Freezer Meals - Part 4

The Essentials

The Supplies In order to preserve the meals there are some essential items that you should keep stocked in your house. I try to keep a surplus of these supplies;

1. Aluminum Foil.
2. Plastic Wrap.
3. Freezer Bags.
4. Disposable Dishes - I don't generally use these for our own meals. I like to keep something in the freezer just in case a friend is in need, or for Paul at work. Having it in a disposable dish means the friend can just toss the dish when the meal is gone or that Paul doesn't need to worry about keeping track of dishes on the road.
   

You will also need a permanent marker, and labels can come in handy for writing special instructions on, but aren't necessary. When you prepare a meal you have several options to choose from for freezing and storing.

• For individual items, such as cookies or a burrito, consider assembling or forming the item and freezing it on a plate or tray, not touching any of the other like items. Once the items are frozen you can transfer all the like items to a freezer bag. This makes it easy to pull out the desired amount when you are ready to cook.
• If you choose to use a freezer bag make sure you get out as much air as possible from the bag.
• If you use plastic wrap and/or aluminum foil make sure to press it as tightly as you can against the food. A great dish-saving idea is to line a casserole dish with foil and then plastic wrap, making sure to leave plenty hanging over the edgers. Pour your meal into the dish and then secure the plastic wrap and foil tightly around the food. Freeze the meal, and once solid remove the food from the dish. The food will go back in the freezer and your dish will be freed up for other purposes.

You will want to consider portion sizes when you prepare your meals for the freezer. Do you want to freeze in sizes just right for your family? Freeze individual portions? Or freeze enough for company too? I work with all three portion sizes on a regular basis.

Freezer Meals - Part 1; OAMC Why It Isn't For Us
Freezer Meals - Part 2; Freezer Cooking Why It Is For Us
Freezer Meals - Part 3; What's In Our Freezer

Next: Freezer Meals - Part 5; Practical Tips From Mimi Wilson

Freezer Meals - Part 3

What's In Our Freezer

Most foods are able to freeze well. There are of course exceptions. We prefer freshly made rice over a frozen rice casserole, but other than that we haven't encountered any issues with anything we have frozen. And we do still freeze rice casseroles, they still taste good from frozen! If you are considering freezing something that you aren't sure of how it will do just Google it.

From the extensive reading I have done on the subject there isn't one answer on the best way to thaw food prior to cooking it. I generally stick the frozen meal or item in a preheated oven and that works well for me. If you want to know about a specific food item and thawing it then Google it. There are so many sites devoted to freezing meals and you will find a wealth of information. Here is a list of prepared meals or food items we currently have in our freezer or that we have recently had in our freezer, hopefully they will inspire you to try making extra for your own freezer.

Breakfast

• French Toast - multiply your favorite recipe and prepare as normal. Individually freeze*. When you are ready to eat simply pull it out of the freezer and place in the toaster.
• Same as French Toast, but defrost in microwave.
  
• Cinnamon Rolls - make cinnamon rolls up until the step before cooking. Either individually freeze or freeze in a pan. Cook from a frozen state at 350F until done. We have also frozen these pre-cooked and then microwaved them. They are good this way too.
  

Lunch or Dinners

• Falafel - once the balls are formed place in freezer bag. To cook pull desired amount from bag and either bake or fry until done.
• Chicken & Rice Casserole - cook everything and mix together either in a large freezer bag or in a casserole dish. When ready to eat pull from freezer and pour a can of chicken broth over the entire dish. Cook until heated thoroughly. I find that pouring the broth over the rice keeps it from going dry.
• Shepherds Pie - cook and assemble as you normally would and then freeze. Cook until heated thoroughly.
  
• Pizza - I have only ever made my pizza and cooked it before freezing it, and then heated it in the microwave. This worked well, but from what I read isn't the normal way of preparing a pizza. Google it if you want success stories from others. I wrap mine in Plastic wrap.
  
• Burrito filling - prepare and then freeze in freezer bags. Thaw in hot water and then heat before serving with tortillas and fixings.
  
• Taco Meat - same as above.
  
• Pulled BBQ Chicken - same as above, but serve on buns.
  
• Calzones - prepare and cook. Individually wrap and freeze.
• Beef Stroganoff - prepare and cook. Freeze. Thaw and heat thoroughly and serve with egg noodles.
  

