I'm finished with my second weekend of freezer cooking...

[Tracy in Ky]

I thought I would post some pics of what I made this weekend! I am using BPA free (ZipLock Brand) freezer bags and Glad Cling wrap (which is supposed to be safer) when the bags or wrap touch the food. I'm still experimenting with freezer meals, and I am exhausted, but my first session of freezer cooking (a couple of weeks agao) was such a success, I am hooked! :D (some of the pictures are in the next comment--there were too many pictures for this message).

 

 

Bean and Chicken Burritos

 

 

 

Pizzas

 

 

 

Chicken Hawaiian and brown rice

 

 

 

Twice baked potatoes

 

 

 

Sweet potato pie filling

 

 

 

Meatballs

 

 

 

Pasta Parmesan Supreme

 

(more in the next comment...)

[Tracy in Ky]

 

Chicken Tetrazzini

 

 

 

Mashed potatoes

 

 

 

Chicken Fried Rice (yummy!) (I added this one late--I had forgotten to take a picture of it lol)

 

 

I am eager to find more side dish recipes. I have a lot to learn, but it is fun! :)

Edited August 22, 2010 by Tracy in Ky

[justamouse]

wait, wait, wait!

 

What is this and how do you do it? I could totally get into this.

[JVA]

Wow- you've been busy and I'm impressed. I used to do this when ALL our kids were in the elementary/middle school ages and we ran to soccer/music practice a lot. It sure saves time, doesn't it?

Did you find the BPA-free bags at the grocery store? I'll have to hunt for them.

[MyBlueLobsters]

wait, wait, wait!

 

What is this and how do you do it? I could totally get into this.

 

:iagree::iagree:

[StephanieZ]

I love, love, love OAMC cooking. I started 5 years ago after hearing about it here, and it is now just a way of life. We eat better, our lives are calmer, our evenings smoother, and it is a great budget helper. Love, love, love it!

[rootsnwings]

LOVE it!!!! Let me ask though, why do you have your mashed potatoes in "cakes"?? I usually make 5lbs of potatoes at a time & put them in the glad freezer containers. 1 container = 1 meal's worth of taters for us.

 

Are the cakes just for per-portion servings? Neat idea! How did you get them all so perfect?

 

I'd LOVE if you shared your recipes & freezing tips!!!! The burritos, hawaiian chicken & rice (how do you freeze rice?!), twice baked potatoes--my crew would love ALL that!!!!

 

I *really* need to get back into stocking the freezer again...it really is SUCH a good use of time and takes all the hassle out of meal time (especially during school/soccer season when I want to come home and NOT have to cook a full meal to feed us...it's usually me & the kids in the evening (DH works nights so he's asleep at dinnertime) and much prefer to have (healthy!) options in the freezer rather than the prepackaged junk from the grocery store!!!

 

Thanks for bringing this up & sharing your photos. Too Awesome!! :D

[cougarmom4]

Great job! I love seeing the pictures. I *love* when my freezer is full! Would you mind sharing some recipes of the things you did?

 

Did you cook your pizzas first? or are they ready to be cooked?

[LibraryLover]

That's pretty cool. :)

[mom2denj]

:bigear:

[5knights3maidens]

Cool!

We have been freezing food also. I've made zucchini breads, boiled, cut, and bagged at least 500 and more ears of corn, made 12 gallons of spaghetti sauce, gluten free/dairy free banana breads, canned cucumbers/pickles. I'm waiting for apples to do apple pie filling. All the corn, zucchini, tomatoes and cucumbers were free!

[Tracy in Ky]

To research this, just google Once a Month Cooking, Freezer Meals, Dinner Kits (from Savingdinner.com), Freezer Cooking, and 30 Day Gourmet. There is a lot of information online. Be sure and check Youtube also; there are videos available there.

 

My favorite cookbook so far for this is Sue Gregg's Meals in Minutes. She has very healthy recipes and so far, most of them are yummy.

 

Here is a video for the pizza that I made (I added whole wheat flour). This is part one. Part two will come up in the sidebar.

