The Efficient Eater cooks and freezes meals to eat up to two weeks later. To successfully follow this strategy, you must have freezer safe containers for storing foods.

Make sure your food is thoroughly cooked.

Before you put the food away in the container, to be safe it must be cooked. If there is already a problem with the food, you’re just freezing the problem.

Freezer safe containers come in many iterations, here are some of the issues people will raise.

Bags vs glass or plastic

Bags work just as well as glass and plastic, in all cases you must make sure the container is sealed.

BPA vs BPA-free plastic

BPA or bisphenol A is an industrial chemical used in some plastics and resins. People avoid it out of fear it can seep into food and cause health problems. But nowadays most containers you are going to look at will say BPA-free – but check to make sure.

Click here for The Mayo Clinic’s detailed explanation

Freezer safe label

You want to make sure the plastic container says ‘Freezer safe.’ You can look for microwave safe too but in general we are suggesting transferring your food on to a plate with other food that is heated together in the microwave as a meal. We do not recommend repeatedly microwaving a container that contains a week’s worth of food.

Types of Freezer Safe containers

Plastic storage bags

Make sure you get the ones that give you a good seal, and have a place to label the food. Sometimes it’s easy to forget what you cooked weeks before.

Glass Containers

With concerns about the deterioration of plastic, glass has become a favored storage option. Glass is heavier than plastic, and subject to break when dropped. But it has other benefits.

For busy entrepreneurs, glass also supports cooking. A meal cooked in glass in the oven can go directly into the freezer for storage.

Plastic storage containers

The most accessible and easiest to use containers are the plastic varieties found in almost all grocery stores. There are a variety of sizes and shapes suitable for all your preferences. The lower cost is also a good option especially when you are experimenting with your bulk options, and may try to stock up for a month.