Freezer Cooking

A Beginner’s Guide to Freezer Cooking

by Crystal on May 16, 2012

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins — these freeze so well!

Think you might be interested in trying your hand at freezer cooking? Here are some suggestions for starting off successfully:

1) Start Small

If you’ve never done any freezer cooking before, I’d recommend starting with no more than two recipes at first. You’re probably capable of much more, but start small and gradually work up from there.

2) Pick Recipes You Already Know You Love

If you want to love the recipes you stick in the freezer, make sure you pick recipes you already know your family loves. There will be time for experimenting later, but wait until you feel really confident with freezer cooking before you branch out and try a bunch of new recipes.

Not sure your favorite recipe will freeze well? Check my list of what freezes well in my free Freezer Cooking ebook.

3) Set Aside at Least an Hour for Cooking

Set aside sometime during the week or on the weekend when you have a free hour and plan to do your cooking then. Make sure that you have a solid hour or more set aside for the cooking so that you’re not in a rush. Rushing around trying to get things done before you have to go somewhere only sets you up for failure.

4) Have a Plan for Your Children

If you have young children, make sure you have a plan for what they’ll be doing while you’re cooking, too. The last thing you need is to have your first freezer cooking experience be an exercise in frustration due to constant interruptions from needy little people.

Afternoon naptime might be the best time to do your freezer cooking. Or, you could do it on the weekends when daddy or grandma can watch the children. If neither one of those are an option, consider putting together some Busy Bags or Day of the Week tubs to be brought out only during freezer cooking times.

Freezer-Friendly Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

5) Wrap Things Well

Want to ruin your yummy food? Don’t let it cool, don’t wrap it well, and don’t package it up in an airtight manner. All three of these things almost guarantee that your foods will develop freezer burn.

6) Make Sure to Use What You Cook in a Timely Manner

It’s wonderful to have food at-the-ready in the freezer, but it does you no good if you don’t actually use it. Make sure to eat it within 2-3 months, if not before.

I always consult my freezer when planning our weekly menu and incorporating some of the meals — especially those that need to be used up soon — into our weekly menu.

Need some tried and true freezer recipes for your first freezer cooking experiment? Here are a few of our most-loved freezer cooking recipes:

::Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
::Banana Bread
::Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
::Brown Bag Burritos
::Ham & Cheese Pockets
::World’s Easiest Marinated Chicken
::And don’t forget to check out all of my posts so far in the 4 Weeks to Fill Your Freezer series.

What advice and tips do you have for someone who is brand-new to freezer cooking?

{ 41 comments }

Is freezer cooking really worth the effort?

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by Crystal on May 15, 2012

How do you find the strength/discipline to follow through with freezer cooking on a consistent basis? I’ve not disciplined myself to do so as of yet. I do so enjoy reading about your freezer cooking experiences, however. Is it really that well worth the effort? (time saved, easy clean-up after each meal, etc.?) –a reader

Yes, freezer cooking has been so worth it for our family. I wrote a post in 2010 with three specific reasons why I love freezer cooking. And those reasons still hold very true two years later.

1. I spend a lot less time cooking and cleaning up the kitchen.

I no longer have big time blocks in our schedule to do full day or half day cooking sessions, but I’ve found that doing mini half-hour or one-hour freezer cooking sessions works really well for this season of our life. And while I might not be making 20 or 30 meals at a time, by consistently cooking ahead once or twice a week, we always have some meals in the freezer for those busy days when I don’t have time or energy for cooking.

Instead of having to dirty up a bowl to make meatloaf three times in six weeks, I just triple the recipe and make meatloaf once and stick the extra two dinners’ worth of meatloaf in the freezer. If I’m already going to dirty up a bowl, I might as well double or triple the recipe saving me the effort and mess later on in the month. After all, it really doesn’t take but a few more minutes to make two extra batches of meatloaf — and the clean up time is pretty much the same!

2. I don’t have to dread 5 p.m. anymore.

I don’t know about you, but there are some days at our home when life whizzes by so quickly and all of a sudden, it’s 5 p.m. and dinner isn’t even a figment of my imagination. Before I started regularly cooking ahead and freezing meals, I’d be tempted to call my husband and ask him to bring something home for dinner.

