Easy Freezer Cooking

I was first introduced to the internet world shortly after I was married and was delighted to find all the information available to stay-at-home moms/wives/homemakers. One thing I kept seeing popping up on such sites was "Once-a-month cooking". The concept sounded great but who wanted to spend ALL day in the kitchen cooking? Now, I love to cook, but not that much. So I never really pursued that venue of homemaking but continued to spend at least an hour in the kitchen cooking a full meal every night. I still don't spend a full day cooking once a month in order to stock up my freezer, but I definitely don't have the time or energy to spend even an hour cooking every day, so over time I've developed my own method of freezer cooking that works great for me and it saves TONS of time and even more money. The first simple thing I do is double or triple each dish that I make. This is just as easy as making one batch except now you have 3 sometimes even 4 or 5 meals to use over time. When making things such as spaghetti sauce, taco meat, chili, or soups double or triple your recipe in a large pot. Separate what you didn't use that night into freezer bags. Label the bag with the contents and date and keep in the freezer for next time. When making meatloaf, make 3 or 4 loaves instead of just one. This takes almost the same amount of time. Form into loaves, wrap in foil, place loaf in freezer bags, label, and freeze. When making a casserole, make more and freeze in foil pans. This can be done with almost any recipe. If you're not sure if a food will freeze, a quick Google search can tell you. Some foods such as potatoes do not freeze well. The second thing I do is buying meat in bulk or stocking up when it's on sale, then cooking and freezing. This is a big money and time saver. I usually do this the day after I do my grocery shopping. Week 1--Buy the largest package of chicken breasts (or even two). The next morning put all the chicken into the crockpot and sprinkle with a litte garlic salt. Cook all day until done. After it has cooled, store in freezer bags, either whole or chopped. The next time you need chicken breasts for a recipe it is already cooked and ready to go. Week 2--Buy the huge package or ground beef. Put the whole thing in a crockpot with some salt, pepper, and garlic. Cook all day until all the meat is brown. Cooking it in the crockpot even makes it a better consistency that browning it. When it's done, put two cup portions of it into freezer bags. Two cups equals one pound. Week 3--Buy another large ground beef. This one is a bit more time consuming but worth it in the end. Mix in a large bowl the ground beef, one egg per pound, some bread or cracker crumbs and whatever seasoning you like--I use garlic salt and onion flakes. Form half into patties and the other half into meatballs. Place the patties and meatballs on baking sheets and put into the freezer until frozen. This is called flash freezing. After they have frozen put into freezer bags--one for the patties and one for the meatballs. Now they are already formed for hamburgers, hamburger steaks, spaghetti and meatballs, or any other recipe. After this cycle you will probably be set in the meat department. You can do this for almost any kind of meat--pork, beef, etc. but our family mostly eats ground beef and chicken breasts. As each kind of meat runs out, buy another package and do it all over again. Here are a couple more. Buy large bags of onions and green peppers. Chop and saute and freeze in bags for later use. When using whole chickens save the bones and skin and make chicken broth to freeze. When you have just a little meat, vegetables, or pasta left over from a meal put into a jar in the freezer and keep adding to it. This eventually makes a surprisingly good soup. All this may be old news or common sense to most people, but it's something I've just figured out within the last few years and has saved us so much money and time.