I’m so excited about Freezer Cooking Day! I’m ready to fill up our getting-close-to-empty freezer again!
To start things off, here’s a picture of all the groceries we bought for Freezer Cooking Day. All totaled, we spent $64.61. It seems a little high but considering about $20 of that was spent on meat and $12 on tortillas, I’m happy with it. And I felt even better when I realized that all of that coupled with the food we already have on hand should make about 25 dinners for our family.
However, next time around, I’m going to try and do a better job of buying more groceries ahead of time because I hated paying full price for a few of these items that I know I can often get for pennies on the dollar if I plan ahead. I haven’t done a good enough job recently of following my own advice to Buy Ahead, I guess!
I’ll be back later with an update on our progress.
Subscribe for free email updates and be entered to win $100!
{ 21 comments }
My husband is making white chicken chili and Tuesday he is making a double meat lasagna. He is making double batches of everything til the baby gets here.
I made homemade sloppy joes last week and made extra, so I froze it, it reheats WONDERFULLY! And I had a chance to use my new tupperware, it goes from fridge or freezer to the microwave!!! SO excited, want to do more Freezer Cooking…just need more freezer space!
All that would last about 3 meals for my family of 7. I don’t see how you can get 25 meals out of it.
@MINDY, I figure that maybe by 25 meals, maybe she means meal per person? so, for you with 7 people times 3 meals equals 21 meals? I don’t know…. but we’re a family of 6 and that would only last us for 3 or 4 meals too (the chicken longer, maybe if you don’t eat it by itself rather shredded into something else)
@MINDY, Mindy, my apologies for not being clear in the post the first time (I just fixed it!). These were just the items we needed to buy to complete the recipes I’m making. As I mention in this post, I mostly use items we already have on hand as the base for which recipes I choose to make:
http://moneysavingmom.com/2010/02/how-to-plan-bulk-cooking.html
If I had to buy everything, instead of working with my stockpile of items I’ve purchased for pennies on the dollar over the past 6-8 weeks, I’d be spending a LOT more money than $64! That’s the beauty of stocking up when items are at 50-100% off!
25 meals! do you mean 25 servings? from the ingredients there I see about 5 meals maybe- you must not eat a lot
@janet, See above.
whoa- that’s amazing!!! 25 meals in $64!!! You are amazing!
I had a question, if you buy frozen chicken you can thaw it, cook it, and freeze it again, right? You just can’t thaw it and freeze it again? Silly question, but i just want to make sure.
@Jessica G, Yes, it’s usually best (at least in my opinion) to only freeze uncooked meat once.
Hey guys! Just remember that this is what she bought for Freezer Cooking day only – she still has a whole pantry to use as well! For example, you don’t see meat here but she is making several meatloaf’s. Also, no blueberries but she is doing blueberry pancakes! So the long and short of it – is of course that is not going to make 25 meals only that – but rather that is her filler to complete the items she already has on hand. What I love about this blog is the inspiration and great ideas to kickstart whatever our families are doing – we tailor to fit our family size!
I know what you mean about feeling annoyed when you have to pay full price. When you’re used to paying so much less, the full price really hurts! At least it makes you realize that your efforts really do (literally) pay off!
I see frozen chicken breasts there but I thought that you couldn’t freeze meat that had been previously frozen. Am I totally wrong on that one? Sorry, but that has been one of the things holding me back from freezer cooking, trying to use up all the meat in my freezer so I can start making meals with fresh ingrediants when they go on sale.
Great job!! THat is a lot of meals!
Crystal,
Thanks so much for this website and for being transparent about yourself. It would so easy to give the appearance that you do all your shopping just perfectly and always get the best deals.
Hi. You mentioned that you spend $12 on tortillas. I am not sure where you purchased them or how many (I can’t tell from the photo), but I think you shop at a Krogers or an affiliate. They have (store brand) whole wheat tortillas for a dollar. I found them there and haven’t purchased them anywhere else. Maybe that will help you in the future. I know because I searched for a good price for tortillas and was excited when I found these.
I’m already using swagbucks.
Okay, I understand about paying full price for things. We did our own version of Eat From the Pantry Challenge in February (due to an unexpected surgery for my son, we were unable to as planned in January), and this month’s stock up grocery trip has really hurt, as my pantry and freezer were bare, and we had to buy groceries, some at full price. I think I learned quite a few things from our Eat from the Pantry Challenge, but I am not sure it worked to help us financially.
$12 is a lot for tortillas! I don’t know if you have ever tried to make your own, but it’s really easy. I wouldn’t have recommended to try it on your freezer cooking day, as you had enough to do, but they do freeze well and don’t take a lot of time. Here’s the address to a recipe that I use frequently: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mexican-Whole-Wheat-Flour-Tortillas/Detail.aspx. I sub olive oil for the shortening and use all whole wheat flour (adding 1 tsp of gluten per cup of flour). Better than store bought! Great job on your freezing!!!
I know you have mentioned shopping at Sam’s or another discount club. I buy my tortillas there because it usually beats the coupons I’ve seen. Sam’s typically has soft taco size tortillas (which work for just about all recipes) for $3.78 for 36 tortillas. Just a thought.
Yes, I wish we had had a chance to get to Sam’s. They were closed already for the night, so we just had to pay through the nose–and remind ourselves to be more organized next time!