freezer meals

I never really did a lot of it...like the Once a Month Cooking, but I did do things like cook a lot of chicken up, cut it all up and freeze baggies of it. Same with ground beef (with onions usually)...things like that. It made putting a meal together so much easier and faster when we knew that one step was already done.

We don't really eat a lot of casserole type dishes much though, so lately I've just been buying my meat, marinating it in baggies and freezing them like that. Then I just have to thaw and bbq.

I think if you are really serious about it, do just two weeks the first time and I think doing it with someone is a great idea. Plan to go out to dinner that night too. You'll be exhausted! I had a lot of friends that were really into it years ago and that's the advice they gave.

 

I think it's a great idea Crystal! I wish I had the motivation to do something like that. I have a few dishes that I will make double/triple the recipe so that I can freeze what we don't eat in 2 meals or so.

Some of our favorites are:

Hamburger Soup
Chili
Beef Stroganoff
Chicken Pot Pie (mmm haven't had that in a while!)
Taco Bake (with KD - yum!)

 

And if I could, I would totally LOVE to come and cook with you!

 

Crystal, if we could arrange something, I would SOOOO come over and cook with you. Or you could come this way. You're always welcome to come here and dirty up my kitchen so you don't have to make your own house messy.

I have never really done freezer meals, but I have been thinking a lot about it lately too. Maybe we really should try to get something organized and find a time to get together. I have a friend who does freezer meals a lot. I could ask her what some good recipes are.

 

I have done it a couple of times with my sisters and it is nice! It's a long day cooking, but nice to have meals in freezer. The only negative thing I have is that you either have to take most of them out ahead of time to thaw, or you have to cook them longer. If you don't plan ahead you miss that step and then you end up eating out anyway! My last oven had time bake where I could set the oven to start at a certain time and it would be done when I wanted it, but my gas oven can't do that now, so I can't start something on days I am working, etc... Hope that info helps a little. Your family also must like casserole type meals! I tend to do similar things as Debra and Rebecca - cook enough to freeze chicken, etc...

 

i do it but not quite like that... i usually make a double helping of things when i have an idea it's something i would think would make an easy meal later (ie noodle type dishes, pot pie, things like that). then we eat half and freeze the other half. doing this has saved my butt so many times when i'm like, crap, it's dinner time and we've just walked in the door. often, though, i do remember to get things out and let them thaw (like today).

 

I do some of both like everyone else, it seems.

I did a couple of major once a month cooking days and while it was exhausting--think literally 8-10 hours of cooking, prepping, etc. It saved me so much time later. The book that I used was Once a Month Cooking which it looks like has been revised and added to in additional books.
The things that I loved:
all the prep was done the day of the actual cooking--I felt like my garbage went way down through the month because you prepped everything that day.
In general, we really liked the food (which surprised me, b/c i figured it would all be gross casseroles )
they weren't all casserole-y stuff. Alot of it is prepping the meat, dicing the vegetables, bagging stuff, labeling and putting together, so that half of the work is done for you.
some of the recipes, I still go back and use because they were ones that we really liked

Things I didn't love:
we didn't eat them all in one month, b/c i occasionally like to be creative and cook something else
there were some errors in recipes that I didn't always catch until after the fact

And I am also a fan of cooking extra meat if I have something in mind for it.

Also, I have learned to adapt my own recipes to the once a month cooking model. It takes a bit of extra time writing down the steps, but it is worth it.

And I would totally love for someone to do this with, because I like company!

 

I'm not using them that much you know they always say that's there is too much salt in all the prepared meals frozzen or not so I use them only when I can't do without

 

this sounds perfect!! i'll pm you in a bit.

 

Cecile, I totally agree with you on this when you buy frozen meals from the store. I think what Crystal is talking about is actually cooking meals from scratch with healthy ingredients, no extra preservatives, and then freezing them to heat up and eat at a later date.

 

Sorry girls I haven't understand right. That way it sounds good yes better way to always have healthy meals ready. I do this from time to time

 

I don't do a whole day of cooking because that still scares me. Since hubby and I are the only ones I have to cook for I will separate one meal into two and then freeze it for later. That works really well for us and we do like to eat casseroles, lasagna, pot pie. I've found that noodle dishes are more tricky for me, especially soup. I should really work on re-stocking our freezer one of these rainy weekend days.

 

In my ideal world, I'd be a freezer meal cook! The main reason I haven't is because I don't have anyone that can watch the boys for the day. I do freeze a lot of meat, as mentioned, premade tomato sauces, homemade chicken broth, etc. I've pinned a ton on pintrest and need to actually try them out. I do love using my crockpot in the winter so anything I could prechop and freeze would be fantastic.
Can't wait to here how it goes with you guys, Crystal!

 

Krista, we're not THAT far away! Nothing an airplane won't fix! You should come!!! We might need your expertise, since we've never done this before! It could get interesting And I'm sure they'd let you carry on your finished dishes for the ride home!!

 

I want to come cook too!!
I can't wait to hear how it works out for you guys!