have to do in the winter is thought he did up in a pot and add I usually add leftover chicken to it a can of beans a carton of broth and I have a really delicious homegrown dinner in I mean less than 10 minutes it is so fast and easy it's so, so delicious.
[7:57] \[SPEAKER_00\]: My favorite sweet thing to make is we have a nice strawberry.
[8:01] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I think a lot of the U.S. does grow strawberries and that's a common one big strawberries and I roast them really low and slow in the oven and they get like the juices turned into almost like a syrup.
[8:13] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And then I freeze that mixture and it has some sugar in it and stuff.
[8:17] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Freeze that mixture and then I use it to make a pie.
[8:21] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I make a strawberry.
[8:22] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It's like a roasted strawberry pie.
[8:23] \[SPEAKER_00\]: All you have to do is take out your container of roasted strawberries in their lovely juices, dump it in a pie crust and fold it over and you have
[8:32] \[SPEAKER_00\]: a pie that tastes like summertime whenever you want to eat it and it takes up so little space.
[8:39] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The strawberries cooked down so much that I mean it's a minute amount of space compared to if you were to freeze them just so fresh as they were.
[8:47] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Sure absolutely.
[8:49] \[SPEAKER_01\]: So you think that these meal starters will simplify weeknight dinners that people opt into again being more intentional
[9:01] \[SPEAKER_00\]: we're all busy.
[9:02] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It's not hard to find a fast meal these days.
[9:07] \[SPEAKER_00\]: That's why fast food exists.
[9:08] \[SPEAKER_00\]: But if you are somebody who wants to prioritize a homemade meal or eating more fruits and vegetables or eating with more intention and not just reactive of, oh my gosh, it's dinner time.
[9:19] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I've planned nothing.
[9:20] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I think that my book is a really good resource for that because if you want to make a homemade meal, I think most people, the reality is you have to make it yourself.
[9:31] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And it does take time.
[9:33] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And if you don't have that time to do it in the moment and to make a meal like that, you can absolutely freeze those things ahead of time.
[9:42] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And that is a really great solution.
[9:44] \[SPEAKER_00\]: You know, you can be thawing and heating a batch of Italian beef and veggie stew.
[9:50] \[SPEAKER_00\]: You can take out a portion of
[9:52] \[SPEAKER_00\]: like blueberry and peach still cut oatmeal for breakfast and heat that up or even for vegetable side dishes for dinner.
[10:01] \[SPEAKER_00\]: You can put away already seasoned and ready to go things that you can just throw on a sheet pan, slide it into the oven and not give it a second thought and you've got a really great homemade side dish or
[10:13] \[SPEAKER_00\]: One of my other favorite things to freeze with fruits and vegetables are baked goods.
[10:16] \[SPEAKER_00\]: You can do like a green smoothie muffin for example.
[10:19] \[SPEAKER_00\]: You can take right out of the freezer, pop it in a lunch box and there's just so many ways to incorporate fresh produce into things that you prep ahead that you can pull from on your busiest days.
[10:33] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Um, absolutely.
[10:34] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I mean, I don't doubt that it saves time long term if we're putting a little extra effort in on the front end.
[10:40] \[SPEAKER_01\]: That said, I have noticed a few times that I will go to free something bananas will use as an example.
[10:46] \[SPEAKER_01\]: If you have right bananas that you want to throw in a smoothie.
[10:49] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Often times I find that I don't get to them fast enough and then they either get freezer burn or they just Yeah, they've overstayed their welcome and so I don't know if it's because I'm storing them wrong in the freezer or if it is just Maybe they don't have as long of a life and inside the freezer as I think
[11:07] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Yeah.
[11:08] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Do you freeze them whole in their peel?
[11:10] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I do.
[11:10] \[SPEAKER_01\]: No, not in their peel.
[11:11] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I do pull them out of their peel.
[11:13] \[SPEAKER_01\]: And then I throw them usually I put them in like, cut them in half or like break them apart in half.
[11:18] \[SPEAKER_01\]: And then just throw them into as a block bag.
[11:20] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Okay, bananas are actually a really great one.
[11:22] \[SPEAKER_00\]: They come with their own built-in protection.
