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Freezer cooking

bderby

bderby

No, I will not tell you what "merde" means!
Joined
Jul 11, 2009
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Anyone do freezer cooking?
I started last year right before school started and it was a huge help. The first semester, I did it on my own, basically making several meals and putting in the freezer.

In February, some friends asked if I would be interested in a freezer meal exchange and I joined. Basically, we each pick three meals and make it four times (there are four of us) and then we meet up for an exchange to divvy out the meals. I come home with 12 different meals to put in my freezer. We did this every 4-5 weeks until summer and then took the summer off.

I spent my morning and part of the afternoon today cooking my meals getting ready for our exchange next week. It is always a lot of work, but it has been a huge timesaver for our family!
 
Somehow I ended up with the world's tiniest freezer in this house. I swear it holds a pizza, a couple of boxes of waffles, a little ice cream and you have a little space for frozen meat. I would be lucky if I could fit three freezer meals in there at the maximum. AND we wouldn't get to have any ice cream or waffles. Next house, bigger freezer.
 
I have not done this yet, but would LOVE to! What kind of meals do you do Becky?!
 
I do it with my meats only, because I am trying just to make fresh veggies for side dishes. I love the idea for my meats.
 
I do! Our freezer group should be getting together in about a week - after school is going and routines aren't a joke! lol we get together at our church kitchen and use the big work space to prep - we make 5 meals (equals 10 for the ones without children at home) for the freezer - I plan it and usually try to make sure there is a good variety - we have all been pleased at how well everyone's families like it (and my best friend's hubby is a BIG fan of how clean the kitchen stays on the nights they cook from the freezer....well, we all are!)
 
i am hoping to try next week one day when the kids are at camp! woohoo! i signed up for once a month meals, so i'm going to try some of their recipes. i wish i had someone to exchange with - that would be awesome ... but we just moved into a new town and don't know anyone yet LOL ... but maybe soon :)
 
Love the concept because I really hate to cook. Being able to pop something in the oven or whatever would be awesome. Off to check Dana's links.
 
I don't freezer cook but I do buy large packages of meat and then divide them into meal size portions for us. I have a 16 year old boy so 6 chicken breasts makes two meals for us, lol. I will also cut up peppers, mushrooms, celery and some onion for a nice stir fry mix and freeze, saves some time.
 
I posted on FB to see if anyone local does it. A couple people suggested the Tastefully Simple parties. Has anyone done that? Any good? Or are they just trying to sell me stuff? LOL. How many do those meals feed? I have 7, so it has to be a good sized meal, even though a couple are picky. Lets say it needs to feed a solid 5. :giggle
 
Can some1 zap over to Becky's & Danielle's part of the town?

I love to cook but I hv a fussy-eater-but-ok-with-my-cooking and a rubbish-eater-but-fussy-abt-my-cooking. Plus me, it's just three of us. So it's not worth going the trouble to cook-cook. The only time I cook is for Sat lunch. Yeah, very pathetic, eh.

I also love trying new recipes. Esp the 16yo Prince doesn't quite like the local dishes *roll eyes*

Your freezer cooking concept sounds very very VERY the interesting.

SooooOOOoooo ooooo ...... Can some1 zap over to Becky's & Danielle's part of the town?
 
What a great idea as you get to try something you haven't tried and also tastes much better when someone else has cooked it
 
:whistle I used to eat freezer meals a lot when I started to work and I must have 'overdone' it, I really don't like it anymore....
 
Sounds fun, we are a family of picky eaters +allergies so not too good a combination for meal sharing, unless I could find another family that's dairy free, gluten free and mostly eats chicken, ha!
 
wOw that's a great idea to do a collective thing!
We sometimes make more and then freeze, but not often...my mum was here in February and she left us 6 months of food though, and is so convenient...may start doing it again :)
 
MandaKay said:
I have not done this yet, but would LOVE to! What kind of meals do you do Becky?!
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Somehow I missed this!!
I have done quite a few of Pioneer Woman's: Sloppy Joes(this is probably my favorite of hers), Chili, Sour Cream Noodle Bake, Italian Drip Beef. I have made this one several times and it is always a hit Slow Cooker Black Bean and Corn Salsa Chicken and goes a long way.
Our group has been good about encouraging me to try freezing anything that I would normally make. Sometimes, everything is just prepped to be baked or put in the crock pot. Other times, it is completed cooked and just needs to be heated thoroughly. Last time I made this Cheater Korean Beef Bowl and just went ahead and mixed it with the rice, froze it in freezer bags and then we thawed and stir-fried it.
 
Angie4b1g said:
I posted on FB to see if anyone local does it. A couple people suggested the Tastefully Simple parties. Has anyone done that? Any good? Or are they just trying to sell me stuff? LOL. How many do those meals feed? I have 7, so it has to be a good sized meal, even though a couple are picky. Lets say it needs to feed a solid 5. :giggle
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I have never been to the Tastefully Simple parties--they might be just trying to sell you stuff :)

All of our families have 4. One family has two teenagers and so I am pretty sure the meals don't go quite as far with them. I think that it is good to have similar sized families or have an agreement that your group will prepare larger meals and they will just have more for leftovers if they don't have as large of a family. I think that portions are sometimes an issue. I always want to make sure that there is enough, which is an issue for me when people come for dinner too--I always make too much!
 
I've done the exchange things but didn't really like half of the meals, plus I like using fresh ingredients if I can.
What I mostly do is pre-cook chicken and shred/dice it so it's ready to add to casseroles or soups. I do the same with ground beef, plus make a couple hundred meatballs at a time so spaghetti is really quick to make. For stir fry meats I add marinade before freezing. Having the meat prepped or pre-cooked is a huge time-saver.
 
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