 

 

Here is a link to the pizza recipe...

 

http://www.freezerdinner.com/recipes/making-frozen-pizza/

 

The crust is baked at 500 degrees for 4 minutes, then a layer of cheese is added while the crust is hot. The cheese seals the crust so the sauce doesn't make the crust soggy!

 

I put the mashed potatoes in a muffin tin lined with Glad Wrap. After they froze, I popped them out. I like the small servings so that I can thaw exactly what we need, and so the kids can eat them as snacks. My dc love mashed potatoes. The burritos are wrapped individually too; they are great snacks for the kids. I have learned to make my refried beans from scratch, and to season my own taco meat so that there is no MSG in there!

 

Yes, the BPA free bags are at WalMart. The Ziplock brand is the only one that I am aware of. It says "BPA free on the box." I learned about the safe bags and wrap from Sue Gregg. :)

[Tracy in Ky]

Here is a wonderful demonstration of Dinner Kits by Leanne from Savingdinner.com. Part one is linked, part two should come up in the sidebar...

 

[Guest janainaz]

That is so great! I used to cook with my stepmom for an entire day and help her make freezer meals. I really need to do that myself. I'm now inspired to do it. :001_smile:

[rootsnwings]

THANKS for all the links, Tracy!! Do you have the recipe for the chicken fried rice? That looks SOOOOOO Yummy!!! :bigear:

[Katiebug_1976]

I just have to say you have inspired me to take up freezer cooking again! You pictures are awesome! I can't wait to get started again. Thanks for the links & book/recipes suggestions, too.

[Amber in AUS]

Thankyou so much for sharing. I am so inspired. With a new baby on the way and a house that will be crazy due to the festive season this kind of thing is exactly what i need. Off to do more research now :)

[Remudamom]

I want a report on the potatoes. I can't seem to freeze them nicely.

[tennismomkelly]

I really need to do this. Everything looks so yummy in your pictures! Hmmm, now the wheels are turning in my head....

[Jean in Newcastle]

I've put a hold on the Sue Gregg book.:)

[DianeW88]

I've done this for 15 years (ever since Mimi Wilson...author of OAMC...did a seminar at the CO homeschool convention) and it is a LIFESAVER!! Could not live without my freezer full of meals and my Crockpot. Your food looks lovely and don't you just do a little happy dance every morning when you know dinner is ALREADY MADE for the day??? :D :D :D

 

Diane W.

married for 22 years

homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

[wulfbourne]

I love the idea, but I've never been able to make it work in my house. We have a tiny freezer and because it's a small townhouse there isn't anyplace for a big deep freezer. :( I've thought about doing it weekly, I might even be able to manage bi-weekly, but I can't fit a months worth of food in the freezer. Part of why I've wanted to learn canning. I can figure out someplace to put canned stuff, just not frozen.

 

I'm curious though, how well does the pasta hold up? For some reason it seems like that wouldn't work very well.

[Caraway]

I just started doing this again. I love it! I feel so.... prepared! :lol:

 

THANKS for all the links, Tracy!! Do you have the recipe for the chicken fried rice? That looks SOOOOOO Yummy!!! :bigear:

 

I would love the fried rice recipe too!

 

 

I love the idea, but I've never been able to make it work in my house. We have a tiny freezer and because it's a small townhouse there isn't anyplace for a big deep freezer. :( I've thought about doing it weekly, I might even be able to manage bi-weekly, but I can't fit a months worth of food in the freezer. Part of why I've wanted to learn canning. I can figure out someplace to put canned stuff, just not frozen.

 

I'm curious though, how well does the pasta hold up? For some reason it seems like that wouldn't work very well.

 

Our freezer is quite small right now. I have found that I can still get a lot of stuff frozen that REALLY helps. For example freezing the sauce for "pasta bake" so that the night I bake that I thaw the sauce, make the pasta and assemble to bake. So it isn't TOTALLY all done in the freezer but it cuts dinner prep from an hour (and a trip to the store) to 15 min. Small freezable things would include sauces, marinates, pre-cut peppers for fajitas, pesto, little baggies of cooked ground beef and onions to put into other dishes, herbs, pre-measured bags of flours for breads, etc...