[11:25] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I literally just chuck them in the freezer hole.
[11:28] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I've had bananas ask, last for an embarrassing long long amount of time.
[11:34] \[SPEAKER_01\]: And my freezer is too cold that maybe there's something going on there because I want to say I'm trying to think we'll say maximum They've been in there for three months and I actually just pulled him out yesterday and I was like, I don't think these are gonna actually work because they did get all frosty So maybe that means that there's something going on and that's more of an adjustment with the freezer versus how I'm actually doing it.
[11:55] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Yeah, is it the freezer that's attached to a refrigerator
[11:57] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Yes.
[11:58] \[SPEAKER_00\]: So those types of freezers, well, great.
[12:01] \[SPEAKER_00\]: They definitely do not give you the same shelf life of frozen food that a dedicated freezer will give you.
[12:07] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Okay.
[12:07] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Anyone who wants to get a little bit more serious about freezing more stuff, a either a stand-up or a deep freezer bigger small whatever you have space for whatever you can afford is going to give you so much better quality long term than the one attached to your fridge.
[12:22] \[SPEAKER_01\]: realistically do you think that that is a worthwhile investment?
[12:25] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Like do you feel like you see this the money if you're spending money on a freezer, which I guess you could probably get one on Facebook market place or something you could get one second hit, but I am wondering my husband and I talk about getting a quarter of a cow or something with the freezer and then it's like, wait, are we actually going to spend more on the cow like the freezer than we would long term on beef?
[12:44] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I don't know.
[12:45] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Yeah, I think it's worthwhile and you know something people talk about is especially in the gardening world is do you save money gardening do you save money doing that kind of thing that's really never been my objective my objective is to put up the best tasting the best quality food that I can find like you I of course you know we buy a half cow often too and you have you really just have to have a freezer for that so it to me it's more about.
[13:12] \[SPEAKER_00\]: the quality, then maybe a cost saving, and I know that's not everyone's priority, but if it is, it definitely helps, helps there.
[13:21] \[SPEAKER_01\]: No, I'm God that we're talking this out.
[13:23] \[SPEAKER_01\]: It's constantly a back and forth for me.
[13:25] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Specifically, I guess with minimalism and intentionality and simply like all these things that I regularly think about, it's like, okay, cost effectiveness.
[13:32] \[SPEAKER_01\]: And then just for God, like it all just kind of plays a role and how we're living our lives.
[13:36] \[SPEAKER_01\]: So I'm God that we're speaking to this.
[13:38] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I wanna go back to what you said about bananas, having that self-protective layer of sorts that they can freeze really well.
[13:45] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Are there foods that freeze better than others?
[13:48] \[SPEAKER_01\]: And I love for you to point some of those out for us?
[13:51] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I think that anything in every, almost, there's maybe, there's a, maybe a little tiny caveat there, but pretty much everything can freeze well if you treat it right.
[14:01] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Fruts are really easy.
[14:03] \[SPEAKER_00\]: They're ones you can just wash and chuck in the freezer.
[14:05] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Vegetables really do need to be heated in some way before you freeze them.
[14:11] \[SPEAKER_00\]: You probably heard the term blanching before.
[14:13] \[SPEAKER_00\]: They need to be heated or park hooked in some way before they go on the freezer to maintain their best flavor, their best texture.
[14:21] \[SPEAKER_00\]: their best quality overall.
[14:23] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The only vegetable that I think does not freeze well that you will never see in my freezer is Brussels sprouts.
[14:30] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Actually, I love them fresh.
[14:32] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I think they're fantastic fresh, but I just think they're awful frozen.
[14:37] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Yeah.
[14:37] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Absolutely.
[14:38] \[SPEAKER_01\]: What about herbs?
[14:39] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Can we freeze herbs?
[14:40] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Yes, herbs freeze fantastically.
[14:43] \[SPEAKER_00\]: In most cases, I chop them up and put them in a container and then just take the container out of the freezer, pull out what you need real quick and stick it back in before the whole thing saws.
[14:53] \[SPEAKER_00\]: There's not one herb that doesn't freeze well.
[14:56] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Okay.
