Guest post from Abby of Dough Roller
Confession: I hate cooking on weeknight evenings. And, most of the time, I don’t really like cooking on the weekends, either.
I used to make excuses, and my family would end up grabbing Taco Bell or Burger King at least once a week – and often eating PB&J for dinner, too. And let’s not even talk about the percentage of our grocery budget that we spent on food we eventually threw out!
In an effort to turn the tide against these terrible habits, I decided to try once-a-month freezer cooking. I’d wanted to try once a month meals for a while, but I was intimidated by the thought of all that food in our tiny one-bedroom-apartment galley kitchen.
But last month, I decided to just go for it. I’d call my foray into freezer cooking successful, since a stocked freezer has saved us from many a dinner out this month and has let me spend more evening time with my toddler.
Yes, cooking a month’s worth of meals in a kitchen with about two square inches of counter space was difficult and sometimes a bit frustrating. But I did it, and you can do it, too – if you learn from my mistakes.
Mistake #1: Not Creating Enough Space For Refrigerated Food
I made sure to clear out the freezer above our refrigerator before I even went grocery shopping, but I forgot to clear out space in the fridge. So when I came home with a ludicrous amount of vegetables, meat, and other groceries that needed to be refrigerated, there wasn’t really enough room for everything.
I was, eventually, able to cram all the refrigerated goods into the fridge, but then it took forever to fish them back out the next day when I was cooking. Next time, I’ll clean out the fridge as much as possible so I can be more organized!
Mistake #2: Putting Everything in the Kitchen
I also made the mistake of unloading my dozens of grocery bags onto the kitchen counter – you know, that two square inches of space I would eventually need for dicing, mixing, and stirring. That just meant that the next day, I’d have to move my miniature grocery store out to the dining room table before I could start cooking – more wasted time!
If you’re cooking in a very small space like I was, I would highly recommend setting up your dried and canned goods outside of the kitchen. Then, you can “shop” that area for each recipe’s ingredients before you get started.
Mistake #3: Not Doing the Prep Work
We had small group on the Friday night before I was supposed to cook. I had just enough time to go shopping, but not enough time to prep the vegetables like I was supposed to before the next day. I deluded myself into thinking that I’d somehow be functional enough when we got home at 10 or 11PM to do it, even though I never am.
So the chopping didn’t get done, which meant more work to do on freezer cooking day. Plus, I wound up having to do dishes more often on the day off because I was dirtying more utensils and cutting boards while making each recipe. I will definitely be doing the prep work next time!
Mistake #4: Not Borrowing Extra Pots and Pans
I don’t usually struggle with envy. But on freezer cooking day, I was a little jealous of friends whose big kitchens allow them to keep multiple sets of pots and pans in their seemingly endless yards of cabinet space. I have exactly four pots and one frying pan, which meant every single pot /pan was washed at least six times during my cooking day.
I was smart enough to borrow a friend’s waffle iron (considering I don’t even own one!) and an extra crock pot, but I didn’t go ahead and borrow pots or pans. Next time, I will!
Have you tried freezer cooking yet? Even if you have a super-small kitchen, it IS possible to do a whole month’s worth of cooking at once. You might just have to get a little more creative than the gals with tons of cabinet and counter space!
Abby Hayes is a freelance personal finance writer for Dough Roller. She and her family have lots of adventures in small space living and saving money in their one bedroom apartment home.
Janet says
My daughter and I did the “Aldi 21 Freezer Meals for $150” last winter. We went to Aldi the night before we planned on preparing the meals. Since it was so cold outside, and we didn’t have enough room in the refrigerator, we left a lot of the refrigerated items in the van. Everything was fine until we realized the next morning that my husband had taken the van to work, with our ingredients still in there!