[Joyofsixreboot]

Great job! I do this and it keeps me sane.

[Danestress]

because I rolled and froze 28 chicken and vegetable burritos and put away 3 frozen mac and cheese casseroles. But I am in awe. You have worked very hard and your product looks so orderly and neat.

[hsmom3tn]

Thank you ladies for all the ideas, links, and pics!

 

I really need to start doing this. Since I've been working outside the home, my family is having to fend for themselves a lot more and this would be so much better than all the pre-packaged stuff that's in our freezer right now. :tongue_smilie:

[Anke]

Thankyou so much for sharing. I am so inspired. With a new baby on the way and a house that will be crazy due to the festive season this kind of thing is exactly what i need. Off to do more research now :)

 

 

If you have someone hosting a baby shower for you, the hostess could suggest guests bring a freezer meal or casserole that could be freezed. I really appreciated the meals I received from our church when my kids were born, but I really like having ready-made meals on hand that I can just pop in the oven or microwave. The crock pot is my next favorite cooking method.

[Amber in AUS]

If you have someone hosting a baby shower for you, the hostess could suggest guests bring a freezer meal or casserole that could be freezed. I really appreciated the meals I received from our church when my kids were born, but I really like having ready-made meals on hand that I can just pop in the oven or microwave. The crock pot is my next favorite cooking method.

 

Great idea, thanks Anke :)

[rootsnwings]

Tracy, I would also LOVE to hear your MSG-free suggestions for the taco seasoning (and the fried rice & meatballs too!) Those are our biggies for MSG and if I could figure out a way to make them taste good without all the crap in them, that would be fabulous!! :D

[Lucy in Australia]

Oh, PLEASE, can you come to my house and do this? ;)

 

Thank you for posting this. You have re-inspired me; before the baby was born I was doing this (on a smaller scale) and it was such a life-saver. Then I got too tired - ok, ok, too lazy- and now I’m regretting it. Time to take control of dinner times again.

[4kiddies]

Don't panic, Dinners in the Freezer is another great cookbook and the blogger LifeasMom does freezer cooking and she always has posts about it if you need some inspiration. She also does freezer breakfasts!

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Wow! That's a lot of work! Very impressive. And inspiring!

[ChrissySC]

I noticed a few posts on how some stopped doing this and many could never make this work. I do a version of freezer cooking. I call it double cooking. We buy the largest bags of items, such as chicken, hamburger meat, pork chops, sausage, et cetera. Whenever I cook one meal, I cook a second. Truly, you are already making dinner and to make a second dinner of the same things is a breeze!

 

For example, I am making meatloaf. I only need to double the recipe and make two. I use all frozen veggies, like corn, beans, and peas that are organic and flash frozen (ty Cosco), which I buy in large bags to prevent the waste of opening two cans when I need 1 and 1/2. To cook a potatoe does not take that much time, therefore, I do not freeze potatoes.

 

For pasta, I am making sauce with ground meat. If I am making fresh sauce, I make a larger pot, let half cool and place in a plastic container. I do not add the ground meat to the fresh sauce because I might use it for something else, LOL. If I am using a jar sauce, I brown twice the meat, and I place half of the meat in a ziploc after it has cooled.

 

Doing the double cooking, your freezer grows quickly. This is fantastic on the couple of days we do gymnastics, swim lessons, Girl Scouts, or get interested in science and history. Great for the days I get called into work too!

[StaceyJeannette]

I've been wanting to try this for years, now I have that urge again. Thanks for the pics!

[DarcyB]

I'm a batch-cooker more than OAMC. So if I'm doing tacos one night, I make up 3 meals worth, and freeze the excess to store. If I'm doing meatloaf, I make up 3-4 meals worth, do them in small loaves, and freeze the excess.

 

I tried OAMC a few times, but found that I just prefer the batch cooking method more, and our freezer stays a bit more diverse. But it all sure does help during busy times of life...and keeps us from going through the drive-thru so much!

