We are investing in a deep freezer this week since we just got a Sam's Club membership. Our freezer is so ridiculously small it can barely hold anything so I'm hoping this helps out so we can stock up on certain things on sale as well. My plan is to take a day to cook hopefully just once a month, and have a good amount of meals on hand. I'm also hoping this can save us money. I'm sort of clueless as to how I should go about this. If you want to share tips on meals that are easy to make and freeze well, or side dish type foods that we could buy on sale and freeze, or any tips just overall so I can get started on this and not feel so overwhelmed!
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I love to freeze meal components a lot - make one thing and use it in a few easy to put together meals. One example is making (or buying bulk prepared) meatballs. You have standard spaghetti, red sauce and meatballs, and you can do meatball subs, Greek meatball pitas, crumble over homemade pizza, serve with stir fry veggies and rice with a hoisin sauce. So many things with a little meatball.
I also do this with grilled chicken (marinate, grill and freeze separately on a sheet before bagging) and will pull a few out to thaw for putting over salads, next to a fresh veggie or other side pulled from the freezer). Mexican seasoned mixes - like beef and black bean or chicken and rice. Those can be used over a salad, in a quesadilla, tacos, over nachos.
I make some more traditional frozen meals like ziti, enchiladas, shepherds pie, and lasagna. And slow cooker freezer meals are awesome too. I love a lot of the ideas the bees have made posts about (Mrs. Wagon comes to mind first). I just know I don't like an oven or slow cooked meal every night especially with the summer coming so the meal components are where I vary things but keep really fast meals. -
following
I have some good recipes that freeze well. I'll send to you!
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We started making double of everything and freezing half. It works well for us because it spreads out the cost from week to week, and doubling a recipe doesn't add much time at all to dinner preparation. I'd love to spend a day cooking each month, but it just never works out that way!
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I'm not great at making freezer meals but we do buy our meat in bulk and then I separate it into smaller portions and label with the date and approx amount on the bag.
Pulled pork is something I have cooked a huge portion of (6.5 lbs in our slow cooker) and it has frozen well.
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Rather than spend a whole day just cooking. Because really I would like to know who can devote a whole day to just cooking?
We like to just make more of what we are already making. ie When we're making homemade pasta sauce we double the recipe. Then it's enough for a 2-3 night meal and we have leftover sauce to freeze. Usually the 3rd night I make a baked ziti and again the same. I make a double pan of baked ziti and freeze the second pan.If we're making meatballs we'll use the whole big pan from a wholesale club and use it all. use half for that night and freeze the other half.
I will say freezer meals tend to work better for us in the colder months because most things are reheated in the oven or stove top.
We buy meat in bulk and separate into our meal portions. We buy the large saran wrap from BJs (they have them at Sam's as well) and just triple/quadruple wrap the meats and label with date.
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@sorrycharlie: Ooooh, now I'm curious! What kind of stuff do you make?
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@Bao: wow. Best plan ever. I have no advice but I wish I had a deep freezer and the brains to meal prep!!
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@sorrycharlie: thanks!!
@lindseykaye: Great ideas, thank you!
@CupQuakeWalk: I'm excited I hope I can make this work. -
@Bao: if you lived closer to me, I'd say we could take turns where I'd take your kids for a day (so you can meal prep) and then we'd switch an d you take E so I can meal prep. Dang distance!
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@CupQuakeWalk: what a great idea that would be!! I'm hoping DH will help out with the kids at least a half day on a Sunday so I can do at least a few meals at a time! I think it's going to be a learning process for me but I think I'll get a system down eventually.
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@Bao: ooo. I've been thinking about this too. I hope you get lots of tips.
I'm pretty clueless: can you freeze anything?
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Try freezer crockpot meals!
http://kojo-designs.com/2013/02/more-freezer-crockpot-recipes-2/
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@derevival: I don't think anything, but a lot. I imagine some things freeze better than others.
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@mfa_lady: well I don't actually prep freezer meals, but a lot of my favorite recipes are very freezer-friendly! crockpot lasagna, spinach and cheese lasagna roll-ups, precooked taco meat, bulk tomato sauce, baked ziti dishes, etc.
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@sorrycharlie: YUM!
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There are whole websites devoted to Once A Month cooking, just google OAMC and you'll see plans for different types of ingredients, like ground beef, chicken, etc. Could give you some ideas.
Another thing you can invest in if you don't already have one is a vacuum sealer. If you're going to deep freeze, it's really one of the best solutions out there.
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Following! I'll post my plan tonight!!!
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My favorite thing to do is to cook 10 pounds of chicken breasts in salsa (I get a 10 lb bag from Costco), then shred it in the Kitchen Aid mixer, then freeze in meal-size portions. SUPER easy, minimal time and effort, HUGE help!
I also add corn, peas, sauteed onions and sauteed garlic to bulk it up. Sometimes black beans if I'm feeling especially cheap.
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@looch: I will look that up, and I don't know much vacuum sealers, are there certain/better brands?
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@Bao: I would definitely get a vacuum sealer if you're going to bulk freeze. It will guard against freezer burn. We buy meat in bulk and then portion out and vacuum seal. I think we just have a Food Saver brand. It's an older model so I couldn't find it online anymore.
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@MUI831: ok thank you, I will go do some research
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@Bao: I have a basic Foodsaver brand one, it's so old that it's not even featured on the website any longer!
My parents have a nicer model one, that allows you store a roll of the sealing plastic in the vac sealer and it also seals soft foods, like muffins. I think they bought it at Costco, which is where they also buy their replacement plastic. They make their own bags, it's much cheaper that way.
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@looch: oh maybe I should check Sam's then!
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Freezer cooking is a life saver! I do a few different approaches: cook extra at any given meal & freeze (i.e. soup, chili), throw together a variety of meals in one long day & freeze (i.e. taco meat, sloppy joes, lasagna, stuffed shells, meatloaf), or pick up a bunch of meat that is on sale, prepare it a bunch of different ways & freeze (i.e. chicken in various marinades or chicken & all the ingredients for a crockpot meal).
I largely base my freezer cooking off what's on sale. Amish chicken breasts on sale? Then I make a list of all the marinades I want to use or crockpot meals I want to make, double check I have all the ingredients on hand, and hit the store to stock up. My new rule is that chicken does not go in the freezer without some degree of preparation (cut up & put in marinade for example).
Also, before I started I stocked up on freezer Ziploc bags, tinfoil, Saran Wrap, and disposable aluminum pans from Sam's Club. I also ordered two different sizes of Extreme Freeze Reditainer Freezeable Containers off Amazon and made sure I had plenty of Sharpies on hand. Note: Rubbing alcohol removes Sharpies off these containers when you are done with them. However, because I am lazy, I'm beginning to put dry-erase markers through the test of my freezer.
Good luck and have fun!
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A couple favorites are sausages and peppers and onions, pastas, meatballs, and tamales! Egg breakfast burritos were also a lifesaver. Waffles also freeze well and are a big pain to make in small batches. Chole also freezes well. Rice also freezes well!
I have some good recipes that freeze well. I'll send to you!
We like to just make more of what we are already making. ie When we're making homemade pasta sauce we double the recipe. Then it's enough for a 2-3 night meal and we have leftover sauce to freeze. Usually the 3rd night I make a baked ziti and again the same. I make a double pan of baked ziti and freeze the second pan.Reply
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