I’m finally able to jump back on the Freezer Cooking Day bandwagon again. Oh, how I’ve missed having food at-the-ready in my freezer! If you’re new here, you can find out more what Freezer Cooking Day is all about by scrolling through previous posts here.
Since we’re on Phase 2 of the P90X Diet, my Freezer Cooking Day is going to look a little different this time around as we’re mostly eating fresh produce and lean proteins, so we make the bulk of our food fresh. But here’s what I came up with to make:
Spiced Blueberry Coconut Muffins (doubled)
Banana Crumb Muffins (doubled)
10 Homemade Smoothie Kits — I’m making up the recipe for these using some reduced bananas and strawberries I bought this week and some peaches my mom gave me. I’m planning to make some peach and strawberry/banana kits.
60 Homemade Oatmeal Packets — We’ve switched to eating oatmeal almost every morning for breakfast since it’s frugal, healthful and easy. (We’re trying to get away from eat boxed cereal most of the time and I want to become more creative with breakfasts, but everyone’s happy with oatmeal right now, so it’s working.) My husband had the idea for me to put together oatmeal packets so he and the girls could just make their own. So I’m making up my own recipe for these, but you can get quite a few different ideas here. I’ll post details on what I end up doing on Monday.
5 meal’s worth of chopped and cooked chicken breasts (for topping salads)
5 meal’s worth of marinated chicken cooked and sliced (for topping salads or eating plain)
I’ll post some of the recipes, some pictures and more about my Freezer Cooking Day on Monday, along with a link-up for you to post your accomplishments if you’re playing along.
Are you participating in the August Freezer Cooking Day Event? If so, post about your cooking plan on your blog and then come back here and leave your direct link below so we can all be inspired! Please note: links which do not link directly to your freezer cooking post or which do not contain your freezer cooking plan will be deleted.
Wow, we eat instant oatmeal packets all the time, and I’ve never thought of making our own packets… I may have to try that some time. We do add a lot of plain quick oats to our bowls though, otherwise the store bought packets are way too sweet. I normally get them for under $.10/packet, so once you add the toppings there might not be much savings in making my own, just better quality ingredients.
How do you make the smoothie packs? I would love to make these!
I just made the crumb muffins using blueberries! They are amazing!!!! My husband said they are better then the store stuff. thank you for posting the link I may have to make another batch they are all almost gone ! 🙂 My husband and I are trying lose weight and to cut out excess “junk” from our food getting more fruits and veggies and less store made things. I love to cook so I am excited. thank you again!!
I’m a complete novice, so I want to start with the chicken. Once I cook the chicken and freeze it, how do I reheat it? Microwave? Thanks for your patience with a newbie!
You can reheat it in the microwave, on the stove (if you’re doing a stirfry or something) or in the oven. It’s pretty versatile and I’ve done all of the above.
@Crystal,
Do I cook it completely through or take it off a minute a so before it is ready so it won’t dry out during reheating?
BTW, thanks for the response!
I cook mine completely, but just until it’s barely done. I’d suggest adding in a little juice to the freezer bags, too.
@Crissy S.,
I agree with Crystal. Cook them all the way through and add some of the juices/broth to your freezer bag. This really helps it to not dry out. Also, if you use the microwave, use a low power setting and it will taste more like fresh chicken!
I used to make up oatmeal packets for our boys. However, now I just leave the jar of instant oatmeal on the counter next to the coffee pot (we only use this one for hot water). There is a scoop in the jar and they use one scoop (1/2 cup) and put it in their bowls and add water. They have “toppings” they can put in there that are in the cabinet above….we keep things in there like raisins, semi-sweet chocolate chips, cinnamon, brown sugar, regular sugar and if they want to great really creative, they’ll put peanut butter in it. They know how much they are allowed to have so it’s not a problem. The 8 year old makes his own breakfast and usually that of his younger brother. Everyone else….it’s fend for yourself. 🙂
@Mavis @ The Homemakers Paradise,
I do the same but I add whatever is on hand to the jar of plain outmeal. Choc chips, raisins, nuts, other dried fruits. I laso seem to have a lot of the individual packets that are often given to me and instead of using them seperately, I add them to the mixture. I also add dried mil or rice milk so when made with water it has a creaminess
My freezer cooking days will be later this week. I have a turkey that really needs to be cooked and turned into meals, so since dh will be gone all next week, I am going to cook it up and make some meals out of it. Since its just the 2 of us most of the time, I should get several meals worth. I’m thinking: turkey tetrazzini, turkey pot pies, components for turkey and wild rice soup, and turkey/stuffing cups -stuffing in a muffin tin like a pie crust, fill w/ turkey and maybe gravy?, (never tried it..hope it works). Also maybe some turkey ala king if I have enough meat.
