A couple of months ago, I asked on the Springs Bargains Facebook page if any of you did freezer cooking and if it was really worth it. I got varied responses: everything from “Yes, it will change your life!” to “All I think about when I hear freezer cooking is yucky casseroles.”
I’ve done freezer cooking here and there, but other than a few pregnancies where I was particularly motivated, I’ve never made a concentrated effort to cook for the freezer. Recently, however, I realized that the draw of freezer cooking is not just being able to pull a meal out of the freezer whenever I didn’t have time, or didn’t feel like, cooking. It’s also that the dishes are already mostly done when I pull a meal from the freezer, which ends up saving even more time than just the time it takes to cook.
Initially, I considered setting aside one day per month to cook for the freezer, but decided I was kidding myself. It’s not realistic for me to set aside time to go get groceries for dozens of meals and then spend all day cooking and cleaning up. But, I’ve realized I can either prepare double portions of a meal at once and freeze half of it, or simultaneously cook a meal for the freezer while I fix supper.
Here’s some of the freezer cooking I’ve done recently:
- Cooking two meals at once
One night while cooking Skillet Penne and Sausage with Spinach (from an older version of this cookbook) for supper, I took the other half of the package of sausage and browned it with some onions for my Sausage Classico (a personal recipe with sausage, roasted peppers, and tomato sauce; served over pasta).
I also roasted peppers for the Classico in the oven, then peeled and sliced them after supper and put them in the Sausage Classico pan along with pureed tomatoes. I put that in the refrigerator.
- Finishing one meal while cooking one for the freezer
A couple of days later, I was rushed for supper so I pulled out the mostly-finished Sausage Classico and seasoned it, then simmered it for a bit while boiling pasta. I’d just been to Ranch Foods and for my monthly purchase of a 20-pound box of ground beef, so I made a double batch of Pioneer Woman’s Sloppy Joes while I was finishing supper and froze it.
I got dinner on the table in about 20 minutes and had two main dishes for the freezer!
- Preparing crockpot meals for the freezer
Recently I bought some chicken thighs on sale, so I prepared two meals worth of Abby’s Crockpot Lemon Artichoke Chicken and froze them. I followed the recipe to just before where you actually put it in the crockpot – so the chicken is actually still raw. I didn’t realize that I was out of lemon juice, so I had to put notes on the freezer bag to add 1/4 cup lemon juice.
- Muffin batter for the freezer
When I shared about how easy it is to freeze cookie dough for freshly-baked cookies on demand, Kris mentioned that you can also freeze muffin batter. I’ve tried this several times after hearing her suggestion, and it works fabulously. I’m not a fan of freezing already-baked muffins, but if I can freeze the batter and bake it fresh, I’m all for that.
So, last night, I whipped up a double batch of pumpkin muffins and froze them in paper-lined muffin tins. I’ll pop them straight into the oven over the next couple of weeks when we want fresh, hot muffins.
I’ll do a post about how to freeze muffin batter soon!
- Using up leftover beef by making burritos for the freezer
Yesterday, I also took some shredded beef (leftover from having roast beef earlier in the week) and mixed up about 13 burritos with tortillas that were near expiring in the refrigerator. There was still plenty of burrito mixture left over but I was out of tortillas, so I just froze the mixture.
- Raw meatballs for the freezer
At some point in the last week (I don’t remember when!), I used three pounds of my ground beef from Ranch Foods to make a couple of batches of porcupine meatballs (old family recipe). I froze the raw meatballs individually on parchment paper, then once they were well-frozen I put them in a bag and will just need to mix up the sauce when it’s time to cook.
My freezer cooking style
It’s not the marathon cooking session that I often think of when I hear about freezer cooking. Really, I didn’t even particularly plan these freezer cooking sessions; I just fit them in as I had time and had things on hand.
Did you notice that very few of what I fixed were actual complete meals? I’m mostly fixing meal components, often without even cooking them all the way, so they taste fresh when we eat them. We don’t eat any casseroles and I haven’t touched a can of cream soup in years, but I’m here to tell you that you can cook for the freezer no matter what your cooking style!
It’s amazing how much time can be saved even by just having your main dish in the freezer, even if you still have to fix side dishes or put the finishing touches on the main course.
What I want to work on
I’m making some progress on getting main dishes in the freezer, but I still need some help in the side dish department. I’m going to be trying the recipe for Potatoes Stuffed with Caramelized Onions and Dubliner Cheese from my friend Jessica’s new freezer cookbook, Not Your Mother’s Make-Ahead and Freeze cookbook.
