Make Freezer Meals Easily
Deciding to make freezer meals will not only save you money, but it can also save you time as well. The money is saved by having food on hand that can be prepared instead of eating out. You save time because it doesn’t take but a few minutes longer to double a recipe and freeze half of it.
When I first learned about freezer cooking, I was introduced to once a month cooking (OAM). I purchased a menu from Saving Dinner by Leanne Ely and loved the organization of it. It had my grocery list and step by step instructions on what I was to chop up first and how I was to bag it up. The problem was that when I actually did those things – I was EXHAUSTED! I learned very quickly that it was not for me.
Then, right before I had the baby, I looked again at freezer cooking. I wanted to make sure I had some meals ready for after the baby was born so I didn’t have to cook. I’ve been a big fan of the Hillbilly Housewife for awhile now (it helped us get through some rough financial times) and she had sent out an email talking about how it would only take her a couple minutes longer to prepare a second lasagna and freeze it. I had to check out her Freezer Cooking Made Simple eBook because it sounded a lot more feasible to me.
I think the most important thing I learned was what types of ingredients freeze well and which ones don’t. From there, I used several of her recipes and doubled them and got them in the freezer. I also found some other recipes on the internet and have them lined up as well.
The first night I tried it, I was really amazed. It was a little tricky cooking twice as much hamburger, and I had to cook two pots of noodles – but after I assembled everything I had this sense of accomplishment.
And just for the record – my favorite recipe so far is the Pizza Pasta Casserole. It was cheap, easy and quick to cook and best of all – my picky 4 year old ate it!
So anyhow, if the thought of once a month cooking turns you off, I would highly recommend trying this method. Look for recipes online (it is also sometimes called cook once, eat twice), get the eBook – whatever you’d like. It really doesn’t take much longer and you won’t have to eat out on the nights when you’re too tired to cook – instead you can just grab something from the freezer!
Click here to get your own copy of Freezer Cooking Made Simple.
have you tried putting them into single serving containers? I would imagine that that would make this an even more attractive idea.
(aka, the night you & hubby want meal A, the 4yo is insisting on meal B)
I do that all the time. When I make a meal, I always make more food than needed and then freeze the leftovers. Can’t do it with all meals, but they are great to reheat when you don’t feel like cooking.
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In envy your organizational skills. We routinely freeze leftovers but they seem to get banished to the back of the freezer for eons to come. But when we make a big batch of homemade soup or chili, freezing is a great way to re-enjoy the mouthwatering goodies without all the fuss.
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The most important value of freezer meals is not only the savings but more importantly the time you save from having to cook a meal. When I cook I usually cook more than enough so I’ll have some leftover for the next day.
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wow…this post exactly suits a person like me who always run short of time….thanks for the valauble information
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I always make more food than I need and then freeze it for leftovers. I do not like cooking that much and reheating the frozen foods is easy.
I love freezer meals! With kids, it is so important. It saves money and time. I totally swear by it!
A couple other suggestions. You can cook a big ham or turkey and freeze the leftovers. Also for those that shop at Sam’s Club or one of those bulk warehouses you can buy items from their bakery like muffins in a large package and then freeze them in freezer bags. They will last many months this way, just take them out of the freezer, defrost them in a microwave and they taste as fresh as if they were just made.
It is good freeze the meal. It consume lots of time to cook food. And it is good to save time and money. It is easy too.
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Wonderful… It saves a lot of time and energy. With kids and office, freezer cooking can save a lot of time. Thanks for posting good recipes.
this really saves you those minutes for cooking you don´t have.
I too freeze my meals and i think its not even a timesaver – it also saves a good amount of money.
One of the easiest things I do is make an extra large mix of meatloaf. Than I usually put it in several cooking dishes – one I cook that day and then store the other couple dishes in the freezer. Which I can then remove and easily cook. What I’m experimenting with is a good way to store the extra meatloaf in plastic bags (for ease of storage) that could easily be removed from the freezer and placed in a oven contained and cooked.
great tips! I always keep leftover foods and use it as additional ingredients for another recipe.. really enjoy it!
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I used to live on my own and became an expert at freezing meals. My favorite was alway chilie. I would make a big pot on a Monday evening and have enough for 3 other portions.
Throughout the next week or I would have chilie and jacket potatoe, chilie and chips and chilie with rice. Lovely!
Freezer meals are great to have but they can make you a bit lazy when your out of stock. I prefer them for holiday meals. They are on hand, quick to prepare and extra juicy from soaking up juices.
The great thing about freezing meals is that it can be stored for a long period of time. If cooking, bagging, and placing the food in the fridge, it has be used up in a few days or it will go off. With frozen meals it can be stored for months, if that is what someone wants, just like uncooked frozen food can be preserved in a freezer for months at a time.
This sounds like an interesting idea, I’ll have to look further into it. So can you freeze any kind of foods, i.e. meats, dairy products, vegetables and fruits and still have a meal that will have a decent taste? I know that basically all bacteria and infectious parasites become dormant at freezing temperature, so it does make sense and seem logical. Also do you have any tips on how to store the foods in the freezer, such as, what containers to use? Thanks for the advice.
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Freezer meals are great to have but they can make you a bit lazy when your out of stock. I prefer them for holiday meals. They are on hand, quick to prepare and extra juicy from soaking up juices.