Freezer cooking has solved the 5 p.m. “What’s-For-Dinner” panic. If I forget to pull something out earlier in the day, I’ll just pick a meal from my freezer stash that defrosts quickly — such as meatballs. I pair this with some frozen veggies, rice, and maybe a fruit salad. No one even has to know I forgot about dinner until 30 minutes before it was supposed to happen!

3. It’s not a huge undertaking to have dinner guests or take a meal to someone.

When I have meals already made in the freezer, it’s rather simple to bring food to a new mom or have friends over for dinner.

Lasagna casserole, spaghetti pie, and meatballs are great staple meals to have on hand to share with others. Just whip up some Bread Machine Buttery Rolls, make a salad or fruit and maybe some brownies and you’re set! I also like to sometimes make up chocolate chip cookie dough and freeze it so I can quickly make a dessert for friends coming over or to take somewhere.

Knowing the reward that comes as a result of the effort is what gives me the motivation and discipline to follow through with freezer cooking. Well, and it also helps that I have the public accountability of blogging about it and all.

More Helpful Freezer Cooking Articles

Start Where You Are and Learn As You Go

How to Plan a Freezer Cooking Day (and find more ideas here)

How to Cook for Your Freezer When You Don’t Like Casseroles

Can You Have a Freezer Cooking Day if You Don’t Have a Lot of Freezer Space?

How to Store Your Freezer Meals

How about the rest of you? Have you found freezer cooking to be worth it for you? Why or why not?

{ 61 comments }

Today’s 30-minute Freezer Cooking session

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by Crystal on April 24, 2012

Since I decided to switch my plans and make homemade pizza for dinner tonight, I figured if I was already going to be in the kitchen making pizza, I might as well make a few extra things.

So, I browned two pounds of ground beef and then mixed up the pizza dough.

While the pizza dough was resting for five minutes, I set aside some of the cooked ground beef for the pizza and added some taco seasoning, beans, and a can of tomatoes to the rest of it.

This made two dinners’ worth of taco meat for the freezer — perfect for Haystacks!

I also threw the ingredients for my sister’s Easy Whole Wheat Bread in the bread machine and let the dough mix up while I put together the pizza and baked it. I stuck the bread in a loaf pan to rise during dinner and baked it after dinner.

So, for just a little bit of extra time in the kitchen, I was able to make dinner and plus put two dinners’ worth of taco meat plus a loaf homemade bread in the freezer.

It wasn’t anything spectacular, but by using the little minutes here and there to work ahead like this, it really helps you to be able to pull together homemade dinners in no time later on in the week or month.

Use your minutes well and you’ll soon find you have more margin, more peace, and more sanity in your life!

{ 32 comments }

40 pounds of beef + 7 hours = 40 freezer meals

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by Crystal on February 1, 2012

Heather from Queen Bee Coupons shows how she took 40 pounds of beef and spent seven hours turning it into 40 meals for her freezer. Here are the meals she made:

10 taco meat meals (1 pound each x 10 = 10 pounds)
6 Italian mozzarella meatball meals (1 pound each x 6 = 6 pounds)
6 sweet and sour meatball meals (1 pound each x 6 = 6 pounds)
6 meals of Kalamata/olive burger patties (18 patties, 3 per meal = 6 pounds)
6 meals of burger patties (18 patties, 3 per meal = 6 pounds)
6 meals from lasagna dishes (6 pounds)

Head on over to her blog for pictures and details on she pulled this off!

{ 23 comments }

Freezer Cooking Update (if you can call it that!)

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by Crystal on January 19, 2012

I promised you an update to my freezer cooking adventures at 2 p.m. and I’m afraid it’s well past 2 p.m. and I have little to report when it comes to actual freezer cooking done.

However, I did read four books aloud to the children, finish our morning homeschooling lessons with the girls, unplug a stopped up toilet and clean up and disinfect the bathroom, took Silas potty multiple times (he’s doing so well with potty-training! yay!!), make lunch with the children, teach Kathrynne how to make sushi (before you think I’m some supermom, I should make it clear that we had gotten a free Annie Chun’s kit in the mail so it was a snap to do!), start a load of laundry, play basketball with Kathrynne, help Kaitlynn get her banged lip to stop bleeding, clean up the lunch dishes, answer some emails, and have a short phone call with my publicist.