Lo says
When my family was still all at home I did a lot of OAMC – not just me but I got my children involved in it too, was a good rainy saturday activity : ) Now I do it a little differently – I cook 2 identical meals at a time – I freeze one and we eat one and the leftovers I put up for lunch the next day, if there is a lot of leftovers I put up several lunches (or individual meals for on the fly). This way we always have something quick and it can be constantly rotated – I have about 20 meals in my freezer right now, I will consistently have approx 20 meals in my freezer along with random sides and bags of frozen veggies. The only thing I do OAM now is pizza, just made the dough with sauce and cheese, this way when we get snowed in or there is bad weather we just dress the homemade crust and in 30 minutes we have a delicious pizza! No matter what size kitchen you have OAMC is a wonderful timesaver and a healthy way to have fast food.
DebiMax says
If I could make a recommendation to anyone that is doing ‘freezer cooking’, it would be: buy a food saver (brand doesn’t really matter) and PLENTY of tupperware. You can cook solid foods like meat and vegetables, and seal them up in food saver bags (I buy the big rolls every 2-3 months), which will vacuum seal the food. No freezer burn! And then store liquids (soups, stocks, etc) in the tupperware so you can reheat them with the lid just barely popped off and not worry about making a giant mess in the microwave! My doctor put me on a low calorie diet, and with both my husband and I working, I don’t always have time to cook a meal from scratch, but we can’t afford to eat out all the time, so this is how I do it. I even slice up fresh fruit and store them in the food saver bags for healthy snacks for everyone in the house.
de says
I don’t try to cook once a month any more. Instead, I buy extra of what’s on sale and make three or four of whatever we are having for dinner and freeze the extras. Also, I freeze ingredients like chopped onions, celery and peppers, cooked ground beef, pulled pork, shredded chicken for tacos and casseroles, meats in skewer or stir fry bits, meats with marinade…
Jessica says
These are great tips! I’m hoping to tackle freezer cooking this fall!
veronica says
Yes I was a devoted freezer meal junkie, until my freezer went out! My freezer looked like the one on this blog post. It was not even that packed, but due to the amount of meals in my freezer, it did not keep my meals frozen. Tried dry ice and to cook what I could, but over all it was such a waste. Need a deep freezer or only a weeks worth instead of a month……
Mary says
I have been a keen cook for the past thirty something years! I have bookshelves full of recipe books and still buy them! I have had a box freezer in the past, but found that diving into the box to look for stuff wasn’t a good idea. Now I have a separate fridge and freezer. I have tried freezing in advance, but you need to be very organised or else you end up throwing away food that you spent money and time on. I have found that soups, sauces are very handy foods in the freezer. I buy vegies in season and chop them up and freeze in bags that I use daily. Chopped carrots, beans, spinach, herbs. I also keep frozen slices of bread, in case I run out of bread in the mornings for breakfast. Cooking once a month I have found difficult. You need to have energy for that day and no interruptions! I have found that cooking a big pot of food at one go and then freezing some of it works better for me. So if you’re cooking for 2 or 4 people, just double or triple that quantity. Saves wash up, cooking fuel, etc.
Kila Rohner says
Hi, great article. Thank you! Do you have a regular blog we can follow?
ChrisM says
Another possible failure for freezer cooking: Try a single batch of a new recipe before trying the recipe in bulk for freezer cooking! Make sure your family likes it!!!
Mother Lydia says
This totally sounds like something I’d do.
Jackie Brown says
These are some great mistakes to learn from. As an avid freezer cook with over a decade of experience, I’ve learned the best way that works for my limited time. I double or triple just about every dinner meal we are already preparing. I allow it to cool overnight if its a soup or stew and freeze the next day. I practice a power session like Crystal once or twice a week, mainly our whole grains. By having a stocked freezer, I can give to others on the spur of the moment as well. I have many tried and true recipes only site, momonamission.me
sandra says
An awesome cook book to get you started on freezer cooking is called The Big Cook .(http://thebigcook.com) It’s super easy to use – it gives you quantities to buy for making 1, 4, 6, or 8 batches of the recipe, ideas for storing and freezing the recipes, and instructions for cooking on the barbecue, or in the oven or crockpot. It’s been the easiest way to do freezer cooking, and it’s fun to do with a friend or two – and then you each have a bunch of meals ready to go.