[14:57] \[SPEAKER_01\]: And then again, in preserving the texture and the flavor, are there simple tips that we can implement to cultivate tasteier foods when pulled them out?
[15:05] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I'm trying to think like storing in glass or if this is a black baggy sufficient or Mason jars, like how do we actually go about doing this?
[15:14] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Yeah, that's a great, that's a great topic because how you store things, what you store them in absolutely does have an effect on their taste because I'm sure we've all pulled something freezer burn out of the freezer.
[15:26] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It does not taste good, it doesn't smell good.
[15:28] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And the way to use that is to use packaging that is meant for the freezer.
[15:34] \[SPEAKER_00\]: So you can freeze in glass.
[15:36] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The only problem with that is glass does break.
[15:38] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It can break.
[15:39] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It will break.
[15:40] \[SPEAKER_00\]: If you use it long enough, there's a lot of really great reusable plastic type containers that are inexpensive and reusable over and over and over.
[15:49] \[SPEAKER_00\]: You can do the silicone.
[15:51] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Stasher bag type things those work just fine those are very protective or if you're gonna freeze and bag is definitely freezer bags and I do think that you get what you pay for there So I always get the name brand ones as I do think that they work better.
[16:05] \[SPEAKER_00\]: You can reuse those.
[16:07] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I you know something is only a single use if you use it one time so you are absolutely
[16:13] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Especially if it's a fruit or vegetable, you can wash that bag out, you can save it if you want, it's up to you, but but definitely the right tools for the job in freezing makes a lot of difference.
[16:27] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I'd love for you just to walk us through a typical day of how you actually implement the system.
[16:32] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I think again, are we going to this breakfast lunch and dinner realistically or are you doing this every day?
[16:37] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Are you just doing it for dinner?
[16:38] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Well, you know, I think that is up to the person.
[16:41] \[SPEAKER_00\]: If you certainly, if you want to do it for every meal, absolutely, if you are someone who travels if you're out of the house, if you need lunch on the, at your workplace, if you've got
[16:52] \[SPEAKER_00\]: sports when you're supposed to be making dinner like however you can fit that into your life that is going to be helpful for you is wonderful for me I do it is my passion so I freeze a ton I we eat a ton of frozen food we have lots of different fruits and vegetables like I mentioned I really like to do
[17:11] \[SPEAKER_00\]: peach and blueberry still cut oats or other types of fruit mixed with oatmeal, frozen fruits with oatmeal.
[17:17] \[SPEAKER_00\]: We do a lot of soups for lunch, either soups that are fully made or soup starters that I can make into soups for lunch and then for dinner, lots of different vegetable side dishes that I like to put up.
[17:31] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I do lots of
[17:32] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Chili starters are really common when I use a lot or sloppy Joe starters and lots of different potato dishes like hash brown.
[17:40] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I freeze sort of a hash brown casserole that we like to have a lot that pairs with just about any kind of meat.
[17:46] \[SPEAKER_00\]: So we do a lot of that type of side dishes with our dinners.
[17:52] \[SPEAKER_01\]: You mentioned the chicken tortillas soup, how you have that as a meal starter.
[17:56] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Is there another one that catches readers off guard, the readers are surprised to see in there?
[18:02] \[SPEAKER_01\]: There's one.
[18:03] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It's a French onion soup starter.
[18:06] \[SPEAKER_00\]: So you take a bunch of onions and cook them down into like basically caramelized fried onions.
[18:13] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And the really cool thing about this recipe and a lot of the other recipes is that you don't only have to use it for
[18:19] \[SPEAKER_00\]: the intended, you know, French onion soup.
[18:23] \[SPEAKER_00\]: My actual favorite thing to do with that is after I have that cooked down onion mixture, I actually like to make it into French onion soup baked rice.
[18:31] \[SPEAKER_00\]: So I mix those onions with rice and bake it up, and it's so delicious.
[18:36] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It's, you know, however you can
[18:39] \[SPEAKER_00\]: whatever you can come up with, people are so creative and I love seeing the different regional and cultural dishes that people like to make.
[18:47] \[SPEAKER_00\]: So one thing that I wanted to do in this book was have recipes, yes, of course, but also give a framework for why the recipes work.
