Freezer Cooking

Originally posted December 4, 2010 on Time to be Mom.

One of the things I had planned on doing in order to make sure we are being responsible with our money is to go through my freezer, pantry and cupboards to take inventory and make my meal plans to use up as much as possible, rather than buying new stuff and allowing what we already have to expire.  Anything that's close to it's expiration date already will be taken to a local food pantry where I know it will be used.

I have been looking around online at blogs and websites geared toward parenting, organization and saving money.  Several of them have mentioned "freezer cooking".  FishMama at www.lifeasmom.com uses this method to cook most of her dinners for an ENTIRE MONTH over a week(end)!  Sounds good to me!

You start out by taking inventory of what you have, then use that list to come up with ideas of what you could make with those foods.  Check your local sales circulars and coupons as you are brainstorming for maximum savings.  Then, when you go to the store, you are only buying the missing items, rather than the whole recipe's worth of ingredients.

When you get home, organize your supplies by dish and get cooking!  Not everything has to be a complete dish.  FishMama also freezes parts of meals that are better when fresh.  She has recipes for pizza dough, which can be frozen in balls, then baked fresh and shredded chicken, which she marinates, cooks and shreds, then freezes to add to fresh veggies later. 

Once the cooking is done, divide dishes into single dinner portions and freeze.  All you have to do after that is take out the meal you want to eat the night before so it has time to thaw out before you need it.  Add a side of fresh veggies and you have a quick and healthy meal even on a busy night.

This weekend, we will be doing some holiday preparations like getting our tree (yay!), but I'm hoping to get started on this as well. I'll let you know how it goes.