July 15, 2010
Getting Started in Freezer Cooking
The following is a guest post from Jessica Fisher, aka FishMama Jessica regularly shares her freezer cooking adventures at Life as MOM and catalogs her recipes on her food blog, GoodCheapEats.
Mealtimes are crunch time. And even though I love to cook, sometimes I just don’t want to have to cook. Having a stash of homemade convenience foods in my freezer has helped me over the years not only to get a break from the kitchen, but also to save time and money.
If you’ve never utilized your freezer to store a week to a month’s worth of meals, you may be wondering how in the world to do it. It’s not hard, and you can definitely ease your way into it.
Here are some ideas to get started:
1. Make a double batch of tonight’s dinner. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy. Stews, soups, chilis, even seasoned taco meat all freeze well. You’d be amazed at all the things that you can freeze. Wrap it well in a plastic container or in a freezer ziptop bag. Cool and freeze. A week or two down the line, take a night off cooking and enjoy work you’ve already done.
2. If you want to step it up a bit, make four batches of one of your favorite dishes. Obviously, this supply will last you about a month since most people don’t eat a certain dish more often than once a week. But making four casseroles generally doesn’t take much longer than one, and you can take advantage of bulk shopping to save some money.
3. Try your hand at several weeks’ worth of meals. Think about it in terms of protein groups. What are meals that your family enjoys that contain ground beef? Buy ten pounds of ground beef and make multiple batches of several dishes that use similar ingredients, such as taco meat, chili, hamburgers, and meatballs. Instead of going through the same motions over the course of a month, do them all at one time and reap the rewards later. You can do the same with chicken or any other protein your family enjoys.
As you experiment with different recipes, you’ll discover which ones freeze well and which ones take the least amount of work to get them ready to serve. With a little creativity, you’ll have some delicious meals at the ready in no time.
Have you ever tried freezer cooking? Has it helped you? Why or why not?
Mealtimes are crunch time. And even though I love to cook, sometimes I just don’t want to have to cook. Having a stash of homemade convenience foods in my freezer has helped me over the years not only to get a break from the kitchen, but also to save time and money.
If you’ve never utilized your freezer to store a week to a month’s worth of meals, you may be wondering how in the world to do it. It’s not hard, and you can definitely ease your way into it.
Here are some ideas to get started:
1. Make a double batch of tonight’s dinner. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy. Stews, soups, chilis, even seasoned taco meat all freeze well. You’d be amazed at all the things that you can freeze. Wrap it well in a plastic container or in a freezer ziptop bag. Cool and freeze. A week or two down the line, take a night off cooking and enjoy work you’ve already done.
2. If you want to step it up a bit, make four batches of one of your favorite dishes. Obviously, this supply will last you about a month since most people don’t eat a certain dish more often than once a week. But making four casseroles generally doesn’t take much longer than one, and you can take advantage of bulk shopping to save some money.
3. Try your hand at several weeks’ worth of meals. Think about it in terms of protein groups. What are meals that your family enjoys that contain ground beef? Buy ten pounds of ground beef and make multiple batches of several dishes that use similar ingredients, such as taco meat, chili, hamburgers, and meatballs. Instead of going through the same motions over the course of a month, do them all at one time and reap the rewards later. You can do the same with chicken or any other protein your family enjoys.
As you experiment with different recipes, you’ll discover which ones freeze well and which ones take the least amount of work to get them ready to serve. With a little creativity, you’ll have some delicious meals at the ready in no time.
Have you ever tried freezer cooking? Has it helped you? Why or why not?
Labels: freezer cooking
April 29, 2010
Food Revolution
![icookreal_1a[1]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiADog9TkwCVZ6v1XqaKeKtQExrouZ69GxwykJOMek4vcoW7-x-PhGW-a0XngOtxDRZYi7yPQWRWnR1RxN6rvbefiREFnWm2DsYznHxD0T1VD8YczyUHKpJ6P7gidk9yLHwpHNf1cL6eN2l/s1600-h/icookreal_1a%5B1%5D%5B4%5D.gif "icookreal_1a[1]")
Today I have a guest post at The W.H.O.L.E. Gang. If you’re not aware, Diane has started a series of guest posts called 30 Days to a Food Revolution. Her goal is to help people move away from eating unhealthy, processed foods to eating nourishing, real food. Each guest blogger is offering a tip and a recipe.My tip is to organize and plan, and in this post I want to let you know where I’m personally headed with that. I would like to do some bulk baking and cooking, freezing the items for later use. With that in mind I purchased these 32 Oz Plastic Freezer Jars
which I found at KMart, as well as the 16 oz Freezer Jars
. My goal is to make enchilada sauce and cook some beans to go in the smaller containers. My friend Lynn did a great video this week on cooking dried beans. I’ll probably use the larger containers for chicken stock, and maybe spaghetti sauce.I mentioned Sunday in my post on autoimmune diseases, that I’ve been dealing with fatigue due to thyroid problems the past couple of months. I’ve seen a little improvement so far, but I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to do before hot weather sets in. If I can, I would like to make and freeze:
- muffins
- hamburger buns
- focaccia bread
- pizza crust
- hot pockets
- meatballs
- shredded chicken
- ground beef & onions
- shredded beef
- beans
- enchilada sauce
- spaghetti sauce
- breakfast casserole
- chicken stock
I think I should start with a baking day. Is anyone interested in joining me?
Labels: freezer cooking
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