Freezer Cooking - My First Shot at This!


What are these you ask?  My first attempt at freezer cooking, that's what!

Those, my friends, are three pork stir fry packets, meat on top and then veggies.  All frozen and ready to cook up on our stir fry pan for a quick easy meal with some rice and fruit.

Now that school is in full swing for all 4 of us, life is officially Busy (yes, with a capital B!).  And since John is doing the cooking 3 nights a week now, I wanted to make it easy on him, since he's working 40+ hours a week (usually it's 50+) and taking 3 classes this semester!  So I decided we needed some things that we can just pull out of the freezer and cook.

Now, I don't care much for 'freezer' foods - casseroles, meatloaf and things like that are just not typically on the menu. Oh, they're okay once in a while, but not on a daily basis.  Also, I really dislike the texture of bread that has been frozen, so baking my bread in advance is out (though that would have saved me a LOT of time!). 

So what's a girl to do? 

Here's the game plan:

  • Three packets of pork stir fry mix (meat and veggies) Done! (pictured above!)

  • Four packs of chicken stir fry mix (meat and veggies)

  • Two packets of beef stir fry mix (meat and veggies)

  • Two packets of shrimp stir fry mix (shrimp and veggies)

  • Leftover veggies into veggie stir fry packets (number to come...)

  • 3 whole pizzas to freeze (half cheese and half veggie/chicken)

  • 4 small cheese pizzas

  • 4 BBQ chicken, broccoli and onion calzones

  • 4 veggie calzones

  • chicken broth

  • 16 bean soup with ham stock

  • 6 packets diced grilled chicken (for salads and such)

  • tomato sauce (in the crock pot)

  • granola

  • 4 packets oatmeal muffin mix

  • 4 packets baking powder biscuit mix

  • 2 packets cornbread mix

  • 3 packets pancake mix

  • Oatmeal M&M Cookies
A very ambitious list I do realize.  I think it's manageable. 

Why?
The stir fry packets only require cutting and bagging, not actual cooking. 
Similarly, the pizzas and calzones require making the dough, cutting the toppings and assembling, not actual cooking. 
The dry mixes just require bagging and adding a typed card (which I already have) with the remainder of the recipe on it. 
The broth, soup and tomato sauce are done in the crock pot (and I can let that run overnight if I need to). 
And I actually like making the granola - and it's easy, something that is easy to mix, just long to cook.

The cookies are the only real 'cooking' I have to do and they really aren't for the freezer - just a nice treat for the kids and John for lunch next week.

My plan is to work on this little bit by little bit over the next week in my snippets of time (and after I buy another 2 5lb bags of flour and hit the farmer's market for some more veggies).  I'll update at the end of the week so you can see what all got done!

Are you trying out or an old pro at freezer cooking?  You can share your Freezer Cooking Plan at Money Saving Mom!

Popular posts from this blog

Menu Plan Monday - Week of January 17, 2021

Image
Peas from my garden last summer.  We are cold and snowy with a lot of ice right now!  Not my favorite weather.  So, to cheer myself up I am starting to plan my garden for next summer!  I am hoping that I will be able to grow at least enough tomatoes and cutting flowers for both my parents (who are moving 1 1/2 blocks away from us in about 2 months - hurray!) and our house as well.   I am so grateful that we have 1/5 acre lot for our home that we can grow vegetables flowers and (currently) a single tree.  It makes me so happy and provides some very fresh produce for our family.  I love the physical act of gardening, both flowers and vegetables, and I love the taste of vegetables fresh from the garden.  A win-win in my book for sure! The name of the game this week is to eat up as much of the fresh stuff as we can so it's easy to move the refrigerator downstairs for our remodel.  They start knocking out walls and cutting holes in the outside of the house next week and we will need to
Read more

Menu Plan Monday - Week of January 10, 2021

Image
  A couple of lovely Christmas treats we received as a gift this Christmas! Yum! So, after publishing the menu last week John and I went through the freezer and refrigerator and decided that we better eat all the things that will be difficult or impossible to eat when we do not have an oven or stove top for a month or two.  That means last week's actual meals looked nothing like the menu!  That happens, I guess. With that in mind, here is what we're eating this week: Sunday, January 10:       Brunch: Cereal, Fruit and Toast       Snack: The last Christmas Cookies       Dinner: Perfect Potato Soup, Homemade Bread Monday, January 11:        Breakfast: Toast and Eggs        Lunch: Leftover Soup        Snack: Yogurt        Dinner: Beef Stir Fry, Rice, Orange and Grapefruit Wedges Tuesday, January 12:         Breakfast: Smoothies or Overnight Oatmeal         Lunch: Leftover Soup         Snack: Yogurt         Dinner: Fish Tacos, Fruit Wednesday, January 13:         Breakfast: Oatmeal
Read more

Menu Plan Monday - Week of January 3, 2020

Image
John's Birthday Dinner January 2020  This week started with John's Birthday - he loves crab legs and we typically have them for dinner on his birthday, as part of his birthday gift.  Here in the upper mid-west of the U.S. crab legs are usually on sale at this time of year, so it works out well.   We have so much produce in our freezers and refrigerator this week and we are trying to eat our cupboards down a bit so things are easier to store during the big part of our remodel.  Here is what we are eating this week: Sunday, January 3, John's Birthday:     Brunch: Smoothies, Oatmeal Muffins     Snack: Soft Pretzels     Dinner: Crab Legs, Green Beans Monday, January 4:       Breakfast:  Eggs and Toast      Lunch: Salad with Tuna      Snack: Yogurt      Dinner: Pork Chops, Cauliflower, Carrots Tuesday, January 5:      Breakfast: Oatmeal with Walnuts and Craisins      Lunch: Chicken Noodle Soup from the Freezer      Snack: Yogurt      Dinner: Chicken Lasagna, Green Beans Wednesda
Read more