I’ve made that exact banana crumb muffin recipe before and its so yummy! The crumb topping is the best. I usually go back and forth between your banana bread recipe and this muffin recipe. 🙂
I made a few smoothie kits last week and they are fantastic! Now I need to make up a bunch more. I just put yogurt in an ice cube tray and then put the desired fruit into plastic baggies. When the yogurt was frozen I added the cubes to the baggies and voila! Now I just toss a baggie in the blender with a little milk and I’m ready to go.
Regarding the muffins:
When you soak the flour in milk overnight, do you put it in the refrigerator? OR leave it on the counter?
Thanks.
I’m actually not going to soak them — just make them up fresh!
@Gina, I put my soaking flour in the fridge. I know people say leave it on the counter, but that makes me nervous. I always leave it in the fridge and never had problems. I suspect you can do it either way.
Here’s a simple smoothie recipe that we love, if anyone is looking for a recipe.
1 C. yogurt (plain or vanilla)
1 C. milk
1 C. crushed ice (cubes work, too, but take longer to blend)
Frozen fruit
Dash of vanilla
Sweeten to your taste (I’ve used sugar or honey)
Blend! It’s tastes like ice cream.
I too would love to know about the smoothie kits. I bought the yoplait ones when they were practically free with a coupon. Now I am hooked! BUT since they are not cheap anymore I need to make my own. 🙂 We are making the fruit cups this week -We are starting to get into the freezer cooking!
I also would like to know what you are doing for the smoothie kits. We always keep frozen (and fresh) fruit on hand for smoothies, but having everything together in one place to dump would be so much easier (as if smoothies are hard!)
I would love to know how the smoothie kits are done! My hubby loves smoothies.
Thanks for hosting the link-up, it’s great motivation to have some fun in the kitchen with the kids in these last moments of summer.
I’m really excited about making these homemade bags of instant oatmeal! My son loves instant oatmeal but I can’t stand paying for it. And unfortunately I rarely see a coupon for it. This seems like the perfect solution to give him the oatmeal he wants without paying over $3.00 for 10 tiny packets. Thanks so much 🙂
Must be that time of year! I did oatmeal packets too! Thanks for hosting the link up!
Oh, I love the idea of making smoothie kits and oatmeal packets!
Sorry, I just left the wrong link. Here is the correct one: http://vanessa.hoozh.net/2009/02/10/hubbys-favorite-breakfast/
I make up oatmeal packets ahead of time for my husband to take to work. He likes breakfast around 9:30 or 10:00. I make up snack bags of oatmeal and then pack those bags into another bag (shopping bag or gallon bag). He then takes that big bag to work and gets himself breakfast when he gets hungry. It’s so easy and it works well for us. I hope it works just as well for your family!
Here are some of the frugal ideas we use: http://vanessa.hoozh.net/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=379
I introduced this idea to my husband this past weekend. Originally, he wasn’t much for the idea. Last night we decided to give it a try anyways. I ended up getting pretty busy with our children(2 girls ages 2 1/2 and 9 months). By the time I made it to the kitchen to help, he had already made a meatloaf, a large amount of chili, sloppy joes and taco chicken! I commented that he must really be into it. He said, “It’s exciting! It reminds me of being back in school!” (He was in Culinary Arts for a short while before a career change.) Thanks to this blog as well as a few others, we now have 9 dinners at the ready! Thank you for your inspiration.