[Tracy in Ky]

I will post my Chicken Fried Rice recipe this afternoon, as well as the ingredients for seasoning taco meat and refried beans (although I didn't 'fry' them :) )

 

As for the pasta holding up, I had great success with it from my previous freezer meal session. I think two things contributed to the success: I used whole wheat pasta, and I undercooked it before freezing. Whole wheat pasta is a little more dense and coarse, so that may be why it held up so well. Also, undercooking keeps it firm and allows it to withstand the stress of freezing and reheating. It was perfect for us :)

 

I am still very much in the experimenting and learning stage with this. But so far my family loves the meals and that is so encouraging to me! And I am thrilled to be able to make healthy meals. We try to eat very healthy, and for some reason I was always under the impression that frozen meals had to be full of unhealthy items...white flour, canned soups, etc. I am finding that there are very healthy ways to do this.

 

For example, the fried rice has fresh asparagus, fresh zucchini, frozen peas, eggs from our hens, coconut oil, brown rice, our home-raised chicken meat, fresh ginger root, and naturally brewed soy sauce (the 'healthy' soy sauce). (I'll put the recipe up later this afternoon). That is a very healthy meal, and it tastes so yummy!

 

We love sweet potato pie, and I have adapted the recipe to make it very healthy. Sweet potatoes continue to sweeten while in storage. We harvest ours in the fall, store them in the basement, and eat on them all year. The potatoes are so sweet that each pie has less than 1/4 cup of sugar! By adding some butter (not margarine), vanilla, cinnamon, fresh healthy eggs, and milk, I have created a very comforting, warm vegetable dish that is disguised as a desert! :D I don't see why store-bought sweet potatoes couldn't be stored to cure/sweeten as well. The filling freezes beautifully; I tried it during my last cooking session.

 

I am eager to learn all the tips and tricks I can; thanks for all the suggestions!

Edited August 22, 2010 by Tracy in Ky

[unsinkable]

I will post my Chicken Fried Rice recipe this afternoon, as well as the ingredients for seasoning taco meat and refried beans (although I didn't 'fry' them :) )

 

As for the pasta holding up, I had great success with it from my previous freezer meal session. I think two things contributed to the success: I used whole wheat pasta, and I undercooked it before freezing. Whole wheat pasta is a little more dense and coarse, so that may be why it held up so well. Also, undercooking keeps it firm and allows it to withstand the stress of freezing and reheating. It was perfect for us :)

 

I am still very much in the experimenting and learning stage with this. But so far my family loves the meals and that is so encouraging to me! And I am thrilled to be able to make healthy meals. We try to eat very healthy, and for some reason I was always under the impression that frozen meals had to be full of unhealthy items...white flour, canned soups, etc. I am finding that there are very healthy ways to do this.

 

For example, the fried rice has fresh asparagas, fresh zucchini, frozen peas, eggs from our hens, coconut oil, brown rice, our home-raised chicken meat, fresh ginger root, and naturally brewed soy sauce (the 'healthy' soy sauce). (I'll put the recipe up later this afternoon). That is a very healthy meal, and it tastes so yummy!

 

We love sweet potato pie, and I have adapted the recipe to make it very healthy. Sweet potatoes continue to sweeten while in storage. We harvest ours in the fall, store them in the basement, and eat on them all year. The potatoes are so sweet that each pie has less than 1/4 cup of sugar! By adding some butter (not margarine), vanilla, cinnamon, fresh healthy eggs, and milk, I have created a very comforting, warm vegetable dish that is disguised as a desert! :D I don't see why store-bought sweet potatoes couldn't be stored to cure/sweeten as well. The filling freezes beautifully; I tried it during my last cooking session.

 

I am eager to learn all the tips and tricks I can; thanks for all the suggestions!

 

I am drooling reading about the sweet potatoes!

[Tammyla]

I loved the pictures, Tracy. I'm inspired to pull out my cookbooks and think about starting something. I'm pretty good at cooking and freezing a few things, but to well stock a freezer with delicious, healthy meals would be a blessing many nights.

