I had a great plan for this final post about freezer cooking.

I was going to use the Three Week Plan that I talked about in my last post and I was going to snap photos along the way, while I shopped, cooked, bagged and froze!  Wouldn’t that be great to have photos showing the process?

Just as I was sitting down to get together my shopping list, I dropped my camera.  The glass shattered and there is a horrible dent in the lens.  I now have to pretend to wait patiently for the 4-6 window to pass while the camera is away at the shop … so, I am sorry to say, there will be no handy “how-to” photos in this post 

I’ll hike up my big girl panties and stop fretting about the camera and move on to share my tips on how to make freezer cooking work for you!

A.  MAKE PLANS FOR YOUR CHILDREN TO BE ELSEWHERE! This is a great time to enlist family, friends, neighbors or … do you have access to a babysitting co-op? (that’s a WHOLE ‘nother topic of conversation!).  Look at it this way, not only will you be able to grocery shop alone, but your time will be much better spent (without so many distractions!)

• Arrange for childcare for ONE 2-3 hour segment for grocery shopping
• Arrange for childcare for ONE 8-9 hour segment for food preparation

B.  SIT DOWN WITH THE SHOPPING LIST AND MAKE NOTES OF WHAT IS ALREADY IN YOUR PANTRY/FRIDGE. THIS SEEMS LIKE A WASTE OF TIME TO SOME, BUT WHY DO YOU WANT TO DOUBLE-PURCHASE ITEMS?

• Make sure to purchase either zipper bags or containers to store your food in.  8×8 foil pans work nicely, but my favorite is definitely zipper bags.
• Also make sure to have a permanent marker on hand
• Tin foil and saran wrap are two more things to make sure you have!
• This works best for our family if I also add a frozen pizza and french fries to the shopping list so that at the end of the Food Prep Day, we can still eat (since you won’t want to cook again that night!)
• Arrange your shopping list according to the grocery aisles where you shop!

C.  CLEAN OUT THE FRIDGE AND COUNTERS.

• I do this a couple of days prior to the Shopping Day.
• Throw away any old leftovers, and do a quick wipedown of the shelves (if you’re like me, this is NOT done often enough!)
• your counter space is VITAL during a freezer cooking round.  Take 20 minutes and declutter this space!

D.  SHOP!

• I typically do some of the food prep after I get home on Shopping Day (chopping veggies, browning the ground beef, etc.).
• Rest … enjoy your kids the night of the Shop Day … Go to bed early!

E.  LET THE COOKING BEGIN!

• There are many schools of thought about how best to organize yourself on Food Prep Day.  I am going to tell you how I do it … based on the menu items in the TWP
• Make sure you have your recipes handy (I like printing them, and then taping them to my cupboards.  Nothing better than taking them down as each one is finished!)
• Wear an apron, comfy clothes and COMFY shoes!!!
• Turn on some music.  Turn it up loud!

1.  Start the cooking and chopping!  I set up as many bowls as I will have veggies (one for onions, one for tomatoes, one for green peppers, etc.).  I also set up bowls or containers for the meat.

• Spaghetti (chop veggies, brown meat)
• Baked Ziti (chop veggies)
• Meatball Sandwiches (chop veggies)
• Meatloves (chop veggies)
• Mexi-Chicken (cook and shred chicken)
• Broccoli-Ham Bake (cube ham)
• White Cheese Chicken Lasagna (cook and shred chicken)
• King Ranch Chicken Casserole (cook and shred chicken)

2.  Take a quick coffee/water break … do a quick soap & rinse of your utensils, cookware, etc.

3.  Lay out your containers.  Zipper bags, or pans … find your permanent marker … put the tin foil and saran wrap on the table.

4.  Start with one recipe and work your way down!  Spaghetti is an easy one … simply follow the recipe.  Make sure you allow the sauce to cool and then pour into bags!  (see Hints and Tips below!)

5.  Mark/Label

• Date
• Name of Recipe
• Reheating instructions

6. Set those bags/containers aside and take a quick coffee/water break.  Rinse off the utensils/bowls you’ve used.  Then move on to the next recipe!

7. When you’ve completed your recipes, take stock in how best to store the meals.

8.  Place in freezer.  Load up the dishwasher.  Take off that apron and be awfully proud of yourself!

HINTS AND TIPS:

• When using bags for liquid, use a soup ladle.  Sit the empty bag inside a coffee can or something else with sturdy sides.  Trust me on this one.
• To remove the extra air from bags, use a straw to suck out the air, until you are able to pull the straw and zip the bag.  Practice…. put some water in a zipper bag and practice. It’s not too hard, but you need to do this to minimize the possibility of freezer burn.
• When using pans to store your meals, wrap once in tin foil.  Wrap again (a full wrap!) and then seal with saran wrap.  Place inside zipper bag.  I don’t do too much of this, because of the hassle, but for meals that are better layered (like the Broc/Ham Bake, it’s worth it).
• Make a note of what you’ve prepared and either keep it in your freezer, in your Household Manager Book, on your fridge … somewhere that you can refer to. I also write those meals on my calendar so that I don’t forget.
• Store the meals in an alternating fashion.  Don’t store all of the Baked ZIti on top of each other, or you will have to sift through frozen blocks of food to find a new option for dinner!
• Write down shortcuts that you find as you cook … if something works better for you … by all means, jot it down and do it again next time!
• Potatoes DO NOT freeze well.  Again.  Trust me on this one.
• If you use pasta (outside of lasagna noodles) in any freezer meals, only cook them for HALF of the time recommended!  When you reheat/cook on serving day, they will finish cooking. Trust me.
• Don’t get frustrated with the mess … just remember, EACH meal that you prepare from scratch each night is ALSO making a mess … this way, you’re making the mess all at one time.

I’m sure there’s something I’ve forgotten.  There may be something I talked about that makes you wrinkle up your nose and say “what??”.  Visit me at Naomi Does Frugal. I’d love to chat with you and answer any questions I missed, or try your tested and true recipes!

If this is all a bit too much, start small … next time you make lasagna, make a double batch and freeze half!

For those of you waiting for the non-casserole recipes? I’ll get to them soon … over at Naomi Does Frugal.

It’s been fun!  Thanks for reading along with me as I shared my obsession with freezer cooking with you!

~Naomi

For more kitchen tips visit Tammy’s Recipes.

If you are interested in participating as a guest blogger for this 3 Moms feature, please leave us a comment or send us an email at 3moms@happytobeathome.net. We are looking for a variety of women willing to open their kitchens for one week to all of our readers. You do not even have to have your own blog in order to participate.

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