[18:56] \[SPEAKER_00\]: and how to bend them to the things that you like to eat the most, too.
[19:00] \[SPEAKER_00\]: So I think the onion dish is one that people don't realize you can freeze onions, which if you get a good sale on onions and you want to put them up, like that's just a fantastic way to do it and to have something really useful that then you can, you know, throw it with a roast in a crock pot, turn it into a beef and noodle soup, make the rice, make the French onion soup.
[19:25] \[SPEAKER_00\]: um, prepared or partially prepared dishes once you have them in the freezer.
[19:28] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Yeah, I love how it's adaptable for everyone.
[19:31] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Again, this conversation in this book and this topic in general are about cultivating intentionality when it comes to meal prepping, saving time, saving money even, but there are listeners that they're not gardeners.
[19:47] \[SPEAKER_01\]: So is there like an easy step that they can take to even apply
[19:52] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Some of your principles and practices and recipes and they're all lives like if you have even just a small space to garden, can you make it work?
[19:59] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Yeah, absolutely.
[20:00] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And the thing about the book is I'm my passion lies in gardening and preserving fruits and vegetables and that makes me a really good candidate for writing a book like this, but you don't have to be the same as me to use the book.
[20:14] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It is definitely written for anybody who wants to
[20:17] \[SPEAKER_00\]: incorporate more fruits and vegetables into their lives and have prepared meals in the freezer that do lean more on fruits and vegetables and lots of really easy stuff even if you're not a natural cook you will find a lot of useful things in this book and even if you've never meal prepped before all of the recipes are very simple they're all small like normal family batch
[20:44] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Dinner's it's all very common stuff that people like to eat just adapted for the freezer So yeah, lots of soups jellies the side dishes the desserts even ice creams and then there is some things like jams and pie fillings Which I think are really fun and I know that's not maybe everybody's cup of tea, but
[21:03] \[SPEAKER_00\]: One of my fondest memories as a kid was going to different farms and, you know, we pick strawberries, we pick apples and then come home and make something with them and then to be able to pull that thing out of the freezer a couple months later and reminisce on your trip to the orchard and all the fun that you had with family.
[21:20] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I think that those are some really fun things and freezing is just so approachable and it's so easy that um, really anybody can do it.
[21:30] \[SPEAKER_01\]: absolutely.
[21:31] \[SPEAKER_01\]: How long have you been home studying?
[21:34] \[SPEAKER_00\]: On my own, I mean, away from the rest of my fail, I kind of grew up into it.
[21:39] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I've been out with my own home set for about 12 years now.
[21:43] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Oh, wow.
[21:44] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Okay.
[21:44] \[SPEAKER_01\]: So yeah.
[21:45] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I mean, you really are an expert when it comes to this stuff.
[21:47] \[SPEAKER_01\]: And again, I think that listeners should feel encouraged and not overwhelm that this is something that can be daunting.
[21:53] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I know I think that my biggest hesitation is the time that I'm going to be spending to like prep all this stuff to freeze.
[22:00] \[SPEAKER_01\]: But again, on those busy nights, like I have an eight that might do days are always crazy.
[22:04] \[SPEAKER_01\]: It's like, oh, that would be really nice to pull that chicken tortillas soup out of the freezer and just throw in a few pantry items and then be on our way.
[22:10] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Yeah, and you can start so simple with just, I mean, pick a soup is just such a great thing, because it's pretty easy to make, pick one soup.
[22:19] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Find a time when you have a little extra time and make it, freeze it in individual portions, even as a really great way to freeze a soup.
[22:25] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And then you have instant lunch for days to come, you don't have to think about it, then that's a really great introductory way to freezing.
[22:33] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I think you can even package it in.
[22:36] \[SPEAKER_00\]: old sour cream containers that you saved or old little containers, you know, you can make do with what you have and it's a really great starting point.
[22:44] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Yeah, absolutely.
[22:45] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Well, Crystal, where can listeners connect with you online and grab a copy of your book if they want to dive deeper into freezing food?
