View Full Version : Fix and Freeze Meals
decemberlov
4-3-13, 1:37pm
While my little ones are on vacation with the grandparents this week I've decided to try and get ahead in the dinner department. With both DH & I working 40+ hrs a week things can get a little crazy around here.
We did our grocery shopping last night and tonight after work were going to pick up bottle of wine and have a cooking marathon! It was a rather last minute idea so I only have a few meals that we'll be putting together. I've never done this before so it will be our trial run.
Were making:
mac and cheese (x2)
homemade hamburger helper (pretty much like my mac n cheese but with beef) (x2)
chicken marsala (x2)
sirlon tips with carrots for the crock pot (x2)
4lbs of pasta divided into 1lb portions
This will give me 12 meals to go in the freezer. I'll pull them out the night before to either bake when I get home from work or dump in the crock pot in the morning before I leave.
Do any of you do any cook ahead freezer meals? I'd love any tips or recipes you have ;)
I regularly freeze soups (all sorts), chili, stews, and marinara sauce. I like 32-ounce yogurt containers for this, but I know a lot of people use gallon-size zipper bags, since you can freeze things flat for easy storage and defrosting. I prefer the yogurt containers since they are easier to wash and reuse than the bags (in my opinion), plus, I already have a large stack of them.
A cooking marathon is a great way to stock the freezer. But going forward, you can also just plan to make twice as much of whatever (freezable) dinner you are making anyway, and freeze half of it for later. This way, you get a nice variety in the freezer without having to set aside a whole day to cook.
I also like to have cooked, shredded chicken in the freezer for quick meals on rushed nights. Whenever I roast chicken, I do two and freeze the meeting from one. Cooked rice freezes well and is handy to have on hand.
Happy stocking up!
Kara
decemberlov
4-3-13, 1:52pm
Thanks Treehugger!! The yogurt containers are a great idea! I did buy a ton of ziplock freezer bags and the aluminum baking containers as well.
I also like the idea of having rice in the freezer - I'm definitely adding that to the list :)
It seemed like a daunting task at first - glad I have a great guy to help me with the shopping & cooking!!
It seemed like a daunting task at first - glad I have a great guy to help me with the shopping & cooking!!
Yes, but it will get easier. And it will feel great to have "money in the bank." Also, once you get in the habit of stocking the freezer bit by bit, it becomes second nature and then there is always something in there to defrost when you don't have time to cook. For instance, whenever I make rice, I always make more than we need for that meal, so I have some to freeze for later.
In addition to freezing cooked things, sometimes I will marinate some chicken legs (Filipino adobo is a favorite for this) or stir-fry-sized beef pieces in zip-locs for the freezer. Somehow, that feels like a huge step ahead at dinner time, even though I still have to cook them. The flavor/sauce is taken care of, and all I need to is defrost, heat the oven or skillet, and prep some vegetables. This adds variety to our menus and changes things up from pre-cooked food.
Kara
decemberlov
4-3-13, 2:13pm
In addition to freezing cooked things, sometimes I will marinate some chicken legs (Filipino adobo is a favorite for this) or stir-fry-sized beef pieces in zip-locs for the freezer. Somehow, that feels like a huge step ahead at dinner time, even though I still have to cook them. The flavor/sauce is taken care of, and all I need to is defrost, heat the oven or skillet, and prep some vegetables. This adds variety to our menus and changes things up from pre-cooked food.
Kara
When you marinate ahead of time for the freezer to you let it marinate in the fridge for an hr or more or do you just put everything in the bag and freeze it right away?
I just put it in the freezer right away. It takes [some length of time] to freeze solid, and in that time, and then in subsequent thawing time, it marinates sufficiently.
Kara
I use treehugger's method, right down to the yogurt containers! I find it much easier to make a double recipe and freeze it, than to shop for and then spend a while day making many foods.
decemberlov
4-3-13, 3:03pm
I use treehugger's method, right down to the yogurt containers! I find it much easier to make a double recipe and freeze it, than to shop for and then spend a while day making many foods.
Yes, the double meal cooking method does make a lot of sense!
We freeze a variety of soups, plus vegetarian chili, and corn chowder. When I'm in the mood (and the right produce is in season), I devote a half day to cooking one of these in a huge batch (8-10 meals). I took me a while to get the freezer full, but now it's not hard to keep it at least half full at any given time. I also cook big batches of dried beans in the crockpot about every 3 weeks or so and freeze them in meal-sized portions so that I don't have to buy canned beans.
Tussiemussies
4-3-13, 3:29pm
December, you can also look on the Internet and Yahoo groups for -- Once A Month Cooking. I used to do this years ago and it would take me longer than one day since we are vegetarian, but it is great pulling your meal out when your just too tired to cook.
They used to have places you could go for a fee and do it all there with a bunch of women, but I think that has died out.
I did belong to the Yahoo a group too and they posted lots and lots of recipes you could make this way. There is a woman who originally started this and I think she has her own website.
Good luck and let us know how things work out for you...
decemberlov
4-3-13, 3:38pm
December, you can also look on the Internet and Yahoo groups for -- Once A Month Cooking. I used to do this years ago and it would take me longer than one day since we are vegetarian, but it is great pulling your meal out when your just too tired to cook.
They used to have places you could go for a fee and do it all there with a bunch of women, but I think that has died out.
I did belong to the Yahoo a group too and they posted lots and lots of recipes you could make this way. There is a woman who originally started this and I think she has her own website.
Good luck and let us know how things work out for you...
Thanks Christine!! I'll google and check!! I've found a few freezer meal cook books online - I'm going to check my library and see if the carry any of them.
We freeze a variety of soups, plus vegetarian chili, and corn chowder. When I'm in the mood (and the right produce is in season), I devote a half day to cooking one of these in a huge batch (8-10 meals). I took me a while to get the freezer full, but now it's not hard to keep it at least half full at any given time. I also cook big batches of dried beans in the crockpot about every 3 weeks or so and freeze them in meal-sized portions so that I don't have to buy canned beans.
Great idea!! I never even thought to cook my beans in the crock pot!! (clearly I have lots to learn about cooking lol)
Great idea!! I never even thought to cook my beans in the crock pot!! (clearly I have lots to learn about cooking lol)
I do this, too. In fact, I have been doing it for so long, I forgot to mention it. It's just a part of life now. I don't let myself run out of beans, since they are such a staple for us. Many a bean burrito or beans and rice has gotten us through lean and/or busy times. I don't care for the taste or texture of canned beans any more, even though I happily ate them for many years before switching to dried.
Kara
Ditto here. We buy bulk organic dried beans (cranberry, pinto, black) and about once a week I put up a batch. It's the source of my husband's favorite saying, "If we have tortillas, we have dinner". He wraps up all kinds of things in whole wheat tortillas. Toss in some cheese, dose on the salsa, and voila.
I also make big batches of vegetarian chili, marinara sauce, soups, even homemade black bean burgers.
I LOVE the idea of freezing cut up meet in marinade! Then on nights when SO wants to have chicken skewers we could just pull a bag out from teh freezer and just have to chop up the veggies to go with it.
Unless you have a lot of freezer space, freezing large amounts of pasta and rice doesnt' seem to make sense to me -- it only takes 15-20 minutes to cook it fresh. I would focus on making big batches of sauce (for pasta) or stir fry (for rice) and freezing those.
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