I finally finished planning our Freezer Cooking Day for tomorrow. Here’s what’s on our list:
::Barbecued Meatballs
::Beef, Bean and Tomato Burritos
::Chicken Spaghetti (from The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl)
::Pizza Dough
::All Purpose Master Pancake and Waffle Baking Mix (from Quick Fix Healthy Mix: 225 healthy and affordable mix recipes)
Other possibilities, if we have extra time and energy: Chicken Pockets, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins, or Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.
We’ll be doubling, tripling, or quadrupling pretty much all the recipes in order to make enough for 2-3 dinners’ worth for our family, my sister and her husband, and my sister-in-law and brother.
I’ll be posting any recipe adaptions we did, pictures, and more during the play-by-play Freezer Cooking Day posts I’ll be sharing on Friday.
If you’re new to Freezer Cooking, be sure to check out my post on How to Plan a Freezer Cooking Day and FishMama’s post on Making Freezer Cooking Work for You.
Are you participating in April Freezer Cooking Days? 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.
Late start for me this month. Great to read your blogs and posts to get my ideas! Finding that I’m still eating from last months OAMC 🙂
I love the strawberry season too! I made blueberry/strawberry/banana pancakes x4 last night for the freezer. My mom said I never thought about making them ahead of time. I then took the rest of the strawberries (they were going to the bad) sliced them and froze them on a sheet pan and stored them in a freezer baggie for future pancakes or smoothies. Just got 3 more containers for $1.67 each. Now I need to find my recipe for pancake mix since I’m almost out of the cheap store mix. Maybe you have a great recipe Crystal?
I also make this chicken and rice dish…with two small differences: Mahatma brown rice in lieu of white rice…and cream of celery in lieu of cream of chicken soup. OMG, it’s fantastical! 🙂
I will be doing some more freezer cooking soon, but I havent got my plan ready yet. I just got finished making some baby food, and I have lots of chicken and ground beef meals in my freezer. I have a lot of pork that I do not know what to cook with it, and I’ve been getting my blog all set up…brand new =) When I finish getting everything figured out with that hopefully I can link up next time. I usually just do a little here and there with whatever meat I’m working with. I started freezer cooking last summer before my second baby was born and it has been a huge help! love it!
Hi Crystal,
I wanted to pass on a recipe that I think your family will really like. It’s super cheap and freezes well. Make pizza dough ($.50), brown a package of sausage, your choice (We use JimmyDean). Roll out the dough, place the cooked sausage in a row down the middle and throw on some shredded mozz ($1). Close up, pinch ends and freeze. Serve with some spaghetti sauce as dip after defrosting and baking on 425 for 30min. Costs as little as $3 for a really good, hearty meal everyone likes!
so for the chicken and rice casserole do you bake it on your cooking day and then freeze it, or just put it in the freezer raw?
I was hesitant to try cooking stuff for a whole month, but making fresh bread (among other things) about every other day and trying to get everything else done in between my nine month old’s naps just hasn’t been working, so I am inspired. We’ll see how this goes. Thanks for the inspiration!
wow what a blessing this site has been to me and my family!!!! you have such great tips! We don’t make much money at all, I don’t work I am a stay at home mom and I am pregnant with a little one who was having some problems, so I had to quit my part time jobs. However, your tips will help me make back the money I am not making 🙂 make sense 🙂 I have a note book that I print your meal menu planner and your price book and I plan to implement all of your ideas, along with this freezer cooking! I have a small family and so does my sister so we are going to buy the ingredients to make each recipe then split them my putting them into square pans to freeze 🙂
Thank you for everything !!!
I like cooking with fresh ingredients too much to do it all in one day…but it is inspiring to see all you hard working mom’s set goals and achieve them! New ideas for dinner are much appreciated as well!
I have been looking for a good dry pancake mix recipe. My three kiddos have recently decided pancakes are the bees knees.