 

I under cook my frozen spinach lasagna with excellent reheating success here too.

 

I will post my Chicken Fried Rice recipe this afternoon, as well as the ingredients for seasoning taco meat and refried beans (although I didn't 'fry' them :) )

 

As for the pasta holding up, I had great success with it from my previous freezer meal session. I think two things contributed to the success: I used whole wheat pasta, and I undercooked it before freezing. Whole wheat pasta is a little more dense and coarse, so that may be why it held up so well. Also, undercooking keeps it firm and allows it to withstand the stress of freezing and reheating. It was perfect for us :)

 

I am still very much in the experimenting and learning stage with this. But so far my family loves the meals and that is so encouraging to me! And I am thrilled to be able to make healthy meals. We try to eat very healthy, and for some reason I was always under the impression that frozen meals had to be full of unhealthy items...white flour, canned soups, etc. I am finding that there are very healthy ways to do this.

 

For example, the fried rice has fresh asparagas, fresh zucchini, frozen peas, eggs from our hens, coconut oil, brown rice, our home-raised chicken meat, fresh ginger root, and naturally brewed soy sauce (the 'healthy' soy sauce). (I'll put the recipe up later this afternoon). That is a very healthy meal, and it tastes so yummy!

 

We love sweet potato pie, and I have adapted the recipe to make it very healthy. Sweet potatoes continue to sweeten while in storage. We harvest ours in the fall, store them in the basement, and eat on them all year. The potatoes are so sweet that each pie has less than 1/4 cup of sugar! By adding some butter (not margarine), vanilla, cinnamon, fresh healthy eggs, and milk, I have created a very comforting, warm vegetable dish that is disguised as a desert! :D I don't see why store-bought sweet potatoes couldn't be stored to cure/sweeten as well. The filling freezes beautifully; I tried it during my last cooking session.

 

I am eager to learn all the tips and tricks I can; thanks for all the suggestions!

[posybuddy]

Ohhh, your fried rice sounds so yummy! I usually just cook the Chicken Fried Rice recipe in the 30 Day Gourmet book, and my boys like it, but it's very... basic.

 

I chuckled at finding this thread this morning; I spent last night putting together a list of what I want to make on my next cooking day (including fried rice, burritos and twice-baked potatoes, lol!), and for a brief moment was toying with doing OAMC breakfasts and lunches, as well. Then I regained my senses. :D

 

Your meals look terrific! I know what a lot of work went into getting them prepared - you've been busy! Isn't it great when you have a freezer full of dinners? Then on busy school days you can just pull something out - no stress, no kitchen full of dirty dishes, no McDonald's or Banquet frozen dinners. Aaaah.

[DarcyB]

I love the idea, but I've never been able to make it work in my house. We have a tiny freezer and because it's a small townhouse there isn't anyplace for a big deep freezer. :( I've thought about doing it weekly, I might even be able to manage bi-weekly, but I can't fit a months worth of food in the freezer. Part of why I've wanted to learn canning. I can figure out someplace to put canned stuff, just not frozen.

 

I'm curious though, how well does the pasta hold up? For some reason it seems like that wouldn't work very well.

 

You can seriously do it in even a tiny freezer. You don't have to do 30 meals, but you can do as many as you can fit it. Or do the harder, time consuming steps, freeze those, and have meal-starters all ready! One of the biggest space savers is to freeze everything flat (in freezer safe zip-top bags, preferably BPA-free), and then stack them or file them like records. That way, you can stuff a ton of meals into your freezer and not take up a ton of space. (and get rid of the ice cream LOL)

 

Pasta does well if you make sure to undercook it and keep it covered in sauce.

[Ellyndria]

Tracy, I would also LOVE to hear your MSG-free suggestions for the taco seasoning (and the fried rice & meatballs too!) Those are our biggies for MSG and if I could figure out a way to make them taste good without all the crap in them, that would be fabulous!! :D

 

 

I'm not Tracy, but here is a taco seasoning recipe that I use and like. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Taco-Seasoning-I/Detail.aspx

I use it for other things too.. I like seasoning chili with it.

