Food Information

Menu Development
At Meals in Minutes, we pride ourselves on providing you and your family with a variety of high-quality, delicious and nutritious meals that everyone will enjoy.

Each month, Meals in Minutes creates a new and exciting menu that features
14 choices, including a dessert, a “kid's favorite,” and a side dish that will be delectable compliments to many of our delicious entrées.

Ingredients
Freshness and quality of ingredients at the time of freezing affect the condition of frozen foods. For high-quality frozen foods, you must start with high-quality fresh food, which is exactly what we do at Meals in Minutes.

All of our fresh, high-quality ingredients come from SYSCO, an industry leader in food distribution. SYSCO is committed to delivering SYSCO Brand products that provide consistency and exceptional value. According to the March 3, 2003 article in Fortune, in the category of Wholesalers – Food And Grocery Industry, SYSCO was rated #1 Overall, and #1 for Quality for their products and services. SYSCO stands behind each and every SYSCO Brand product displaying the Quality Assured emblem and guarantees that these products conform to their stringent standards for food safety, sanitation and consistency.

The following, from the United States Department of Agriculture, is information on how you should properly handle:

• Freezing
• Thawing
• Refreezing
• Cooking of Foods

Freezing Information
While freezing keeps food safe for an indefinite amount of time, we recommend eating the food within a reasonable time period for quality sake. The recommended storage times for home-frozen products held at 0°F are given below. After these times, the food should be safe, just lower in quality.

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Thawing Food

1. Refrigerator Thawing
   Planning ahead is the key to this method because of the lengthy time involved. A large frozen item like a turkey requires at least a day (24 hours) for every 5 pounds of weight. Even small amounts of frozen food—such as a pound of ground meat or boneless chicken breasts—require a full day to thaw. When thawing foods in the refrigerator, there are several variables to take into account.
   

   •	Some areas of an appliance may keep the food colder than other areas. Food placed in the coldest part will require longer defrosting time.
   •	Food takes longer to thaw in a refrigerator set at 35°F than one set at 40°F.

   After thawing in the refrigerator, ground meat and poultry should remain useable for an additional day or two before cooking; red meat, 3 to 5 days. Foods defrosted in the refrigerator can be refrozen without cooking, although there may be some loss of quality.
   

   •	Allow 2-3 days to thaw large items such as casseroles and fully packed Ziploc® bags.




2. Cold Water Thawing
   This method is faster than refrigerator thawing but requires more attention. The food must be in a leak-proof package or plastic bag. If the bag leaks, bacteria from the air or surrounding environment could be introduced into the food. Also, meat tissue can also absorb water like a sponge, resulting in a watery product.

   The bag should be submerged in cold tap water, changing the water every 30 minutes so it continues to thaw. Small packages of meat or poultry—about a pound—may defrost in an hour or less. A 3- to 4-pound package may take 2 to 3 hours. For whole turkeys, estimate about 30 minutes per pound. If thawed completely, the food must be cooked immediately. Foods thawed by the cold water method should be cooked before refreezing.



3. Microwave Thawing
   When microwave defrosting food, plan to cook it immediately after thawing because some areas of the food may become warm and begin to cook during microwave defrosting. Holding partially cooked food is not recommended because any bacteria present wouldn't have been destroyed and, indeed, may have reached optimal temperatures for bacteria to grow.

   Foods thawed in the microwave should be cooked before refreezing.

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Refreezing Food
Meat and poultry defrosted in the refrigerator may be refrozen before or after cooking. If thawed by other methods, cook before refreezing.

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Cooking Frozen Foods
Raw or cooked meat, poultry or casseroles can be cooked or reheated from the frozen state. However, it will take approximately one and a half times the usual cooking time for food that has been thawed. Fish can also be cooked successfully without thawing by allowing additional cooking time. Approximately double the time required in cooking instructions is required to cook frozen fish.

Cooking Food and Recommended Temperatures for Cooked Food
All food needs to be cooked completely and properly, so that the bacteria in it will die. Use your thermometer to measure the INTERNAL temperature of the food to determine when it is properly cooked. Always insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the meat and avoid hitting a bone.

The following is the correct minimum temperatures for cooked foods according to the United States Department of Agriculture:

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