Freezer Cooking - Without the Cooking part. Life Changer!!

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Cindylouwho

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Had to share this with you as I have made 3 MAJOR change-ups to simplify my life this past summer and it started with this plan. I'll post the others in their respective spots. But here in the kitchen, I have SEEN THE LIGHT my freezer cooking friends.

(I just re-read this post. No, I'm not affiliated with the cooking site, I'm just ridiculously excited about it and want to know if anyone else is doing it)

Short Story: Over the summer I did a 12-week program that taught me how to do batch prep cooking and it has simplified my life SO much and given me SO much more time to do other stuff. Here's how it works: I buy a $5 plan online. (I'm going with prepared plans to learn the process. I'll adjust the recipes down the line but so far they've all been pretty good). I go to Costco, I spend $150-$200 on ONLY the items for those recipes. I come home and I put it all in the fridge. Next day i spent only 2 hours (okay at first it took me 3 til I had the hang of it), watching this gal on video making the SAME EXACT meals and I prep about 24 meals in Ziploc bags. Two of each recipe. The only meat that gets cooked in advance is the ground beef. Then it ALL goes into the freezer and I have been able to have a hot cooked meal on the table SO easily all summer -- rather than stressing about what I'm gong to cook each day. I give my family a list of options, the kids pick and I throw it in the slow cooker or on the grill or whatever. I will never ever go back to any other way of cooking, the change has been THAT big!

Longer Story: I used to give a thumbs down to freezer cooking because it seemed like all the meals tasted the same once they were frozen and reheated. With this way of doing the prep the cooking is fresh and the ingredients taste fresh. You would never know it was frozen. And I'm not running to the store all the time -- which is a big deal because the store is a bit of a drive.

Now all of my freezer cooking friends, you can nod your heads knowingly and pat me on the back and say Welcome to the Club and ask what took me so long. :) I'm SO excited!

(The 12-Week program I used was called Grocery Budget Makeover by Erin Chase who runs a meal plans site. Had never heard of her before that night but apparently she has been around a while in the cooking world. Stumbled across her one night while I was furiously pounding away on the web searching for solutions because I had hit the wall and was SO sick of figuring out what was for dinner last Spring while trying to juggle a multiple sport household. I had maxxed out all my slow-cooker meals and was SO sick of cooking my own recipes - yet had no time to experiment and play in the kitchen because of our crazy schedule. And there she was. *insert Angels singing here* Erin Chase. Apparently this was the time she'd ever done this kind of program and said was running a closed group for people who needed to change the way they were handling their menu planning. A new business venture for her. She was gathering guinea pigs. I paid like $35 or so and jumped in with eyes closed. The course ran over the summer. I know there are other sites that do meal plans - had just never looked at them seriously before. Wow, what a game changer.

I will share a couple other life-changers that happened over the summer but in other areas. Would love to hear if any of you have done a purchased plan like this and which ones you like. There is another site by Leanne Ely (I like her too) but I've not tried her meals. I'm completely sold on the method though.

OH!!! And this gal provides adjustments for people that are Gluten Free!
*more angels singing*
;)
 
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ChristmasPir8

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Wow this sounds awesome. I have done some freezer meals and have a lot on Pinterest but this an affordable option for a monthly subscription I'll look more into it later
 

ejagno

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Being married to an Executive Chef and having owned restaurants PREP and assembly is 90% of the time spent on any meal. For those of you wanting to still use your favorite recipes you can use the same concept here.

(1) Obtain the ingredients needed.
(2) Measure, cut, dice, and chop all fresh ingredients.
(3) Most meats can be browned at this time as well.
(4) Combine ingredients and store in good freezer safe container or bag.
(5) ****Most importantly, LABEL- include detailed instructions to finish meal.

If a recipe calls for something to be added after the dish is cooked such as shredded cheese, parsley, French onions........... include this in your container in a separate Ziploc bag. Don't think you'll just add it when you cook the meal because that will certainly be the one time you are out. LOL

It is an awesome concept. You never have to start a meal and then realize that you are out of an ingredient because it's already prepped and assembled.
 