Julia says
These are super helpful tips. I’ve toyed with the idea of freezer cooking, but I have found it too daunting thus far. When I do, I’m going to start small.
Kim in Cali says
I REALLY REALLY would like to know what you made (recipes) and how your family liked it!
Victoria says
This is a great post! I haven’t tried freezer cooking yet because it overwhelms me, and we have a fairly small apartment as well. Though, the counter space is pretty adequate. Instead of going it on my own, I’ve set up a freezer cooking day with some of my other friends and we’re using a local church’s kitchen. That way, there’s tons of space and pans and such and we won’t pull our hair out doing it alone 😛 Thanks for the tips!
Shari Lynne @ Faith Filled Food for Moms says
Hi Crystal! Yay for you to cook for the month..whoosh! I’ve done it 2 times in the past..years ago…and really it was just too much for me. I did it with a friend once and by myself once…both too much for me. But I loved the idea of cooking in bulk..so I cut back and did a 2 week bulk cooking..still too much..for me that is. So now what I like to do is just double up my recipes when cooking a meal for dinner..that works great for me..So instead of making 1 meal I double and make two..it really starts to add up fast and before I know it..I’ve got a freezer full.
I also must say that I REALLY enjoyed your 1 hour freezer cooking series! Now that’s my kind of cooking fast, with little time but yields a great harvest!
Stacy says
I second that, I love the 1 hour freezer cooking series too! While I always want to do a once a month freezer cooking session after reading an article like this it is just too hard to manage with a baby in the house to care for. An hour (or less) session once in a while and sure helps out on the nights when I don’t feel like cooking.
Shari Lynne @ Faith Filled Food for Moms says
Yes that was about the time I tried it Stacy! When I had little babes…even my friend had a couple littles..those were the loooongest days…I think it took all the meals I cooked and put in the freezer that long for me to recover! LOL
With that being said…I think if people can manage OAMC they should go for it..but for me..little by little works better 🙂
Sarah says
Our kitchen is also teeny tiny and I love to cook but freezer meals save me on days when the baby’s crying and the preschooler needs to be outside! I find it also helps us stretch out grocery budget so we can easily make a recipe and divide it at least in half to freeze instead of kidding ourselves that we’ll eat leftovers! What I really find helpful for freezer cooking is doing 5-6 meals at a time all using the same meat instead of trying to cram a whole months worth of meals into one day and our cramped kitchen. So I will buy several pounds of ground turkey and just focus on those meals that day and save the chicken breast meals for another day. Then I fill in with extras as I can (sides, breakfast items, etc).
KimH says
I doubt I will ever have enough freezer space to do a months worth of freezer cooking at one time… What I do and what works for me is that when I run across say bell peppers at a killer price, I’ll buy a slew of them and make them all up as stuffed bell peppers, freeze them and then Food Saver them in meal size portions and put back in the freezer. Then I’ll get a great price on pork roast.. I’ll can it in quart jars… enough for a meal of pork roast with gravy and then use the leftovers for bbq pork..
Or when I find good chilis for cheap.. I’ll buy them & make up 3 or 4 pans of chicken enchiladas or cheese stuffed peppers… or sausage stuffed peppers… yum.. I freeze them, Food Saver them in a meals worth portion. There is always something to grab in my freezer.. Its what works for me.
Brandi says
We just have a freezer above the fridge, but it is amazing what you can get in there if you really try! I’ve not done a whole month intentionally before, but we are getting ready to move and we haven’t bought anything except milk in 2 months trying to use up food (so, yeah, we fit a lot in there!)
Sherri says
That’s what I do, too. When I find the ingredients for something at a great price, I buy a bunch and make extra to freeze. My main concern about once-a-month cooking is that if I’m buying all the stuff in one shopping trip, then I won’t be getting the best price for everything.
And, yes, all I have is my side-of-the-fridge freezer, and I can put a LOT in there. Works for us, even with 2 teenagers.