[Giraffe]

I really want to do this idea, but DH is absolutely opposed. He wants "fresh" meals when he comes home, not freezer meals. And he's diabetic and feels that freezer meals are not good for him and his diet. We just had a long conversation about this, where I tried to explain why I wanted to do *some* freezer cooking just to make life easier on days when I spend the whole day in the car driving from this lesson to that errand and back again.

 

He's ok with my frozen spinach lasagna, and with uncooked Turkish meatballs that I cook before serving, but as for the rest, he resists. Horribly. Makes faces - even if he likes it (he doesn't realize he's making a face, I just can read him well). I don't know what to do.

 

Any ideas from the experts?

[Tammyla]

You might try a weekly plan, shop, prep and cook method.

 

I really want to do this idea, but DH is absolutely opposed. He wants "fresh" meals when he comes home, not freezer meals. And he's diabetic and feels that freezer meals are not good for him and his diet. We just had a long conversation about this, where I tried to explain why I wanted to do *some* freezer cooking just to make life easier on days when I spend the whole day in the car driving from this lesson to that errand and back again.

 

He's ok with my frozen spinach lasagna, and with uncooked Turkish meatballs that I cook before serving, but as for the rest, he resists. Horribly. Makes faces - even if he likes it (he doesn't realize he's making a face, I just can read him well). I don't know what to do.

 

Any ideas from the experts?

[Julie in CA]

I really want to do this idea, but DH is absolutely opposed. He wants "fresh" meals when he comes home, not freezer meals. And he's diabetic and feels that freezer meals are not good for him and his diet. We just had a long conversation about this, where I tried to explain why I wanted to do *some* freezer cooking just to make life easier on days when I spend the whole day in the car driving from this lesson to that errand and back again.

 

He's ok with my frozen spinach lasagna, and with uncooked Turkish meatballs that I cook before serving, but as for the rest, he resists. Horribly. Makes faces - even if he likes it (he doesn't realize he's making a face, I just can read him well). I don't know what to do.

 

Any ideas from the experts?

Gosh, I can't imagine...how would he even know??

I wouldn't lie about it, I just wouldn't point it out. I'd quietly put away a few things in the freezer that you think he'd like if you made it "fresh", and then on the day I needed it, I'd quietly thaw it out, put it in the crockpot or pan, then throw away the "evidence" of my crime before he saw the bags & such. :D

I'd probably start out by doing it on days when I was home all day, so it wouldn't be obvious I hadn't put the time in that day. Once dh had been acclimated (sp?) to eating and liking a particular dish, I'd worry less about whether or not he knew I'd been freezing it the whole time.

[posybuddy]

I really want to do this idea, but DH is absolutely opposed. He wants "fresh" meals when he comes home, not freezer meals. And he's diabetic and feels that freezer meals are not good for him and his diet. We just had a long conversation about this, where I tried to explain why I wanted to do *some* freezer cooking just to make life easier on days when I spend the whole day in the car driving from this lesson to that errand and back again.

 

He's ok with my frozen spinach lasagna, and with uncooked Turkish meatballs that I cook before serving, but as for the rest, he resists. Horribly. Makes faces - even if he likes it (he doesn't realize he's making a face, I just can read him well). I don't know what to do.

 

Any ideas from the experts?

 

What about dinner kit or "dump" recipes, where you put the ingredients in a ziploc bag, but don't do the actual cooking until dinnertime? That way a lot of your prep is done, but the food is still fresh. Marinades work really well for this - put meat in bag, put marinade in bag, seal tightly, freeze. Then pull out the morning you want to serve it, the meat thaws and marinates simultaneously, grill at dinnertime. You can do this with baked meat, as well - chicken breasts/salsa for instance; freeze them in the bag, thaw them in the morning, put in a baking dish and top with cheese, bake.