Cindylouwho

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If a recipe calls for something to be added after the dish is cooked such as shredded cheese, parsley, French onions........... include this in your container in a separate Ziploc bag. Don't think you'll just add it when you cook the meal because that will certainly be the one time you are out. LOL


Now why didn't I marry an executive chef? :-D This is a great little gem you put on here about the last minute items. I'm going to start doing that - good one!

The labeling is one of the lessons I'm still learning. It IS important - I blew one of my meals because I forgot it was for the grill and slow cooked it by accident. Doh!!

The meal plans I'm using do include a template of Cooking Instruction labels to slap on the ziplocs with any last minute instructions. But I didn't have labels so didn't bother since I'm well-armed with Sharpies and can just scribble my own right on the Ziploc. Well, after doing that many bags a few times I think I may try out some inexpensive printable labels!
 

luludou

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I think there are great tips here, I'll refer back to this once in awhile. I agree it must taste better too!
 

AuntJamelle

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Cindylouwho - So glad you found something that is working so well for you! I can tell you are excited! :)

I love my freezer! I batch cook all the time and it has definitely been a learning process. So many of the "freezer" recipes I find online are either not an option because of the several different food restrictions or just plain dislikes of DH or they just aren't so great after being frozen.

I'm slowly building a list of things we've tried and liked. I've got a nice list built up already but there is always room for more! The "no cook" recipes are my favorites! SO easy to throw in ziplocks and freeze for another day!

The world of meal planning, grocery shopping, coupons, freezer cooking, etc. is MASSIVE

I have read and read and read over the years on so many sites - learned from so many great people who have shared their knowledge.

I'm to the point where grocery budget is down, coupons are used where I can and meals are planned at least 2 weeks into future. Right now I have meals planned through end of year - which is something new I'm trying - going that far ahead.

But I have a Daily To Do List running through end of year too - I keep it in Word and everything goes on it. I'm on the computer every day anyway so I'm always checking, updating, etc. That is where I remind myself to take things out of the freezer - or that I'll need some canned beef broth for that freezer/crockpot meal, etc.

I'm a planner/list maker fanatic though...

IN ANY CASE - great find on that site!!!
 

Cindylouwho

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The world of meal planning, grocery shopping, coupons, freezer cooking, etc. is MASSIVE.....

I'm to the point where grocery budget is down, coupons are used ...

Right now I have meals planned through end of year ...

I have a Daily To Do List running through end of year too - I keep it in Word and everything goes on it.


Yes, half of that program was on cutting the budget down and when to use coupons vs apps vs value for your time. Many of the followers were honed in on the budget part. Me too but my first priority was "hot dinner consistently on the table every night". I found it all overwhelming trying to figure out cooking AND budgets at the same time so I focused on cooking first and am still in process on the budget. In fact, I'm technically not done with the program (along with some others) I think I'm on Week 8. She left the (closed) Facebook site up for us to talk with each other and finish up since several of us were behind due to vacations and whatnot.

However, I'd say batch cooking whacked a huge portion out of my produce budget immediately. No more waste. Right now I'm tracking prices in an Excel spreadsheet using a combo of the sites she gave us and my own grocery receipts.

Good idea to track your stuff in Word. I'll need a list of what I'm prepping as I'm already losing track. It's Fall so I'm back in paper mode this week with the startup of the Home & Holiday plan. Maybe I can get something figured out there.

Contemplating cooking for the holiday season too but we have power outages here in the winter and we do not have a generator. Worries me to lose that much. Right now i'm doing a month at a time. Think that will be okay. Pondering.

How do you stack your freezer meals? I made mine in the shape of my slow cooker (so it would fit in frozen) but they are rather awkward in the chest freezer.
 

AuntJamelle

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I also have a Price Book that I've kept in Excel for quite some time now. I just add new rows for same food items as time goes on and I can track seasonal dips and just plain old inflation - and give a little sigh for the days when something used to be cheaper - LOL

I update it from my receipts and sometimes I'll just pull up sales ads online for the stores I shop at and enter things that way. Although I will say that over time I've memorized the pricing for the things I commonly shop for and don't have to refer to Price Book as much.

She has you breaking things down to figure out Unit Price? I learned that trick from CEO :)

My Word document - just called "Dailys" is my life line most of the year. I get away from it sometimes in the early months (Jan- March or so) and I can really tell the difference in how organized I am/feel.