KimH says
I have a side by side freezer that is full of all sorts of stuff (Im not ever going to buy another of these) but I have a very large upright freezer that is almost always stuffed to the max.. like it is right now.. 😉 Several months of freezer cooking is in order.. I love having a giant freezer.. its like having the grocery store at my fingertips! 😉
KimH says
Uhm.. cooking out of my freezer for months .. not to be confused with a months freezer cooking meals. 😉 Does that make sense?
Liz Messer says
I would love to know what you made! Any links to recipes? I think I would like to try this out!
Crystal says
I’ve got a bunch of freezer-friendly recipe ideas here: https://moneysavingmom.com/category/from-my-kitchen/baking-day
Allison V. says
Could you find a few inexpensive pieces of cookware at Goodwill? They don’t have to be amazing if you’re only using them once a month.
Victoria says
Another tip I would add is to consider purchasing a small folding table. I once had a kitchen that had the same 2 inches of counter space as yours but when I cooked in batches I would squeeze a long narrow folding table in and put all the dry goods and as I went cut up food for recipes. It helped a lot and when I was done I washed it off and placed it in a nearby pantry standing up on its side.
Kim in Cali says
or even if you have TV trays you could set them up temporarily as stations! 🙂
Mary Ann says
I was going to suggest using a folding table too! As well as a dining room or kitchen table if you have one. A large cutting board that fits over the sink can create a little extra work space too; I had a scrap of marble that I picked up at a yard sale that I used this way. Clean off your washer and dryer and store cooking supplies or set out finished meals there.
I’ve had several small kitchens with very limited work space and made freezer cooking work in each one with a little thinking outside the box! It may not always be a perfect scenario but where there’s a will, there’s a way to make it work!
Christy says
I am blessed with a large kitchen in a smaller home–one of the reasons we bought it! One thing I have done before when cleaning out the pantry is set up my ironing board just outside the pantry to pile things on until I am ready to put them back in the right spot. The pantry is actually at the end of a little nook far from the counters, so this works great! You could similarly use an ironing board to hold your freezer cooking supplies until you need them.
Kellie says
Thanks for the post. At the beginning of the year we moved from a house with a nice size kitchen and a deep freezer to a small seminary apartment with only the freezer fridge combo. I haven’t been doing well with meal planning and especially now since summer’s here after swimming with the kids I don’t want to come back and cook. Now I know it’s possible for me to do some freezer meals even with my small apartment and small amount of freezer space.
Mel says
I feel your pain (and lack of counter space), Abby! My adorable former-guest-house-turned-home has the World’s Tiniest Kitchen, and I’m constantly challenged to figure out how to cook. I’ve shied away from trying freezer cooking here, opting to partner with my sister-in-law and her big kitchen instead, but you’ve inspired me to give it a shot!
lee says
I love it. I have more than 2 square inches in my kitchen, but only 3 pots and 1 skillet. I always forget that when I go do to freezer cooking. I do always utilize both bread machines though 🙂 Priorities! 🙂
Susan says
Abby, I can SO relate to this. I do not like to cook on week nights either. I’m tired when I get home from work, and unless there is something that can be heated up quickly, we were constantly grabbing take-out. I always aspired to cook more and would go so far as to meal plan and shop, only to end up tossing food that went bad because we never got around to eating it. Bad bad habit, for the wallet and the waistline.
I won’t ever attempt to prepare a month’s worth of meals all at once, but in the past few years I’ve gotten much better about preparing meals each weekend so that we don’t have to spend time cooking every night. I make a crockpot of something (love my slow cooker!) and usually another dish of some sort and keep them in refrigerator. If we don’t eat it all by mid-week, I’ll put in the freezer in individual contaners.
My daughter and I both take our lunch to school/work each day, so I spend a little time on Sundays preparing foods in advance so that lunches are quick to pack. Things like putting grapes or carrot sticks in individual baggies, “planned-over” (we don’t call them “leftovers”) entrees in individual containers, cheese pre-sliced for sandwiches.
I’ll admit it took effort to discipline myself in this area, but the rewards are so worth it now that I’ve changed my ways.