I’m sure that you have seen posts on other blogs in which women host Freezer Cooking Days during which they take one day to cook several meals or parts of meals for their freezer.
Frankly, cooking all day long overwhelms me–I don’t care how long it keeps me out of the kitchen! I prefer to do freezer cooking over time. So what does that look like?
Watch my Easy Freezer Cooking Video on You Tube!
Easy Freezer Cooking TM has several components:
BULK BUYING
I watch weekly sale prices and purchase meat and other ingredients in bulk when they hit the lowest price. For example, in my area boneless skinless chicken breasts go on sale for $1.99/lb regularly.
When I see them for $1.78/lb or less, I buy as much as I can afford which is usually one to two months worth. I place the meat in plastic zipper bags in meal size portions and place them in the freezer.
I also find over-ripe bananas for as little as $.25 cents a pound. We eat as many as we can and freeze the rest in zipper bags for later use in smoothies or baking. My children will even eat them straight from the freezer like popsicles!
Many foods are easily frozen for later use. I chop onions and green peppers for use in recipes, freeze blueberries purchased on sale for use in baking and smoothies and freeze yogurt I find on clearance. If you are going to freeze vegetables, just make sure to lightly steam them before freezing.
PRE-COOKING
Rather than freezing my ingredients raw, I sometimes pre-cook them before freezing. My favorite ingredient to cook is ground beef which I have purchased on sale. I brown it with onions, salt and pepper and place it in plastic zipper bags for later use in tacos, casseroles and chili.
I also boil or bake chicken breasts, shred them and place them in freezer zipper bags for quick enchiladas, chicken casseroles and chicken salad. Brown rice and beans are also great foods to cook ahead.
DOUBLING RECIPES
Another quick way to fill your freezer is to double time consuming recipes like lasagna. It takes only a few minutes to make another casserole when I already have the ingredients on the counter. By cooking two and freezing one, I then have an easy meal for later.
You can also bake double batches of bread or muffins and freeze them. Frozen muffins can quickly be reheated and served for a quick breakfast.
USING LEFTOVERS
I also place leftovers in the freezer such as roast chicken, vegetables or chili. By freezing them in single servings my husband can have a quick lunch or I can throw a pot of soup together when we need dinner fast.
Freezing leftovers saves money on the grocery bill too. How many times have you found forgotten, spoiled food in the back of the fridge? Freezing the leftovers immediately prevents this waste.
Easy Freezer Cooking saves me money and sanity! It keeps me out of the drive-through, helps me get dinner on the table quickly and provides variety in our diet when we have one of those “Oh no, chicken again!” weeks.
©2010-11 The Peaceful Mom-Please do not copy or reprint this material without my permission. Thank you!
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi! Found your blog from MSMom…
I too practice freezer cooking over time, glad to hear someone else say that doing it all in one day is too much!
) I mostly double recipes and pre cook meat for easy meal prep later.
thanks for the info on your site!
Hi Daniele! Doubling up is definitely easier in my opinion.
Thank you. I have been having problems coming up with ideas for dinner and having energy to cook them after working all day. This helps.
I am so happy to help! Have a Peaceful Day!
I do the same and love it! Like you I would hate spending a whole day in the kitchen cooking, so when I have everything and I’m making for example enchiladas, I will make an extra 9×13. Doesn’t take anymore effort because everything is already out. Saves on the grocery bill. Thanks for you blog! It’s very inspiring and uplifting to hear about your story and hear other women expressing that they want to serve God and make the most of what they have and stick to there budget. Thanks again a million times!
My pleasure Lora!
Thanks so much for your encouragement. Have a Peaceful Day!
I have been afraid to try freezer cooking. I do precook chicken and ground beef to freeze. But I have always been afraid to double recipes. What type of pan do you freeze in? Is it a throwaway pan, or a normal glass or metal pan that you bake in?
Hi Kathy! I have frozen in glass Pyrex dishes primarily, but I have used the metal pans or even plastic containers when I have frozen something in individual portions. I don’t need a lot of extra dishes because I am adding things over time, not doing it all in one day. For sauces, beans, shredded chicken, browned ground beef, etc. I usually just use a freezer zipper bag.
I’ve read a lot about freezer cooking, and do practice it as much as I can. If you don’t have extra dishes for freezing, you can also line your pan with plastic before freezing, and once the casserole is frozen, you pop it out of the pan, wrap it or seal it properly for storage, and store it in your freezer. When you’re ready to thaw and re-heat, you just pop it back into the same pan you froze it in.
Thanks Sheila-great idea!
I also wanted to add that soups are swesome freezer foods. I’ll cook a big batch if chili or homemade potato or tomato soup (which just taste better than canne din my opinion) and will either our them into a heavy duty doubled up gallon freezer bag for a later dinner (after it’s cooled of course) or place them in smaller inidividual plastic containers for lunches. If you put them in plastic containers my mom taught me to add plastic wrapt to the top before adding lid to help prevent freezer burn. Hope this helps.
Thanks Stefani! That’s a great idea. I actually just found something about that on Pinterest and planned to post it later this week.
One of the best things I have ever been told was “You are not a short order cook!” And so from this I realized I don’t have to cook dinner right before dinner is to be served. Now I freezer cooker (I am an half day cooker) and I love it. I am so glad I do this now.
It makes things much easier, doesn’t it Christine?
I have just started freezing food…I did brown rice, red kidney beans, cut up 8lb of back bacon and frozen them diner portons. I even cut up 8lbs of red onions and I have some red peppers I have cut up. My kids think I’m crazy. I’m trying some some to freeze this week and I may try to may some squash and cook it and freeze that too. Any suggestions for other items… thanks
Wow–Good work Vicki! I bake chicken, shred it and freeze it; bananas, berries, mango, peach slices for smoothies; baked goods like bread and pancakes. My friend makes extra mash potatoes and freezes them, although I have never tried this. Making an extra batch of soup and freezing it works well too.
We often have veggies left over and I just stick them in a plastic bag. Every few days I keep adding leftovers to it and then eventually I have enough to make a veggie soup in the crockpot. Super easy!
Really great idea–thanks!
I have started doing this recently. I would love to have a day to cook but I have an 8 month old so that isn’t going to happen. The only thing that stinks is I don’t have the room. We are living in England (we are American) and the freezers are much smaller here and they have drawers. No space for a deep freezer…so I just make as much as I can shove in there. It gets a bit tight with frozen baby food too
. These are great ideas!