Hybrid Cooking {?}

I was thinking about the downfalls of having all of your meals in the freezer. There aren't many but they can be difficult to work around.

• You're somewhat limited on recipes you can use. Some things aren't recommended  to freeze and even if you can get away with it the texture may change some. {note: the issue I had with the mac & cheese}
• There's no room for spontaneity! Not a really big deal - unless you're pregnant craving something that isn't in your freezer to thaw out.
• Repeats can get boring, even if they're good...it's boring.
• You might miss cooking. I know! Never thought I would say those words but it's true.

My plan for freezer cooking is going to be changed slightly to resolve some of these issues. I still want to prepare two weeks of meals {why not if they fit} but this time I'll also have another week of meals planned that I'll make start to finish the night of. In addition to that I would love to make a variety of sauces (serve over pasta, chicken, etc...is there an etc?) and freeze those. This means after two weeks I'll still have one weeks worth of meals in the freezer so when I make more meals for the freezer in two weeks we'll end up with more variety of freezer meals. One thing I won't do is freeze pasta, there's really no need unless it's in a casserole because pasta doesn't take that long to cook. That's just less space you have for other meals or parts of meals. :)

Then there are weeks when you have a seemingly never-ending head cold and a freezer full of meals would be great but there's no chance of having a 6 hour block of energy to make that happen and so you're just happy to plan quick meals for each evening.

Freezer Cooking: Learning Curve

Overall I still enjoy the benefits of freezer cooking. One drawback is the repeats. Next time I would love to make 30 meals in a day or two but my freezer won't hold that much. We are looking into deep freezer options to make that a possibility in the near future. My husband is very on board with this, he wants to do some meals for the next time as well! We've also talked about buying bulk amounts of meat (initial investment) to save money. So until I have the deep freezer I think I will just make more variety of meals and less amount. Rather than having 18 meals (but 9 recipes) I am going to try 18 meals with 15 recipes. I'll try to use the same base for some but changing it up. For example, if I cook up a couple pounds ground beef with Mexican/taco seasonings I can use half for tacos and half for burritos and change what veggies I add to give some variety. So still about the same amount of work but two different meals. If that makes sense.

New meals we've tried this week:

Chicken Pot Pie - Everyone liked this. I'll be doing more of these but with different veggies to change it up some.

Other things I've learned to do better next time:

• Read the day of cooking directions when you take it out to thaw or the morning you plan to cook. Otherwise it's 5:00 and you realize your pot pie needs to cook for an hour fifteen and cool another ten. That may not work with your evening plans or regular dinner time.
• Make notes of side dishes you plan for each meal on your meal list - wherever you keep it. There were a few nights I didn't think of dinner until it was time to heat up the meal and then it was too late to do a side dish. If it was noted on my list it would have been on my mind at some point during the day to start rice 20 min before or start chopping veggie at ___ o'clock.
• While you're making notes go ahead and make note of cooking time - this will save you the step of remembering to look it up & actually looking it up. Or am I the only one that really takes two steps for something like that? hmm Anyway, just make a note and all of your information is in one place.
• If free print outs you find don't work for you then create your own - or keep it simple and use a regular sheet of notepad paper listing the meal, side dish & cooking time. If you have more than one of a certain meal in the freezer also note how many you have {simple tally works great} and you can check them off as they are used.

If you start freezer cooking please let me know & share what you learn along the way!

Freezer Cooking Reviews

I am three days into my freezer cooking {I decided to stick to one name} adventure and loving the benefits so far! I don't miss the 5 o'clock what's for dinner??? rush. I don't miss looking up pizza coupons. I definitely don't miss looking over my bank statement adding up how much money was spent on said pizza 'deals' because I was unprepared. Each morning I scan my freezer inventory list pick a winner and put it in the fridge to thaw. Then I update my meal count {if that meal was doubled or split for storage}and go on with my day. Simple enough right? Here's what our week of dinners looked {& tasted} like.

Monday: Tortilla Soup, cooked in the crock-pot that day. We enjoyed dinner and I froze leftovers for two more meals. {One meal was sent along to one of my husband's coworkers a couple days later} Definitely have a meal ready to go for the evening of your big cooking day(s). You'll be more than done with chopping, measuring, stirring, cooking and storing that you'll just want to eat {barely} and manage one last clean up - or delegate that task!

Tuesday: Sloppy Joe Pitas, thawed out, reheated & served in warmed pita bread halves. This was a hit with the husband and children. Had I not split the meal for storage we would have had leftovers for the next day. As it was we ran out of pitas before running out of the filling and the husband made himself a third serving using a tortilla and there was still enough left to save for a single lunch serving.

Wednesday: Mandarin Orange Chicken, thawed out, reheated & served over chow mien noodles. This was not such a big hit with anyone. We still ate it because that was dinner - everything else was still frozen! ;) But the husband said he wouldn't want it on the list again. Too bad we have leftovers and another meal in the freezer huh? Next time I'll try serving it over rice. The chow mien noodles were rinsed in cold water and the whole meal ended up cold so it may not have been the recipe. We'll see.