Desserts/Treats

• Chocolate Chip Cookies - prepare in a large batch and individually freeze. Store in freezer bag. Cook from frozen at 350 F for about 12-15 minutes.
• Spice Cookies - same as above, with slightly less cooking time.
  
• Apple Crisp - prepare in dish and wrap with aluminum foil. Cook from frozen at 350 F until done.
  

*Individual Freezing - lay out each individual item on a plate or cookie sheet and place in the freezer until solid. This will only take a couple of hours. Transfer to a freezer bag.

To help me keep track of what items are worth stocking up on when they are on sale I keep a running list (currently it is mainly in my head - it will make its way to paper eventually) of the normal price for an item, a common sale price for the item and also the "rock bottom" price for the item; or, in other words, the cheapest price I have ever paid for the item. If the item is at "rock bottom" then I stock up. I try to not be in a position where I am having to buy things at 'regular' sale price. And I do everything I can to avoid paying regular price for an item. Being flexible goes a long way to make this work!

Freezer Meals - Part 1; Why OAMC Isn't For Us
Freezer Meals - Part 2; Freezer Cooking - Why It Is For Us

Next: Freezer Meals - Part 4; The Essentials

Freezer Meals - Part 2

Freezer Cooking - Why It Is For Us

Freezer and batch cooking may very well be a sanity-saver, as well as a money saver, for busy couples, families and singles. If you currently are making your own meals than you can do this with minimal extra effort, money and time.

As I touched on before I believe that having a second freezer is essential to maximize your money saving abilities. It is also going to be a huge, huge help if you would like to do freezer meals and batch cooking. We bought a large upright freezer in near-new condition for $75 on www.craigslist.com. If you are uncomfortable buying second hand then check the 'scratch and dent' section of your local appliance stores. The size of your household and how fully you want to embrace freezer cooking will help you to determine the size of freezer you should get.

Freezer Meals and Batch Cooking works so well because you are simply multiplying what you are already making. When we make one batch of cookies it takes very little effort to triple the recipe and make three batches - we then freeze all the extras for last minute hosting or when we feel like snacking.
That is where the sanity saving part of it comes in. Having meals prepared and ready to pull out and heat at the end of a hectic day is marvelous!

To save money you simply make freezer meals or prepare batches of the things you find on sale at your store. For example, I once found boneless skinless chicken breast for $1/lb. I bought 10lbs of it and seasoned and baked some of it to use on salads or in wraps, made some into a casserole and cooked the rest in the crockpot for pulled BBQ chicken. I pulled out enough to use for supper that night and the next night, and then the rest went into meal sized portions for the freezer. It took very little effort to make 15 or so nights worth of meals as opposed to just that nights' meal. We face a few unique challenges in our home, and we have found having food ready in the freezer is the solution to these challenges.

1. Last minute company. We like company. In fact we kinda love company and often decide to have people over at the last minute. Having both larger-sized meals and baked items in the freezer means that within one hour I can have a hot meal on the table or freshly baked items to serve without having to spend any money.
2. Paul traveling. Paul travels a lot with work, and I always try to send food with him to eat so he can eat better and save some money. Sometimes we are given short notice that he'll be traveling and I don't have anything in the house to send with him other than prepared smaller portion freezer meals that I can heat up, pack up and send with him.
3. Lazy or Sick Days. These days seem to happen frequently around here lately! It is a situation that would normally be overwhelmingly tempting to get in the car and get take out or eat out somewhere, but having yummy meals sitting in the freezer solves the "what should I make for dinner?" dilemma.
   
4. Grocery Budget. We stick to a monthly grocery budget - no matter how good the deals we don't spend more than our alloted monthly money. All of the meals and food in our freezer have come from previous months' alloted allowance for groceries. Sometimes when we are trying to save a bit more money to pay off unexpected bills we cut back on the current months' grocery budget and "live" out of our freezer for "free."
5. Sale Shopper. I plan almost all of our meals around what is on sale at the grocery stores, having that flexibility allows for great money saving opportunities. Meat is our biggest grocery expense, and it is also what I stock up on when I find it for 50% off or more. I am usually only able to find one type of meat on Managers Special at a time - if I were to feed us on that one type of meat until the next time I found another type of meat on sale we'd get bored and so sick of the meat! Having the variety of meals in the freezers lets me choose from a variety of meats without having to count on it being on sale!

Freezer Meals - Part 1; Why OAMC Isn't For Us

Next: Freezer Meals - Part 3; What's In Our Freezer