I’d like something I can keep in the fridge or pantry and make as needed.
I figured someone reading this may have some ideas.
Thank you!
Thanks Ashley I will take that tip. Do you know what to reheat the dish to once it is frozen?
This will be m first ‘official’ freezer cooking day. I am making chicken crescent pockets, chicken spaghetti, chicken marinara, chicken and rice casserole, baked ziti, spaghetti pie, mini meatloaf, tuna and shells, and hash brown casserole. Wish me luck on my ambitious attempt!
@Kelly, I was able to finish everything on my list along with one extra while watching my niece and had two surprise visitors. I have 18 complete meals done!!!!
I love the Pioneer Woman cookbook. I love the humor and all the recipes I tried were delicious. I really enjoy how she takes step by step photos.
I’m going to start my planning now for my next shopping trip! That’s a great idea to involve a friend – I need to see if I have any friends that cook!!!
Sam
I don’t think I’m freezer cooking this weekend, but I wanted to share a couple of recipes that have come through well for me with freezer cooking in the past:
Sweet potato burritos (vegetarian): http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Addictive-Sweet-Potato-Burritos/Detail.aspx
Vegetarian Moussaka: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Vegetarian-Moussaka/Detail.aspx
Penne Arrabiata w/ chicken: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Brooklyn-Girls-Penne-Arrabiata/Detail.aspx
(for defrosting this one works best if you treat it like one of the bagged pasta meals, like Bertolli, and kind of steam/stir fry it to heat it up).
@brookeb, Thanks so much for the recipes! I was looking for a freezer recipe to use for sweet potatoes that are sale this week. Can’t wait to try the sweet potato burritos!
I’m so anxious to get started with freezer cooking but it hasn’t really come together for me yet. I am getting split chicken breast and pork shoulder on sale tomorrow with plans to freeze the chicken into marinade, and to make crock-pot pork bbq and divide up into small servings (it’s just husband and I). So I guess that is a start!
Hey!
Checked out your recipe for the southwest rollups and wanted to share what I do.
I mix chopped, cooked chicken, drained rotel, black beans or red beans, cheddar cheese and pepper-jack cheese, season with a dash of fajita seasoning and mrs dash onion/herb. Just pop in the microwave for a minute (from freezer) and YUM YUM! adjust amounts to suit your tastes.
I hope you have fun cooking with family! My best friend and I would get together and freezer cook together and we had the best time. It definitely makes the day fly by and dishes are more fun to do when you can do them with a friend.
How do you freeze the spag pie? Do you cool it and then freeze it? If so how do you reheat it? Do you have to thaw it first?
@Katie Kerr,
A great way to freeze stuff is to line the pan with saran wrap , freeze, then pop out the frozen dish and wrap nicely. This way you aren’t using up your pans and when it comes time to eat you can slip it back in the pan to cook. Hope that helps!
@Ashley Dodson,
That is genius! I was looking in my cabinet thinking I was going to need to find more pans somehow, haha. Thanks so much!
I no longer do a one day cook-a-thon. I do a little at a time over the month. Here’s yesterday’s recipe:
http://www.miscfinds4u.com/blog/index.php/2010/03/31/oamc-honey-dijon-curry-chicken-two-ways/
Do you freeze the spaghetti pie before or after cooking it? What kind of dish you you freeze it in? Do you own several pie pans, etc? Also, how do you freeze lasagna – with cooked noodles or uncooked, etc? Thanks!
This will be my first ‘official’ freezer cooking day!
I hope I’m not too overly ambitious.
Baked ziti, chicken and rice, spaghetti pie, southwest roll-ups, crescent chicken pockets, mini meatloaves, chicken marinara, hash brown casserole, and tuna and shells.
Wish me luck!
Last month was my first attempt at a freezer cooking day. I was worried it wouldn’t work well since I only have a small freezer. But, I tried it anyway and it was fabulous! I’m definitely going to do it again this month, only trying a few more casseroles to see what my space can do.