[22:53] \[SPEAKER_00\]: You can find me on Instagram and on YouTube at WholeFed HomeStead, and you can get my book, freeze-fresh meal prep, and my first book before that is called Freeze-Fresh, both of those about freezing, and you can find them wherever you get books.
[23:05] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Well, quickly, as we up up here, I'm going to ask you two final questions that I ask every guest.
[23:09] \[SPEAKER_01\]: And the first one is, what has been a beneficial resource in your life you want to share with the listeners?
[23:13] \[SPEAKER_00\]: a beneficial resource, you know what I'm loving lately is the Merlin Bird ID app.
[23:19] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Have you heard of that?
[23:20] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I've heard it of it before.
[23:22] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I've never downloaded it.
[23:24] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It's so fantastic, so it's from Cornell University, you open the app, you hit record, it listens to all the birds and tells you in real time who you're hearing so you can connect a name with the voice that you're hearing and it is so fun and of course we have like the usual birds that are around but this time of year there's a lot of migratory birds so all sorts of unique ones that we don't often hear will pop up and I think it is just
[23:49] \[SPEAKER_00\]: so fun to learn their songs and to just know who am I, who am I hearing here?
[23:55] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I just get a kick out of that.
[23:58] \[SPEAKER_01\]: It's so funny, bird song is so nostalgic for me, just waking up in the summer months at my childhood home, just having the windows open and hearing that first thing.
[24:08] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I don't know, it just really takes you back and birds are one of my favorite, I mean, probably my favorite animal.
[24:12] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I know it's kind of weird.
[24:13] \[SPEAKER_00\]: They're just looking to laugh.
[24:15] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Yeah, for sure.
[24:16] \[SPEAKER_01\]: So I'll definitely look that up and put it in the show notes for listeners.
[24:19] \[SPEAKER_01\]: And then my last question for you is what is something you can't stop talking about?
[24:23] \[SPEAKER_00\]: something I can't stop talking about right now is a frozen cookie dough and I know obviously I obviously I freeze a ton of stuff but freezing cookie dough has become a non-negotiable for me it's one of the one of those things that I like always have to keep in the house because I can make a couple balls of dough
[24:46] \[SPEAKER_00\]: At a time, I don't have to make a whole batch.
[24:48] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I usually piggyback it off of when I have the oven on and I'm cooking something else I'll just put a couple on a pan bake them up.
[24:54] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I have fresh warm cookies that took zero effort and it brings me so much joy
[25:03] \[SPEAKER_01\]: My husband's mom and her husband, they will pull frozen cookie dough out of the freezer, like a couple times a week, because it's like, we don't want a ton of cookies lying around, but if you just pull a few out each time, I'm like, that's just lovely.
[25:15] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I love that idea.
[25:16] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I don't know why I haven't done it.
[25:17] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Again, I think that I think that my perspective has always been, oh, this is going to take so much more time.
[25:22] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I'd rather just spend it in the moment, but you're kind of making me believe that it's actually opposite.
[25:28] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Yeah, I think I guess it is with the perspective that you have, but I definitely love the just
[25:33] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Cook once prep once and eat multiple times is definitely my favorite way to be going through life at the moment.
[25:41] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Yeah, absolutely.
[25:42] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Well, thank you so much for sharing all of this helpful information with us today.
[25:46] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I'll be sure to link everything we talked about in the show notes today.
[25:48] \[SPEAKER_01\]: And I appreciate your joining me today.
[25:51] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
[25:54] \[SPEAKER_01\]: What did you think of the episode?
[25:55] \[SPEAKER_01\]: I hope you enjoyed the conversation.
[25:57] \[SPEAKER_01\]: To learn more about today's guest, including links, resources related to everything discussed today, visit the episode page at minimalismomspodcast.com where you can find the entire podcast archive as well as my book minimalismoms living and parenting with simplicity, or other ways to connect or work with me online.
[26:16] \[SPEAKER_01\]: If you'd like to support the podcast, the easiest and most impactful thing you can do is subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify, or YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
[26:25] \[SPEAKER_01\]: And leave a rating or review of your favorite episode.
[26:28] \[SPEAKER_01\]: Lastly, sharing the show or your favorite episode with friends and social media is very helpful and will encourage others on their journey to think more and do with us.

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