So it wasn’t like I sat around and did nothing.

And I also baked the chicken

And ground the flour.

But now that we’re done with homeschooling and Silas is down for a nap, it’s time to finish the rest of the freezer cooking list. I’ll report back later this evening with my progress. Hopefully, everything will get crossed off. We’ll see!

{ 48 comments }

Freezer Cooking in an Hour: Chocolate Chip Pancakes, Breakfast Burritos, Chicken and Southwest Rollups

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by Crystal on May 19, 2011

I had another successful Freezer Cooking in an Hour session yesterday. I’m amazed at how much I can get done when I set the timer and just work for an hour without distraction (well, other than the typical interruptions you have when there are three children living at your house!).

Here’s how it went down:

3:30 — Stick the chicken breasts in the oven to bake. (I’ve found this is such a simple way to cook chicken and they end up much more tender and juicy than when I boil them.)

3:32 — Mix up the pancake batter and start cooking the pancakes.

3:45 — Chop the vegetables and saute them. Beat eggs and milk together and pour over vegetables. Roll up all the Breakfast Burritos. Continue cooking pancakes.

4:10 — Chicken is done. Chop and mix together Southwest Rollups. Get interrupted multiple times by children, phone calls… I finally let everyone have a snack of chocolate chip pancakes and that keeps them occupied for awhile.

4:30 — Almost done! Finish rolling up the Southwest Rollups and clean up the kitchen.

5:00 — Get dinner finished and feel completely satisfied at having made six meals in a little over an hour! {Then, as soon as the kitchen is clean, I go collapse on the couch and read aloud to the children. Whew!}

Results of my Freezer Cooking in an Hour session:

24 Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal pancakes

10 Southwest Rollups

1 bag of Southwest Rollup filling

1 bag of chopped cooked chicken

20 Breakfast Burritos

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Freezer-Friendly Breakfast Burritos

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by Crystal on May 19, 2011

My husband loves McDonald’s Breakfast Burritos and I’ve been hoping I could create a homemade version he’d like, as well. These Freezer-Friendly Breakfast Burritos were my first attempt and Jesse absolutely loved them.

I’m not a huge breakfast burrito fan, but I have to say, I think this recipe is a winner. In fact, I can see myself sneaking these from the freezer for mid-morning snack.

They are perfect for breakfast-on-the-go, and they are probably loads healthier than the McDonald’s Breakfast Burritos. One thing is for sure, they are significantly less expensive. From my calculations, they would cost around $0.45 per burrito using regularly-priced ingredients from Aldi. If you were able to get some of the ingredients on sale, they could be quite a bit less than that.

Freezer-Friendly Breakfast Burritos

1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
18 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chopped ham
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
20 flour tortillas

Saute onions and green pepper in butter. Beat eggs and milk together and pour into the skillet with the onions and peppers.

Add the ham, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until eggs are set. Mix in cheese and let melt.

Scoop 1/2 cup egg mixture onto tortillas. Fold ends under and roll up. Freeze (see instructions below) or put all burritos in a baking dish, top with extra cheese (if you’d like) and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until heated through. Serve with salsa.

Freezer Instructions:

Wrap burrito in a paper towel and then in a sheet of foil. Seal tightly and place in freezer bags. When bag is full, remove all air and seal. Freeze.

To serve: Remove foil and put paper-towel-wrapped burrito in microwave. Reheat for around one minute. Serve with salsa.

Recipe adapted from Amy’s Finer Things

Source: http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/05/freezer-friendly-breakfast-burritos.html
© Copyright 2012 Money Saving Mom®. All Rights Reserved.

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Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes

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by Crystal on May 19, 2011

If you’ve not noticed, I sort of have a thing for chocolate chips. Throwing in whole wheat flour makes me feel a little less guilty for consuming them at the rate I like to. So, I knew I wanted to try Amy’s Lighter Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes as soon as I saw them.

Of course, in typical Crystal style, I re-did the recipe and also tripled it so there’d be some left over for the freezer. The end result was one our whole family loved!

These Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes are delicious straight from the griddle or served cold as a snack (well, our family might be the only people who thinks they are yummy cold, because we’re weird like that!).

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes

5 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup oatmeal
3 Tablespoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon salt
5 1/4 cups milk (I use clearanced milk from the freezer.)
3/4 cup butter, melted
6 eggs, beaten
9 Tablespoons raw sugar
1 bag chocolate chips

Combine flour, oatmeal, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Beat milk, butter, eggs and sugar together.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the wet ingredients and mix together. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray or add a sliver of butter.

Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto hot skillet. Cook pancake bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until golden brown on the other side.

Makes 20-24 medium to large pancakes.

Freezer Instructions:

Cool pancakes. Lay on a cookie sheet and flash freeze for 1-2 hours. Put in a freezer bag, remove all air and seal. Freeze.

To serve: Reheat in microwave or toaster oven for a few minutes. Or, lay pancakes on a cookie sheet and heat in oven at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes. Serve.

Recipe adapted from MomAdvice.com

{ 61 comments }

Freezer Cooking in an Hour: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, French Toast Casserole, Marinated Chicken and Waffles

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by Crystal on May 12, 2011

After deciding that this wasn’t the season of life for me to be doing big marathon freezer cooking sessions, I’ve been trying to figure out what might work for me and how I can streamline cooking and dinners around here.

I love having stuff in the freezer to pull out and use. I love not having to worry about making dinner every night of the week. And I love not having to do as many dishes. But I don’t love the upheaval the mega freezer cooking sessions were creating nor the massive mess and exhaustion that always seemed to result now that I have three children underfoot.

So I’m experimenting with another alternative… something I’m calling “Freezer Cooking in an Hour”. Basically, I’m going to set aside one hour one afternoon a week during Silas’ nap time to do as much cooking ahead as I can. And I’m bringing you all along on the ride with me to see how this goes.

Here’s what I did in an hour (plus a little extra!) yesterday:

3:00 — Start mixing up Pumpkin Waffle Batter. I “cheated” and used a mix I’d gotten for Christmas. I had set out some frozen milk the night before to use.

3:10 — Waffle batter finished and started waffles on the waffle iron. Realized I still had a few cups of milk left. Decided to make some French Toast Casseroles with the clearanced bread I’d gotten at Aldi plus the extra milk.

3:30 — Three French Bread Casseroles made and stuck in the oven, the pile of waffles continued to grow and I moved onto making the Marinated Chicken.

Uh-oh, Silas is up from his nap. I set the children all around the table with my laptop to watch Mary Poppins and dive back into freezer cooking.

3:45 — Chicken is finished and in the freezer, waffle batter is all cooked up, time to start on the Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip cookies. But wait, someone needs a drink. And a snack. Silas needs a diaper change…

4:00 — So much for finishing in an hour! The children are back to their places at the table. I mix the cookie dough and roll it into balls.

4:20 — Finally finished! Well, except for the kitchen. I tidy up, have the children go out to play and survey my accomplishments:

3 pans of French Toast Casserole

4 meals’ worth of Marinated Chicken

3 dozen Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

Double batch of waffles (Half were eaten for snack. Sigh. How much are these children going to eat when they get a little bigger?!)

Not bad for an hour and 20 minutes!

And truth be told, I think giving myself a shorter time frame encouraged me to really focus and be efficient and productive. I’m looking forward to testing this theory out during my Freezer Cooking in an Hour segments over the next few weeks. Perhaps this method of cooking ahead might be the perfect solution for this time in our lives! We’ll see…

{ 133 comments }

My Freezer Cooking Accomplishments (and come link up yours!)

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by Crystal on September 15, 2010

I did a mini-Freezer Cooking session last week and here’s what I ended up getting accomplished:

A triple batch of Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Three meal’s worth of Marinated Chicken

Two big bags of chicken cooked and chopped/sliced

One loaf Whole-Wheat Bread

Next week, I’m planning to tackle making a big batch of Homemade Baking Mix and plan to also make meatballs and meatloaf. I’ll share the Baking Mix recipe once we’ve tried it.

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Did you have a chance to do any baking or cooking this week? If so, post about it on your blog and leave your link below to your direct blog post. Thanks for joining us!