Lots of questions about cooking in bulk for the freezer, rotating weekly menus, etc.

[Robin in Tx]

With a small family (3), I've never had to carefully plan my menus for time's sake. This summer and next year will be different - much busier schedule and increased food costs is causing me to give this serious consideration.

 

So, here's my questions:

 

1. What are your favorite meals that you repeat over and over? (looking for new ideas to get out of our rut)? Are there any meals that you have every single week, without fail?

 

2. What are your favorite dishes that you do some preparation in advance and put in the freezer, so that it's ready to go?

 

3. If you do bulk preparation and preset menus, do you plan every single meal, all seven days... or do you leave a few meals open? What have you have to be the best "ratio" in this regard?

 

4. Do you also preplan and/or prepare and freeze side dishes, breads and desserts? Or only entrees? What about breakfast... do you have a preset breakfast schedule? Eat the same thing for breakfast every day?

 

As you can see, I'm trying to figure out what is a good balance here... which dishes/meals are the most convenient to preplan and/or preprepare, and for which are preplanning/prepreparing more trouble than it's worth.

 

Thanks for any ideas! I'm really looking forward to hear how everyone does this.

 

Robin

[Hoggirl]

I only have one ds, so there are just three of us in my family. I have never had much success with freezer/bulk cooking. I really don't know why. I like the concept, but often it gets done and put in the freezer and then I never pull it out!

 

What I like to do is to sit down on Saturday or Sunday and look at our upcoming week. I personally do not do well planning more than a week ahead, but YMMV. So, I will sit down and list out the days of the next week, M - Sun, leaving space under them to write what I am going to fix. Next, I schedule in our activities for that week. Some change from week to week some do not. Then, looking at what we have going on, I plan what we are going to have for dinner each evening. For example, we have First Tee golf on Thursdays until 6:00 p.m. By the time we get home it may be 6:20 or 6:30, so we always have leftovers (something I can zap in the microwave) or I crockpot cook (so it is ready when I walk in the door) on Thursdays. So, I fill in either the word "cook" or L.O. for each day depending on our schedule. Then, on "cook" days I try to determine what KIND of cooking I want to do. I have my recipes arranged more by TYPE of cooking (prepare ahead, last-minute, stove-top, oven bake, etc.) than TYPE of food, kwim? On days where I have more time, I will fix things with more involved preparation.

 

I do keep things like frozen meatballs, jarred spaghetti sauce, and spaghetti on hand. However, a WHOLE lot of freezer cooking just didn't do what I wanted it to do which was lessen grocery store trips. I still had to go buy milk, bread, salad fixins, etc. I would just rather go once a week and make ONE big run than to go a couple of times a month for huge runs and STILL have to go once a week for necessities.

 

Gee. This really almost sounds argumentative with what you are trying to do! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come across that way. I just wanted to let you know what works for *our* small family and what my experiences had been with freezer cooking. For *us* once a week planning has been ideal.

[Pepper]

Shephard's Pie

Pigs in a Blanket

Curried chicken or fish with coconut milk over rice

Pasta with protein in red sauce ( chicken or meat sauce)

Tacos or quesadillas

Fish-n-grits-n-salad

 

I have regularly cooked for seven on a budget. Now cooking for five, but we still have budget! And dietary restrictions.

Shephard's pie -- use Joy of cooking recipe. Double or triple the recipe. When you make mashed potatoes, boil an extra batch to make potato salad while you are at it. My kids snack on that! Freeze 1 or 2 extra pies.

 

Pigs in a blanket with meat, rice, cabbage, and tomato sauce. Freezes GREAT, although it is kind of a pain to make in the beginning. Make huge batches and freeze. Use Joy of Cooking recipe.

 

Pan fry some chicken or fish, light oil, no breading, then pour a can of coconut milk over it ( cheaper at Asian store) add curry spices ( which you can get in grocery for cheap if you don't mix your own), serve over white rice with a side veggie, like sauteed onions and bok choy( cheap and healthy).

 

Make a triple batch of red sauce with some meat -- use ground turkey if you don't eat red meat. Freeze two meals worth of sauce in separate containers. Serve over pasta ( we use gluten free) and with a side salad, or some fresh green beans sauteed in olive oil and garlic.