I need to test freezing sliced carrots to see if it would work to slice them ahead of time, freeze, and then use them in a side dish (we currently love roasted carrots).
And, while I have a pile of apples on my counter, I’d also like to try her method of freezing whole pies (from the same cookbook).
Is it actually saving me time? What about money?
Freezer cooking is saving me time. To state it more appropriately, it’s making my time in the kitchen much less stressful. I do think that overall, it is a big time savings, but even if it wasn’t, the amount of stress that has been lifted by knowing that I have meals in the freezer has been huge. I’ve been able to get dinner on the table close to my target time of 6 PM, and that’s a big improvement for me.
Is it saving me money? Well, frankly, it’s a little hard to tell because prices are skyrocketing. However, what I have noticed is that when I have a main dish, or even part of a main dish, in the freezer, that frees up a lot of time for me to focus on getting filling, healthy sides prepared. I don’t forsee cutting out meat in our diet anytime soon, but we eat less of it when we have a big salad, a vegetable, and a starch. So, anything that gives me more time to fix side dishes decreases our meat consumption, which definitely decreases my spending (were it not for rising prices, of course).
What about you? Have you started freezer cooking yet?
Vintage freezer advertisement adapted from Flickr.
$1.25 for Lucerne (half gallon) at Safeway, Fri-Sun Only
Carrie, I love this post! I have been in the same boat as you with freezer cooking. We don’t do many casseroles, and I love the idea, but finding the time has been hard. I would love to hear about freezing the muffin batter! I have been doing cookie batter for about 5 years and love that. I have also browned up ground beef and frozen for hamburger helpers or the few casserole dishes I do make. I have also seasoned it with taco seasoning and then frozen for tacos. I freeze rice after I make it to use for sides. Sausage is also a great one, like you said. I am sure there are others I do too, just can’t think of them at the moment.
I will share about the muffin batter soon!
I always mean to get around to freezer cooking- but never do. So instead- I have been trying to do prep ahead and getting some items pre-prepped. We do a lot of soups and stews this time of year, so I have been catching frozen veggies on sale and using those instead of taking forever cutting them up myself. It saves me time and money! It saves time because I am not stuck in the kitchen forever, and money because I actually cook instead of hitting a fast food restaurant, or letting the fresh stuff go bad.
Yep! I’m learning that if I spend a little more on groceries to make sure we are well-stocked with good food, AND spend a little time cooking for the freezer or even prepping ahead like you mentioned, fast food restaurants don’t have a chance!
My favorite is to make a large batch of chicken fajitas in the crockpot and then freeze half of it. Then all I have to do is reheat the frozen part for a meal. So yummy!
Yum!
What I like to do is buy the family size of chicken breasts that are cheaper for large quantity. Then I season them and put them in the crockpot all day. Then I freeze it for casseroles that require already cooked chicken and like you said, it saves time and clean up to have it all done at once. Thanks for the muffin batter and other ideas. I, like you, don’t do many frozen meals, but while I am cooking a pound of hamburger for lasagna, I cook another pound for a casserole or spaghetti sauce later. It has helped me tons.
I find myself doing freezer cooking or cooking ahead whenever I buy a large family pack, too. (Or get a really good sale and get a few pacakges.) It kind of forces me to cook for the freezer if I buy in bulk! :)
I do often make ahead meals and refrigerate them. I do several components at once, like a braised chicken breast that’s just seasoned with salt and pepper, so I can shred it and season it for tacos, or serve it with bbq, or make chicken salad…
My freezer space is usually at a premium, though. Between buying fruit during season and freezing it, and those stupid little pizzas my kids can’t seem to get enough of, (thank heavens they are free this week!) and frozen veggies and meat on sale, plus ice cream, and the little ends of homemade bread that I save all year for stuffing at Thanksgiving..I’m often out of room.
Guess my hubs just needs to buy me another freezer ;-D
Haha, I know exactly what you mean. I didn’t have a deep freezer until last year, so it was difficult to do any freezer cooking. I did finally get a very small chest freezer off craigslist and it’s worked great for me – not too big that I forget about the stuff in the bottom, but big enough to store some extra meat and meals.
