Thanks SO much for the inspiration! Began freezer cooking this AM

[MyBlueLobsters]

It's a family affair! We are taking a break for lunch, but we have already done

 

*3 bags of taco meat

*3 bags of plain ground hamburger for soups and chili

*1 bag of cheese and beef enchiladas

*1 meatloaf

*1 package meatballs

 

We have a turkey cooked to make turkey and cheese enchiladas, having plain turkey for soup. I have 2 chickens in the oven. Later we will shred it and make a few bags of BBQ shredded chicken, chicken quesadillas, spicy chicken. I am making 3 pizzas, pancakes, several batches of spanish rice and garlic rice. I am also making some chicken stirfry.

 

 

WHEW!!! If this works out well, we are planning on making it a monthly 'family day' I am SUPER excited! Thanks again for posting about this. I had never even considered it before.

[ma23peas]

I need help..we don't own a microwave...(it was either double oven or micro..I like baking so micro fell short!) how do you reheat all the frozen stuff in the oven? Can I reheat it in the crock pot?

 

I am committed to being out of debt (sans mortgage) in 19 months..we CAN do it, it just means sticking to a food budget...so wherever I can pre make meals and even have a schedule would be great...I plan on using the next two weeks to eating everything in my pantry/freezer and starting over...dh just got a bonus and it's a Best Buy gift card, figured we could go ahead and buy a deep freeze and start what you're doing, just not sure if it's practical on our on the go schedule and getting home nights sometimes at 7:30pm and needing to eat dinner! :)

thanks!!!!

Tara

[hornblower]

I asked about this because while I do have a microwave, I won't reheat anything in plastic & I don't have enough glass casserole thingies to store up a storm of food.

 

The solution seems to be to take things out the day before & thaw in fridge for 24h. So you've got to think one dinner ahead - as you're making today's dinner, take out tomorrow's. Then, when it's thawed a bit so that it comes out of the package, you can transfer to oven safe dishes or pots & reheat....

[StephanieZ]

I rarely use the microwave for our freezer meals.

 

The majority of casseroles, etc are thawed overnight in the fridge and then baked in the oven. The porkchop meals (chops+sauce in a bag) are thawed either overnight in the fridge or in warm water in an hour or so. . . then cooked in the skillet OR can go straight to a slow cooker. Some things (taquitos, seasoned green beans, etc) go straight from the freezer to the oven.

 

HTH

 

You definitely do not need a microwave to use OAMC cooking.

[StephanieZ]

The answers to "how do I store all this w/o a million glass pans?" can include (depending on your preference):

 

+ flash freeze items -- such as a pan of mashed potatoes or a casserole in a greased pan that you intend to later bake it in. . . After it is frozen, dip the pan in hot water for 60 seconds, then pop the entire frozen thing out of the pan (using a butter knife to pry it). Now you have a frozen hunk. You can either pop that into a freezer ziploc like I do. . . or, if you are averse to plastic, then wrap it in freezer paper. Now, into the freezer (labelled!). . .

 

+ Use plastic freezer bags or "disposable" plastic ware or pyrex w/plastic lid for liquidy items (stews, sauces, marinating meats). I love zipper freezer bags -- very space efficient. I also love Rubbermaid brand "disposable" containers.

 

+ Freeze casseroles in "disposable" aluminum pans. I use the square ones for my casseroles. When I am in a rush to fix dinner and forgot to thaw things in the fridge overnight, I pop the frozen casserole out when I want to bake them (ala flazsh freezing instructions above), and then stick them in a 8x8 (or is it 9x9 ?) glass pan for thawing in the micro + baking in the oven. This way, an unbaked casserole can go from freezer to baked in an hour or so. (If you have enough glass pans and freezer space, you could obviously have just frozen it in glass to begin with. . . But I often have 20 casseroles in the freezer at a time, and I don't have that many pans!)

 

+ Use freezer bags or large plasticware to store items like taquitos, enchiladas, baked goods, etc.

 

++ For a zero-plastic kitchen: For anything except liquidy items, you can substitute *properly folded/wrapped* freezer paper for freezer bags or plasticware. For liquidy items, use pyrex.

 

++ Properly folded freezer paper completely seals the food. .. You essentially wrap things like a fancy-wrapped gift, double folding all the edges. I think the boxes have instructions, but if they do not, the google it! I personally also duct tape all the edges, lol.

[MyBlueLobsters]

I plan on reheating everything either in a crockpot or baking it in the oven. We don't use a microwave for stuff like that. I'll let you know how it goes :)

[Audrey]

It's a family affair! We are taking a break for lunch, but we have already done

 

*3 bags of taco meat

*3 bags of plain ground hamburger for soups and chili

*1 bag of cheese and beef enchiladas

*1 meatloaf

*1 package meatballs

 

We have a turkey cooked to make turkey and cheese enchiladas, having plain turkey for soup. I have 2 chickens in the oven. Later we will shred it and make a few bags of BBQ shredded chicken, chicken quesadillas, spicy chicken. I am making 3 pizzas, pancakes, several batches of spanish rice and garlic rice. I am also making some chicken stirfry.

