The Basics of Freezer Cooking

I began making freezer meals in 2008 to save us money, time and most of all, my sanity. :o) The way I cook for a month is only one way to do it and the process is written below. There are lots of ideas and suggestions out there so use only what you want from this site. Once you begin to do it, you'll find the things that are helpful to you. Happy Freezer-Meal-Making!

Things to have on-hand...

• Ziploc Freezer Bags in both quart & gallon sizes
• Plastic wrap & foil
  
• Sharpie Marker - dark color of your choice
• Great recipes that freeze, thaw & warm well - don't worry, they're here on this website!
• Food
• Kitchen utensils, pots & pans, measuring cups & spoons, etc...
• Freezer - can be the fridge freezer or a separate upright or chest freezer

What do I cook?

Think about the foods your family typically eats? Sandwiches, spaghetti, tacos, burgers, pizza, breakfast, snacks, muffins...etc. Begin with the things you already enjoy eating, then add new recipes later. Figure out how many batches of the recipes you'll need to make. For example, for our family right now 1 recipe of taco meat will make about 3 meals for us. If you have a larger family, you may need to double or triple your recipe to make 3 meals.

How do I determine what I need to purchase?

Once you choose the recipes you'll make, create a spreadsheet to figure out what ingredients you'll need to purchase. I like to list my recipes on the left side going down and then my ingredients across the top. That way if I need 1 lb. of ground turkey for tacos, I mark it "1 lb" in the box where tacos & ground turkey meet. If I need 2 lbs. of ground turkey for burgers then I'll mark "2 lbs" in the box where burgers & ground turkey meet. When I total the ingredient columns I'll find that I need to buy a total of 3 lbs. of ground turkey. Even though this takes a little bit of time, it's VERY helpful to account for all your ingredients, even spices & pantry items because if you begin cooking and are missing something, it's very frustrating!

When & where do I shop?

Whenever you can (without kids, preferably) and wherever the best deals are. I look for deals at our local grocery stores, but also visit a warehouse club to buy my meats & shredded cheese as their cost tends to be cheaper than the grocery stores unless something is on sale. I also like to shop the discounted bread rack at one of our big box stores to get french & Italian bread for a few of my recipes and the sell by date doesn't matter since it's going to be frozen.

I'm home with TONS of food, now what?

Plan.

Does your meat need to be browned or cooked prior to using in a recipe? Crockpots work well for cooking chicken & ground beef/turkey. I will often cook the meat the night before I actually make the rest of my meals.

Chop the veggies - might as well chop all the onions you'll need, rather than chopping one for each recipe you assemble.

Pasta - cook the noodles you need for only HALF the time called for on the package. (This can also be done the night before the cooking/assembly day.) The lasagna recipe I make doesn't require any noodle cooking!!!

Once your ingredients are done being prepped then you can begin making the meals and assembling them. Some of my favorites are the ones you mix in a bowl or a blender and then dump into a Ziploc bag. Can't get any easier than that!

How do I package my meals & foods?

Casseroles that require being frozen in a pan like French Toast will need to be in a glass pan. Wrap with 1 layer of plastic wrap and then 1 layer of foil. Use your Sharpie to write "French Toast, Thaw, UC 350F/30m" then place in the freezer. This means I have to thaw it prior to baking it and I will bake it UnCovered for 30 minutes at 350*F. This is just what I use - do whatever works for you!

Meals like baked ziti, pasta or rice dishes, soups, casseroles (that don't require layering in a pan to freeze in) can all be placed in quart or gallon Ziplocs.

• Be sure the meal has cooled completely which is easy to do once meal is made, set aside to cool while you're cooking & assembling other meals.
• Use the FREEZER Ziplocs. I have used these for ALL my meals and nothing ever tastes like it's been frozen!
• Label the bag with the Sharpie FIRST before placing food in it and let the marker dry for a second. Yes, I've ended up with smudged writing the first time I did this quickly.
• Roll the opening of the bag down so it makes it easier to ladle or pour in the ingredients and the zip part stays clean. Fill a bit over half the bag then press the air out and seal the zip part. Lay flat to freeze.
• Once frozen these meals will expand a little bit, but will still take up very little freeze space. They can also sit upright once frozen in a basket in a chest freezer making it easier to find in the coming weeks.

How should I keep track of what's in my freezer?

As I make my meals I write a list of each meal along with anything I want to serve it with when I make it. This helps me prep my weekly grocery list easily! I also make open boxes next to the meal title with 1 slash through them telling me how many bags or pans of that meal is in my freezer. When I use one I make 1 slash the other way so I know it's used. I can quickly see what meals I have left to use.

Okay, my freezer is stocked, now what do I do to prepare a meal?

Most of the meals have to thaw completely before warming them so thaw the meal the night before in your fridge. Sometimes large casseroles may require more than 24 hours to thaw in your fridge. Whenever I make one night's dinner, I usually remove the next night's meal from the freezer and place it in the fridge.

As far as cooking goes, follow the recipe. If you labeled your meals you won't even need to peek a the recipes because you should have the baking temperature and time listed on the foil or bag.