We haven’t been buying a lot of frozen pizzas lately, but when I used to, I’d always take them out of the box and just put them in the freezer in their own plastic wrap. I didn’t have a problem with freezer burn since we usually ate them so fast, and they took up WAY less room!
Great post, Carrie! I’ve been doing some freezer cooking over the past couple of months too.
Last month, our family picked apples at Happy Apple Farm. We picked a LOT, so we all spent a long morning prepping the apples for pies. We only prepped the filling and put enough for one pie in individual gal. bags. When we want a fresh baked pie all I have to do is thaw the apple pie filling and make the crust. It’s been so nice! And the kids are proud of themselves for helping too. :^)
I also did a freezer cooking day with a couple friends on Columbus Day. We planned our menu and shopping lists a couple weeks beforehand. We shopped the day before we cooked, and cleaned up all the chicken breasts the day before as well. We made breakfast burritos (individually wrapped for our hubbys’ breakfasts), 3 main dish chicken recipes, and used the leftover chicken to make chicken pot pie filling. We also each made a crock pot full of soup to share. I made chicken tortilla soup, one friend made beef stew, and the other friend made potato soup. We split the soups 3 ways and put them in individual freezer safe bowls for our hubbys’ lunches. It was a lot of fun to do the planning and cooking together!
Some of the things my husband and I do to make things easier for dinner prep are browning ground beef for the freezer (especially when Albertson’s has a great deal on ground beef!), cooking chicken overnight in the crock pot and shredding for the freezer, and cooking dry beans in the crock pot overnight. Once the dry beans are cooked, frozen, and then thawed they have the same consistency as canned beans. :^)
Another thing I learned from MoneySavingMom is that breads like banana bread freeze well, so I’m planning to do some mini loaves for teacher appreciation gifts for my kids home school co-op classes.
I freeze cooked beans, too! That’s the only way I’ve been able to actually use dried beans, because I never remember to start cooking them in time to use them for a meal that day. So, I cook them whenever I’m thinking about it (in fact, I should do that right now; I’m out of cooked pintos) and then they’re waiting for me in the freezer.
How much fun is it to cook with friends?! I’ve had friends over before and did something like that (only I bought all the ingredients – it was mostly just to be a ministry to them, as one had recently lost a baby). It was a lot of fun to chat as we cooked. (I was a little embarrassed, however, to discover that the tamales we made were super duper dry. ACK! Not sure what happened to them but I had to hurriedly email my friends and say “DON’T EAT THOSE TAMALES unless you have a lot of cheese and salsa to go with them!” :)
I always buy stew meat & ground beef on clearance (AKA almost bad) at King Soopers or when there’s a really good deal at Sunflower (now sprouts) and I will boil my ground beef (gets more of the fat out and you can do a huge amount at a time, I’ve done 10 lbs before) and fry up my stew meat. Then I separate them into 1/2-3/4 lb baggies and put them in the freezer. Then, if I want to make chili or vegetable beef stew in the crock pot, I don’t have to cook the meat – I just pull out a baggie out of the freezer and drop it in the crock pot. This also makes it so I can use less meat per meal since I’ve already put it into appropriate portion sizes.
Oh yes – portioning it out ahead of time does help use less meat per meal! I recently bought the shrimp that’s on sale at Sprouts and portioned each two-pound bag into four smaller bags (1/4 pound or so each). I mostly use it in gumbo (and also use sausage so it’s not the only meat), and I know I’ll use less if I “force” myself to use 1/4 lb instead of the 1/3 or 1/2 pound I’d likely pull out of the larger bag.
Great tips!
I cook up several pounds of ground beef, spice it, and freeze it in sandwich ziplock bags inside a gallon bag. It’s great because I can usually put together a full meal in about 20 minutes because the meat is already cooked. I’ve tried doing this with chicken, but it tastes too dried out. Anyone have hints on freezing chicken?
I have the same issues with chicken. Only thing I might suggest is making sure to put some of the juices in when you freeze it.
I have a very small freezer. So I can’t freeze much. I use to have a large one and enjoyed the once a month cooking. So now I prep a day before. My crockpot has a removable pot, so I take that out and refrigerate. In the AM, I take it out of the fridge. Go get ready and right before I head out the door, I place it in the crockpot, and turn it on.
I do this with meatloaf, ribs, roast beef and so on. :)
I love prepping the day before, too! I have some pans that are fine to store food in, so I often put a pan of halfway-prepared food in the frig and pull it out the next day to finish.
Thanks for the comment!