Thursday: Mac & Cheese, set out to thaw...didn't quite thaw in time...learned a lesson. Casseroles need to thaw longer than other meals. This Mac & Cheese recipe was served casserole style. Eventually it was heated but was also pretty dry. Which was really disappointing with how good it smelled when I made it. We have a small amount of leftovers and another meal so I'll give it a better shot next time. Maybe add a little milk to make it creamier when it's reheated?
Friday: Pineapple Chicken, This one came out okay, needs some tweaking - not sure what, but something. I think it was more creamy than I would have preferred. It's worth giving another try.
Saturday: Chicken Enchiladas, I took this out a little later in the morning than I should have but was able to get it thawed & cooked in time for dinner at a decent time. Next time I'll use regular chicken instead of ground. I think any enchilada recipe would work fine for freezer cooking, just make sure that it's wrapped well.
Sunday: Dr. Pepper Spaghetti, So I realized that this should have been put into a 13x9 pan and frozen (or two smaller dishes), then thawed & reheated in the oven...like a casserole. I'm sure on my day of marathon cooking I had a reason for putting the servings into two big freezer bags instead...or I just messed up. We'll go with the former k? I think next time I'll skip this spaghetti casserole and just go with a baked ziti casserole, then make & freeze meatballs for spaghetti another night. Boiling noodles & heating up sauce (unless I make my own to freeze) doesn't really take that long. As for the recipe itself, mediocre at best. I had to look over the recipe again to see if there was tomato sauce, there was but no signs of it now. And it's pretty dry. This will not be a repeat. Baked ziti is going to be a much better substitute.


Well I have some new meals that I can review next week along with planning my menu for the next round. I hope my experience will be helpful in your own freezer cooking ventures and save you some frustration along the way. I'm sure I'll find more kinks to work out as I go along, but maybe before baby makes her appearance I'll have most of them worked out. One can hope. ;)

One change I'll definitely make is thawing out a meal the night before rather than the morning of, just to make sure it's thawed completely and I know that it being in the fridge won't hurt anything. I also want to use more recipes that I already know and love. Trying out new recipes is fun but it is quite the gamble when it's a week plus of new recipes and all of your dinner food is frozen.

There's Always Room For Dessert

When I was a kid there was often the same conversation at the dinner table. I'd tell my parents I was full {I'm sure some of the time I really was} but then they would ask if I had room for dessert - of course I always did - so then they would explain I must have room for the rest of my dinner. I would explain that I must have a smaller stomach just for dessert. They didn't buy it and now as a parent neither will I. It's the circle of life. My freezer is much the same way, plenty of room for dinners and still, always room for dessert.

Last week I talked about once {twice} a month cooking/freezer cooking/bulk cooking/marathon cooking also known as one day of torture vs. 15 or 30 {give or take}. Well I finally did make that trip to the grocery store, list & coupons in hand, and survived. You really never know when shopping at the commiscary so close to payday and all. ;)

The next day after taking Michael to school I pulled out the recipes I printed from planning a few days before, strapped on my apron and got to work. After approx. 6 hours and many glasses of wine water I had 17 meals in the freezer, tortilla soup in the crock-pot {half for dinner, half to freeze} and still room in the freezer for; two loaves of bread, one pack of hamburger buns, 8 cups of chicken broth {homemade & bagged}, 6 bags of veggies, a bag of shrimp and chocolate ice-cream. Oh & we have one of those ice-maker things so there was the tub of ice, if that wasn't in the freezer we would have 1/3 more space on the top shelf.

I have pictures & notes to share with you. Actually, much of the time I was slaving away over the hot stove cooking, I was thinking about what I could improve next time and did my best to remember so I could share my tips with all of you {my lovely readers}. So when/if you have your own day of massive cooking you can learn from some of my mistakes.

• When shopping for such a big cooking day double triple check your list compared to your recipes & your pantry. This is no time for thoughts like "I think I have a jar of diced tomatoes somewhere back there" or "We should have plenty of Italian seasoning". No. This my friends is a time for certainty. Otherwise you may get to a recipe and realize {hopefully before you start to cook} that you're missing an ingredient or two...which could leave you a meal or more short of what you planned.

• Also when shopping for a day such as this do your best to not have a headache or whiny three year old with you, or a whiny any year old. Self explanatory.

• If you're unsure of the amount of meat you need, buy a little extra just in case. If you end up not needing that extra pound or two for a recipe you can throw it in a bag with some marinade and have it ready to thaw & cook up {on the grill if you have one} later in the month.

• Take advantage of sales on meats & produce. Like the above, if there's a great sale on ground beef cook it up and make batches for tacos, sloppy joes, burritos, etc. If it's steak or chicken you can have meals ready to go like fajitas & shishkabobs {sp?}. If you can find fresh produce at a price lower than frozen then freeze it yourself for later use. I bought too many onions so I'm going to chop & bag them to freeze for future use, this way they don't go bad before I cook again.