I put EVERYTHING on there - chores, cards to be prepped/mailed, crafting to do's, home improvement tasks, as well as meal info. I find that if I plan ahead and plug it in on the schedule I am more likely to get it done than if I keep saying to myself - oh, I need to do that.

I print my to-do's out for that evening before I leave work - or if short list I'll jot down on a sticky note. On Friday I print my to-do's for the weekend as well as any new recipes I'll be trying. It really works well for me.

I feel your apprehension on the no generator point - we do have one and that definitely makes me feel safer about stocking up further in advance. Although, unless your power is out for more than 2 days or so if left closed (and fairly full) things should stay frozen. But it's nerve wracking for sure.

I typically freeze things one of two ways. Either in foil or parchment paper lined dishes - after frozen I lift food out, wrap it completely and then insert into a ziplock bag. OR I may put food directly into a zipock and freeze flat on cookie sheets before stacking.

Since I am cooking for just DH and I (DS is on separate diet) I tend to split recipes in two and freeze in 8x8 pans - which fit into gallon sized Ziplocks.

Are you freezing the food in the crockpot dish itself to get that oval shape? Once you lift food out (assuming you've lined the crock pot with foil, etc.) do you end up with a some what flat oval shape?

Perhaps it could be slipped into a 2 gallon size Ziplock and then stacked on edge, so you end up with several oval shapes stacked side by side likes files in a filing cabinet?

Chest freezers are a bear - I have one too. I keep a pair of old gloves nearby so that if I have to dig everything out to find something I don't get frost bite!

I've also heard of using those cloth shopping bags to keep things from just falling all over the place. I may try that. I feel like plastic milk crates or baskets take up more space than they are worth - but that is just me.

But I could see having one cloth shopping bag to corral all the bags of frozen strawberries and/or blueberries that are constantly sliding all over the the place. Or my bags of chicken stock - I have a ton of those and then slip and slide like crazy.
 

Cindylouwho

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She has you breaking things down to figure out Unit Price? I learned that trick from CEO :) .......

Are you freezing the food in the crockpot dish itself to get that oval shape? Once you lift food out (assuming you've lined the crock pot with foil, etc.) do you end up with a some what flat oval shape? ....... Perhaps it could be slipped into a 2 gallon size Ziplock and then stacked on edge, so you end up with several oval shapes stacked side by side likes files in a filing cabinet? .....

Chest freezers are a bear - I have one too. I keep a pair of old gloves nearby so that if I have to dig everything out to find something I don't get frost bite! ....

I've also heard of using those cloth shopping bags to keep things from just falling all over the place.

Yup - Unit price. A lot to track so it will take me a while. I did this years ago but it was a 1-time thing and that was before going gluten free. I pretty much have to start over.

I have a West Bend Slow Cooker so it is rectangular. Freezing the bags flat would be great for freezer storage but would require me to thaw before putting in the slow cooker because then it wouldn't fit. Same problem with 8x8 pans. Maybe i will try shoe boxes.

Bags for sorting in the chest freezer -- DH's way of putting away the groceries sometimes is to put the whole bag in the freezer and walk away. Come on, really?? You gotta laugh! He did this once with bread though and the bag came to live in there and now we can always find the bread quickly and it does not get freezer burned with the paper bag around it.

Gloves for the chest freezer - BRILLIANT!
 

Winged One

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I am in the process of emptying out the rubbish in our, reasonably decent sized, freezer. It was all bits of this, and bags of that, and no whole meals together. The plan is that, once empty, I will improve my prepping and have more curries and pasta sauces made to just reeheat. But I really like the idea of things ready to cook as well.

One other thing that I do, which has worked, is bags of veggies for roasting. If I have fresh veg that is going over, and sometimes I buy it in deliberately to restock, I chop it into small dice, add herbs, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and depending on time available, either freeze raw to cook later or cook and freeze cooked to just reheat. A mix of onion, garlic, courgette, papers, mushrooms and tomatoes.

I always have bags of breadcrumbs, from heels and leftover bread, but if I have enough, I like to make a bag of stuffing as well to grab just a handful on the fly and make quick stuffed tomatoes or chicken joints midweek. Crumbs have so many uses, I prefer to only do a bag of stuffing when I have spare crumbs.
 