 

 

WHEW!!! If this works out well, we are planning on making it a monthly 'family day' I am SUPER excited! Thanks again for posting about this. I had never even considered it before.

 

Way to go!

 

I think between you and Tracy, you've put me in a mood to cook. Probably the weather, too -- it's rainy and cold today -- perfect kitchen weather. :001_smile:

[Mallorie]

Anyone care to provide a link to the original thread for this? I'd be curious to read it. :)

[posybuddy]

Woohoo!! It's such a great feeling of accomplishment, isn't it?? Good for you for making it a family affair! I usually get my crew to pitch in with cleanup - it helps me eke out a little more motivation toward the end of a long day if I know that I can put my feet up while the menfolk do the dishes. ;)

 

It must smell awesome in your kitchen this afternoon, with chickens cooking in the oven, btw.

 

 

*3 bags of plain ground hamburger for soups and chili

 

 

Bagging and freezing plain (cooked) ground hamburger has saved my bacon more times than I can count. It can be put in spaghetti, chili, tacos, hamburger soup, shepherd's pie, and on and on. Even if you can't do a whole round of freezer cooking, it's easy enough to buy 10lb or more of hamburger when it's on sale, cook it up, drain it, cool it and bag it in individual packages (1 lb. cooked = about 2 1/2 cups). For thawing, I peel the frozen hunk out of it's plastic bag (I don't heat in plastic), dump it in a glass bowl in the microwave and in 3 minutes it's thawed and ready to mix with whatever. Easy peasy.

 

Enjoy your freezer full of food!

[Audrey]

 

 

 

Bagging and freezing plain (cooked) ground hamburger has saved my bacon more times than I can count. It can be put in spaghetti, chili, tacos, hamburger soup, shepherd's pie, and on and on. Even if you can't do a whole round of freezer cooking, it's easy enough to buy 10lb or more of hamburger when it's on sale, cook it up, drain it, cool it and bag it in individual packages (1 lb. cooked = about 2 1/2 cups). For thawing, I peel the frozen hunk out of it's plastic bag (I don't heat in plastic), dump it in a glass bowl in the microwave and in 3 minutes it's thawed and ready to mix with whatever. Easy peasy.

 

 

 

 

I do this frequently. Another time saver is to cook up a bunch of bacon at once in the oven. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a cookie sheet (with shallow sides) with foil. Place the bacon on the foil so it doesn't overlap. Bake about 15-20 minutes depending on how thick it is sliced and how done you like it. You can keep repeating, using the same pan, if you carefully drain off the fat between batches. Then cool and freeze the slices. Even frozen, it is pretty easy to separate the number of slices you want. 30-60 seconds in the microwave and you have hot bacon ready for BLT's, crumbling over salad or beans, or to use in soups, stews and chowders.

 

 

ETA: I got a bunch of prep done this afternoon and now have veggies and pineapple ready to go for Hawaiian Beef, and a Pork Stir-fry later this week. And, I have a big pot of Chicken and Wild Rice Stew on the stove. That'll be for tonight's supper and there's enough for 3 more meals.

 

Tomorrow, I'm going to make a couple of casseroles and a big batch of brownies (to cut up into bite size and freeze).

Edited August 28, 2010 by Audrey

[EJCMom]

The answers to "how do I store all this w/o a million glass pans?" can include (depending on your preference):

 

 

+ Freeze casseroles in "disposable" aluminum pans. I use the square ones for my casseroles. When I am in a rush to fix dinner and forgot to thaw things in the fridge overnight, I pop the frozen casserole out when I want to bake them (ala flazsh freezing instructions above), and then stick them in a 8x8 (or is it 9x9 ?) glass pan for thawing in the micro + baking in the oven. This way, an unbaked casserole can go from freezer to baked in an hour or so. (If you have enough glass pans and freezer space, you could obviously have just frozen it in glass to begin with. . . But I often have 20 casseroles in the freezer at a time, and I don't have that many pans!)

 

 

 

I do a hybrid flash freeze for my casseroles. What I do is line my casserole dishes with freezer paper and then cover them and put them in the freezer until they are frozen (usually a couple of hours). Then, I pop them out of the casserole dish and wrap the top with freezer paper, so it is totally encased in freezer paper. If it is a small enough casserole, I can put it in a resealable bag. Otherwise, I wrap it again in freezer paper like a present, so it has 2 layers of freezer paper. Then, when I go to cook it, I can just put it back into the casserole dish it came out of because it's already the right shape.

 

I pop it in the oven, and voila! If it isn't thawed, I'll just add time to the cooking time. I usually start at a half hour extra and check it.

 

One advantage to doing it this way is that it saves a lot of space in my freezer because I'm not saving the dish. Also, they stack nicely doing it like this.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I do want to do freezer cooking this year. But I've got this insane feeling that once I go to all that work that I won't want anyone to eat the food!

[cougarmom4]

I do want to do freezer cooking this year. But I've got this insane feeling that once I go to all that work that I won't want anyone to eat the food!

 

That's my problem! I *love* to see all those casseroles in the freezer and hate to see them disappear! :D It helps to take a picture first!