I love all the recipes! Yay Mr. Linky. 🙂
Oooh, yummy! Thanks!!!!! 🙂
I might do a couple of things this month but due to life I didn’t get March done until a week ago so I pretty set for April!
I am laughing right now about the spaghetti pie! Just last night I said to fiance ‘Do you like spaghetti pie?’ He gave me a look like i was from Mars! I tried to explain it, but saying that it was spaghetti made into a pie wasn’t cutting it. Now I have pictures and a recipe!
Thanks, Crystal!!!
The link for the Southwest Roll-ups is invalid. 🙁 It sounded so good … I thought maybe I’d fix some for dinner. 🙁
@Kathy/IL,
Kathy – here ya go!
-Southwest Roll-ups (Mix 2 Tbsp. salsa, 1 can refried beans, and 1 cup chicken – cooked and cubed. Spoon mixture onto tortillas, place seam side down in 9 x13 pan, Bake 350 for 20-30 minutes, sprinkle with 1 cup cheese.), salad
@Kathy/IL, I think I fixed it. Try this:
https://moneysavingmom.com/2009/10/baking-day-southwest-rollups-and-pumpkin-chocolate-chip-muffins.html
Hey! I just got hooked on Pioneer Woman myself and my sister-in-law sang the praises of the chicken spaghetti recipe that you are going to do! She said it was a hit at her house – I’m looking forward to trying it myself. And – I’m taking babysteps to doing my own freezer cooking day too! Thanks for all you do and the inspiration that you bring 🙂
Dear Crystal,
I’ve been reading your site for a long time now. I can remember when you got pregnant with Silas, so it’s been a while. I most read it for the deals at stores but I would like to try freezer cooking. I work full time and I don’t have time to prepare a meal for my family (mostly my 19 mo old son) unless I do it on the weekend. The only problem I am having is that your recipe links to do give instrcutions for the freezer. For example, do you cook before freezing, how long do you cook for after frozen, do you thaw first, etc. How can I get these tried & true recipes suited to freezer cooking?
Thanks, Cara
PS – I read an article about you in Kiwi Magazine recently while on a business trip, and I said to my collegue (that’s a friend of mine?) and she said, “Really?” and I said, “Well, she has no idea who I am but I know her well from her blog.” 🙂
@Cara, I usually just freeze everything unbaked (except for meatloaf, soup, etc.) and then thaw completely and bake according to the recipe directions.
Hope that helps!
Neither of the freezer cooking links are working. :0(
@Holly, Hmm, they are working for me. That’s weird!
@Crystal,
Yep….they are working fine for me as well. Must have been a glitch earlier. LOL! 🙂
Everything sounds delicious… Then I got to the chocolate chip pumpkin muffins!! My mouth is watering, lol! When you are making your casseroles and such do you just put the ingredients together then put them in the freezer or do you bake them and put them in the freezer? I would like to start doing something like this, I just don’t know how I guess. I’ll be checking out previous posts as well. Thanks so much!!
Have you decided what you want to do with your Pilsbury biscuit dough?
@Rae, Yes, look for a post tomorrow on “How I Used Up 12 Cans of Biscuit Dough” 🙂 I’m baking Monkey Bread and Coffee Cake as I type this!
@Crystal, haha cool. I think I am going to use a few cans to make some monkey bread too. I don’t think I’ve ever had it but the comments made it seem so easy (and tasty) so I think I’m going to make them on Sunday. I’m also going to try those resurrection rolls mentioned there too on Saturday.
No link for me, maybe by next month I’ll start blogging again. I put up 3 lbs of strawberries this afternoon and made 8 bagel breakfast sandwiches. Thats it for me this time.
@Lynn,
Strawberries? Already!?? We have to wait until June here!! *sigh*
@Andrea,
Got them at the store, FLA strawberries come on in Feb.