 

I also make up a huge batch of pizza crust dough, divide it up and freeze it in rounds (well - flattened discs for stacking). Pull it out in the morning and let it thaw, roll it out sometime in the afternoon and let it rise, top it and bake it at dinner time. That way our pizza is really fresh, and it takes up less space in my freezer.

 

You could have pasta sauces (meat sauce, alfredo sauce) frozen ahead of time as well, and just thaw it and cook dinner up fresh; this gives you the ability to include fresh vegetables in your pasta dish, as well.

 

Do you think he'd be okay with that?

[Julie in CA]

Yes, the BPA free bags are at WalMart. The Ziplock brand is the only one that I am aware of. It says "BPA free on the box." I learned about the safe bags and wrap from Sue Gregg. :)

Some freezer meals are less appetizing looking when they're frozen. Your stuff looks great!

 

I just wanted to mention one more thing about the wrapping. There's one more option that's a bit less expensive over time than the plastic wrap, but also healthy & convenient. At a restaurant supply, you can buy a box of paper sandwich wraps. They're individual squares of something like waxed paper, and you can use them in place of plastic wrap for wrapping burritos, and you can also freeze your pizzas on a sheet, then stack them with a paper in between each one in the ziplock. They're the same paper squares that some mexican food places use to line their little plastic baskets of tortilla chips.

It's a bit pricier initial investment, but a box will last forever, and you'll find yourself using them for more and more things. I line the bottom of pans with them in place of more expensive parchment, I use them on the counter under my cheese grater so I don't have to wash another cutting board, etc.

[hornblower]

Pasta does well if you make sure to undercook it and keep it covered in sauce.

 

Thanks for the pasta tip - I'm eager to try that one.

 

The only things I've done so far are soups. I do freeze them flat in bags but I have a problem reheating them!

 

I don't have a problem with using the microwave but I won't cook in plastic.

 

So - is the other part of this plan that I have to be organized enough to take the food out in the morning? Will it thaw in the fridge during the day enough to break up the bricks to put in a pot?

 

And similarly, how would you reheat a pasta & sauce dish?

 

thx everyone!

 

p.s. School is starting mid-Sep for us & THIS year is the year I'll going to be really really organized :lol: .. The fact that my curriculum hasn't arrived, I haven't cleaned out our study spaces & we're not done our renovations & we haven't finished ANY of the kids' summer projects are valid concerns though.....:lol:

[Jean in Newcastle]

p.s. School is starting mid-Sep for us & THIS year is the year I'll going to be really really organized :lol: .. The fact that my curriculum hasn't arrived, I haven't cleaned out our study spaces & we're not done our renovations & we haven't finished ANY of the kids' summer projects are valid concerns though.....:lol:

 

Same here - down to not being anywhere near to getting organized. . .:D

[justamouse]

I love, love, love OAMC cooking. I started 5 years ago after hearing about it here, and it is now just a way of life. We eat better, our lives are calmer, our evenings smoother, and it is a great budget helper. Love, love, love it!

 

That's it. I must do this.

[posybuddy]

So - is the other part of this plan that I have to be organized enough to take the food out in the morning? Will it thaw in the fridge during the day enough to break up the bricks to put in a pot?

 

And similarly, how would you reheat a pasta & sauce dish?

 

 

 

I try (don't always succeed) to make Tomorrow's Dinner part of my daily dinner prep - while I'm putting something in the oven, making a salad, etc, I look in the freezer for tomorrow night's dinnner, pull it out and put it in the fridge overnight. I might check on it at noon on the day I want to serve it; if it's not sufficiently thawed I'll pull it out to sit on the counter for a couple of hours.

 

If I forget, well, it's probably going to be scrambled eggs for dinner. ;)

 

The pasta/sauce dish (assuming pasta and sauce have been frozen together), I would thaw, put in a casserole dish and bake. If sauce has been frozen separately, I would cook the pasta and reheat the sauce on the stovetop or in the microwave. In the summer, if I've done any freezer cooking it's more likely to be meat frozen in marinade so that I'm not heating up the house.

 

I haven't put a month's worth of meals up for quite some time; with the school year almost on us, it is definitely time!