Freezer cooking

I had a friend contact me the other day asking if would come teach freezer cooking in her mother in laws ward. I haven't taught freezer cooking in years, so I was so excited! I love freezer cooking and need get back into it!


Thinking of what I would teach and how, made me look back and think of what I know. I went to previous posts and to all my many books and papers. I compiled some lists and instructions and thought that I would share them here for everyone!

Ready, Set, Go!!!

Decide HOW you want to Freezer Meal cook.
            With a friend or family?
            Little by little?
            One day a month for the whole month?
            One day every two weeks for the upcoming two weeks?

Decide how much food you have room for in your freezer.

            Do you have enough room for a months worth of meals?
            Two weeks worth of meals?
            One week worth of meals?
            Also do you want precooked meat in meals or meals to go straight in the crockpot? “Dump Meals”

Decide how you want to package meals, according to how much room you have for meals.

            Can you use foil pans? What size?
            Are freezer Ziploc bags a better option?

 Choose a day and time that is good to prep.

Schedule out the amount of time needed.


(If doing two weeks worth of meals in one day, plan your prep time to be at least 4 hours. If you are doing little by little, you just add some extra time each meal to prep more than one.)

If working with others, choose a day that is good for everyone, or have each person prep meals ahead of time and have a swap session instead.

 TIP: Sometimes it is good to break up your cooking sessions into the types of meals you will be prepping. For example: all chicken recipes one day, all beef recipes another day, all rice or potato recipes another day. Makes clean up, cooking and possible contamination much easier to deal with!

Now that you know HOW you are going to do your freezer meals and WHEN you are going to do them; sit down with your menu. Plan out however many meals you need. Also decide if you are going to make more than one of the same recipe.

Make a list of ALL ingredients needed for the recipes. Go “shopping” in your pantry and take off all ingredients on the list that you already have on hand. Here is your shopping list to buy from the store.

Plan a day to go to the store and shop. A day or two before your prep day is preferred. Plan to take some time at the store, you are buying a lot of ingredients. Plan to spend some money, but keep in mind, this is however many meals you won’t need to plan on in the future!

Now you are ready to prep! On prep day, get out all the ingredients and pans you need to prepare your meals. Cut and cook meat first, cleaning your work area well! While meat is cooking, chop veggies and mix anything together you need to.

Once all your meals are prepared and in the proper freezer container, be sure to label clearly what it is and instructions for baking (what temperature and how long).

Then FREEZE!

Yay! You have completed your freezer meal session and now have meals to throw in the crock pot at the beginning of the day or things to pull out and heat at the end of the day, when you don’t have much time to cook! Pair your meals with side dishes or fruits, veggies, etc to make a more balanced meal.

Things to Freeze

Anything that you can find in the freezer section at the store you can remake a much healthier option at home and freeze, plus MUCH MORE!!

 

Breakfast:

Egg and sausage biscuit sandwiches

Breakfast burritos

Muffins

Pancakes

Waffles

French toast

Omelet packets – freeze in snack size baggies: mushrooms, ham, onions, peppers, etc. put all snack size baggies into a 1 gallon size freezer bag. Pull out and sautee to heat before putting on omelet.

Meat dishes:

Chicken uncooked - seasoned and unseasoned

Chicken cooked and cubed - seasoned and unseasoned

Chicken enchiladas – in a pan or just the filling

Chicken burritos

Chicken fajita mix

Chicken nuggets

Chicken curry

Chicken pot pie

Chicken stock

Turkey uncooked and cooked

Turkey stock

Beef uncooked – seasoned and unseasoned

Beef cooked – seasoned or unseasoned

Beef enchiladas

Beef burritos

Sloppy joe filling

Taco filling

Meatloaf – cooked or uncooked

Lasagna

Hamburgers

Meatballs

Spaghetti sauce

Stroganoff sauce

French dip beef mix

Pork uncooked – seasoned or unseasoned

Pork cooked – seasoned or unseasoned

Café Rio pork burrito mix

BBQ pulled pork sandwich mix

Ham stock

Soups

Sauces: any kind of sauce or gravy

Pasta, cooked half the time

Cooked rice

Cooked potatoes

Tortillas

Breads, any kinds – double bag if freezing longer than a month

Veggies:

Corn

Peas

Beans

Squash

Pumpkin

Salsa

Carrots

Onions

Peppers

(most veggies need to be blanched or cooked before freezing)

Fruits:

Any peeled fruits

Avacados, mashed with some lime or lemon juice and stored in a container

Tomatoes, peeled

Lentils, cooked

Dried beans, cooked

Snacks and desserts:

Granola bars

Cookies

Banana bars

Pumpkin bars

Chocolate

Cakes

Pies

Cheeses, grated

Milk, cottage cheese, sour cream, cream cheese

Fruit juices

Fruit and veggie purees

“Dump Meals” are crockpot meals that you put all ingredients into a 1 gallon bag, including raw meat, label and freeze. When ready to use, just dump in the crockpot and cook!

Any canned item that has been opened can be put into another container or freezer bag and frozen to use another time.

So this is what I have put together so far. Once I get some menus figured out, I will post those for everyone to see what I do next. Freezer cooking saves you time in the kitchen and in the long run, will save you money! I hope I can help you do just that!

Please share my blog with all your friends and family! And please leave any comments or questions that I can answer for you! I love to hear from all my readers!