Now for the show & tell portion of today's lesson. ;) I'm sure I'll remember more tidbits as we go.

I didn't take as many pictures as I originally planned but I was a little intimidated with the whole thing and didn't want to lose focus. There were 2-3 meals going at a time...which can get a little confusing. One thing that helped me out {no picture} was to tape my recipes to the cabinets by my stove, I had one on each door, if there was a third meal going it was on the counter.

This is a picture after the first 'round'. I started out with my dishes with ground beef since I could easily cook that meat up on the stove. But before I started cooking the beef dishes I put all of my chicken breasts in a baking sheet and put them in the oven. This was a great way to multi-task and it benefited me later. In this picture you see Dr. Pepper Spaghetti {I put it in two separate bags but probably could have done four} and Sloppy Joe Pitas {also split into two bags}. I bought my pitas but didn't know when I would be using them so I stored three in two quart size freezer bags. This way I don't have to make a trip to the store just for pitas {when do we ever leave with just one thing?} and my pitas wouldn't spoil before using them.

This is a snapshot of the stove part way through. I realized later that this was all one meal but at various times I had two skillets with two different dishes and another pot with something else or something cooling on the side. I think when I had this going {Mac & Cheese} the Chicken Pot Pie filling was waiting for me. Speaking of chicken, since I had it baking first thing by the time I got to those dishes I was able to chop it all up and use as needed. If several recipes call for the same ingredients {onion is a big one!}, cut up a lot of that ingredient and take from the bowl as needed. One onion = about 1 cup measured. And when I was measuring seasonings for a dish I would put all of those seasonings into one small bowl then put them in my pan/pot. This helped me to keep track of which dish I was working on.

And here is a picture when all was said and done. 17 meals. ready to pack in the freezer. I was a little unsure if they would all fit but the great thing about storing in plastic bags is they are flexible and stack easily. The pot pies & mac & cheese froze in their tins/dishes and before going to bed I took them out, made sure they were sealed up and put them back in the freezer without the dishes. When it's time to cook I'll put them in the dish to thaw {same shape} and cook/heat up.

And here is a bit of the mess when I was done. I didn't clean my stove between meals - I knew it would get dirty again. I did wash pans/bowls between meals when needed and still had quite a bit at the end - but it's still less than washing all those dishes daily for 15 days. After clean up I put my feet up and relaxed. It was well earned.

And this is my freezer - see the ice-cream on the door? I have a regular sized freezer plus that ice-maker so if I can make extra meals fit anybody should be able to. If I had a deep freezer I would be cooking two days in a row and have 30+ meals at the end of it. I would be a cooking fool! For those two days. Until then every two weeks will do.

Here is a list of the rest of the meals I cooked with links to recipes:

• Pineapple Chicken
• Mandarin Orange Chicken
• Chicken Enchilladas
• Chicken Chili Casserole {ran out of chicken & forgot ricotta cheese so this didn't get made this time}
• Salsa Burgers {forgot wax paper for flash freezing so this hasn't been made yet}
• Taco Meat - no recipe, just use directions on seasoning packet
• Tortilla Soup

So far I'm enjoying the benefits of cooking like this. This morning I decided we would have sloppy joe pita pockets so I took the sloppy joe mix & pitas out of the freezer to thaw in the fridge, later I'll heat up the mix and toast the pitas...add some chopped tomato & cheese and voila! Dinner is done, less clean up.

I'll keep you posted on how it's going and what benefits my family sees from this.

Bulk/Freezer/Marathon Cooking {again}

So this is nothing new to me or the internets but it's something I want to try out again and hope to stick to this time. I came across this blog with all sorts of tips for moms - mostly about saving money. There is a lot of information and tips about once a month cooking {oamc} you can check out. I printed out some recipes I think my family will enjoy, made up the shopping list and will hit the store Friday. Saturday I plan to do as much cooking as possible. Most of the meals I'm doing are freeze ahead preparation, the day we eat a certain meal I'll thaw it out that morning, reheat and serve with rice, pasta, veggies, etc.

The anticipated arrival of a new little one who will be requiring much attention has prompted me to give this another go. Several of the recipes would feed our family twice so I'll store them separately and I doubled a couple of meals so preparing 10 meals actually gives us 16 meals. If I had a deep freezer I'd plan more out at once but I don't and I must leave space in the freezer for my ice-cream. :)

My hope is that by the time baby arrives I'll not only have a freezer full of meals - making life a little easier on both my husband {who is more than capable in the kitchen} and I during a busy time of transition and sleep deprivation as well as enjoying the benefits of oamc -tamc in my case-  well after baby's arrival.

This weekend I'm also excited to start making room for baby. Michael will get a new shelf with cubbies and we'll swap the kids' rooms. Over the next few months I'll be more than busy with diy projects to decorate both rooms.