AuntJamelle

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I'm trying to empty out the freezers myself right now! Getting rid of anything too old and using up the bits and pieces.

That is my challenge really - when I save a small amount of this or that so as not to waste it - maybe part of a can of green chiles opened for a recipe, etc. I need to do a better job of getting those on my inventory spreadsheet so I remember and use them!

Glad the gloves idea may be of help! I think I got it on this board or the OC - right now they are in a drawer in the laundry room which is near both freezers downstairs...but I'm thinking of putting a 3M hook on the side of the chest freezer itself to hang them from...
 

luludou

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AJ - makes me think. On that 3M hook I have a pair of scissors. Always need them when I have bulk bags and need to take only a few things out.
 

Cindylouwho

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One other thing that I do, which has worked, is bags of veggies for roasting. If I have fresh veg that is going over, and sometimes I buy it in deliberately to restock, I chop it into small dice, add herbs, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and depending on time available, either freeze raw to cook later or cook and freeze cooked to just reheat. A mix of onion, garlic, courgette, papers, mushrooms and tomatoes.

I always have bags of breadcrumbs, ..... and make quick stuffed tomatoes .... midweek.


This sounds really good. All that freezes okay? Are you coating the whole mix in the olive oil and vinegar? Erin had this Grill Plate that looked like a cross between a colander and a bowl. She filled it with veggies and smoked them. Looked so awesome I ordered one off Amazon. It just arrived but haven't used it yet (as it is now pouring rain).

Stuffed tomatoes sound yummy too but not something I could pull off mid-week. I salute you on that one! :)

LuLu - Scissors are a great idea! I'm always running into that with the bulk stuff from Costco. (Needed those gloves yesterday and moved them up higher on my shopping list). Wish I had an upright freezer instead of a chest freezer. Would be SO much easier to organize. But an upright wouldn't fit. Need some way to organize all this. Those freezer meals can be heavy. Like moving blocks of ice.
 

AuntJamelle

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An upright freezer is on my list for "some day" too! :)

And you are right about those "blocks of ice" - I really notice when I accidentally drop one on my foot! Which I've done more times than I care to mention.
 

luludou

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We just got an upright freezer a few months ago... there is less space than a chest freezer... but boy is it fun to organize! and it'll be easier to clean out too. However there is an air leak in it and the tech should be coming, when dh is there, to repair it. Still like it!
 

Ahorsesoul

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I am signed up and paid for the Grocery Budget Makeover. Thanks for sharing. It starts tomorrow Sept 16, 2015.

So far I've watched the videos that tell you how the program is set up and printed out my Grocery Spending Tracker sheets. I'll fill one out for last week so I can see how much money I save as the program goes along.


I have done the Saving Dinner program. Leanne recipes are very good, come with several options and a pre-made grocery list. She tells you what can be substituted if you do not eat something. It had gluten free suggestions and since I do not eat pork it suggested what to use. I have several years worth of recipes printed out. One notebook of a year's worth of recipes was stolen by the group home DD used to be in. They promised several times to return it but after 3 years I doubt they plan to live up to what they say. No surprise there.
 
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Cindylouwho

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AhorseSoul ~
Oh the didn't give back the recipes?! That's terrible! (Okay - Note to self: save a digital copy of the recipes.) Glad to hear the review on Leann's recipes though. i'll give it another look when things slow down a bit. If you just started the Grocery Budget Makeover I suggest getting yet another binder though as it is a lot to track. I re-did my binder as least 20 times, but I guess that is part of the process. I ended up getting a zip-up one because stuff kept falling out (kinda like the FlyLady Office in a Bag but I scored and got a nice one at Costco last month - they might still be there).

I think you will have your hands full if you are doing this at the same time as the holiday plan but if you have already done one with Leann then you know what you are getting into! :)

I'm not one to talk thought since I'm over here Marie Kondo'ing my house at the same time as the holiday plan and FlyLady - so it is madness over here too. :D (It's awesome though to feel like I have more of a handle on this big house!)

Now if I can just get all the rest of the world to slow down so I can concentrate! LOL!