 

TAcos are easy, ditto on the quesadillas ( we use corn tortillas to avoid wheat) -- cook a pound or two of extra ground meat and freeze in separate containers, so you can pull it out for future meals.

 

Fish in a pan. Fry them. Serve with grits and butter and salt and pepper.Serve a big fat salad with all kinds of leftovers in it -- bits of meat, leftover green beans, blueberries, crumpled feta, whatever. Put out a few choices of dressings. Let the kids make their own dressings!

Leftover grits are good with fried egg and hot sauce in the morning.

 

I leave meals open, as I cook by how I feel, and the weather, and such. Keeps things creative.

 

I will plan for a week, but not decide until that day which meal I will be serving. Some meals take more prep. and I may be tired or busy.

 

I plan for six meals, one that I don't need fresh stuff for ( like canned salmon croquettes with a frozen veggie). I usually use five meals and one leftover night, and one impromptu night. I always have something I can whip together if I buy for six meals.

 

I freeze snacks -- as I bake everything gluten free. I bake in bulk and put in baggies in freezer so kids can take one at a time.

 

 

Breakfasts : same ffew things over and over, or leftover supper.

Rice cakes with almond butter and honey, egg on toast, deviled eggs, yoghurt, cheese on toast, side of fruit, egg and bacon sandwich, egg and grits, egg bacon and grits, eggs bacon and spam ,span sausage and spam...spam spam spam....uh oh. Turning into a Monty Python skit!

Anyway, you get the breakfast picture. We don't eat breakfast cereal

 

Hope this helps. I have hundreds of menu ideas, seriously. I'd be happy to give you more of a boost if you need it.

 

Robin

[Tammyla]

Check your library for lots of good books on this topic.

 

Me, I like to cook up big batches of things that be used in many ways. Big oven or crock pot batch of chicken, turkey etc. I do the big batches and plan at least three meals around it for the week and freeze the rest. So out of a pot of chicken I'll get a number of the following meals. Chicken over rice, chicken soup or dumplings, chicken Alfredo over pasta, BBQ chicken sandwiches, chicken salad, chicken gumbo and so on. And then there is the extra frozen portion for later;). I always make two lasagnas and freeze one for later.

 

I'm still experimenting with this here and on the lookout for more tips and ideas.

[Jean in Newcastle]

 

I will plan for a week, but not decide until that day which meal I will be serving. Some meals take more prep. and I may be tired or busy.

 

 

 

I do the same. I also buy a lot of my meat from Costco - individually flash-frozen. It is quick and easy for me to pull out just the amount I need and to cook that.

 

Often my crock-pot recipes just naturally will have double what we actually eat (this is esp. true of soup and stew recipes). I will serve dinner, give my dh some in his lunch the next day and will freeze the rest.

[Mekanamom]

Hi Robin,

 

I have done freezer meals in the past. I bought a variety of books, but the very most helpful resource I found was the Saving Dinner Freezer Recipes.

 

For me- I found it much easier to just pre-assemble the raw ingredients for dinner and then freeze them than to do any major pre-cooking.

 

I did not prepare side dishes or desserts ahead of time. More often than not, I just made a quick salad, and/or steamed a bag of frozen vegetables to have on the side. Pretty easy!

 

I did do the full 25 meals at a time preparation. But you can split it up and just do 7 at a time, which is probably a lot easier to start off with.

 

I kept an inventory list on the front of the fridge and checked off meals as we ate them. That made meal planning easy!

[H.S. Burrow]

I am going to start by telling you how I started nearly 2 years ago. I knew how to cook but not how to menu plan & shop for that menu plan. I found a website called www.savingdinner.com. **There are FREE complimentary menus available to download** I was interested in freezing meals so I ordered a menu planner for freezer meals. It came complete with shopping list (it only assumed that you had salt & pepper in your pantry) for meal ingredients and side dishes. These went over so well with my family that I ordered a subscription for one year of weekly menus (NOT freezer meals) emailed to me. Those were great so I ordered a small (12 recipe) mailer for crock-pot only meals. The recipes are really just the main dish (meat dish) however, there are vegetable dishes listed to serve with the main dish...ex. "serve with summer squash and a big spinach salad and a whole wheat roll".

 

LONG story short...I have picked our family's favorites from all of these menus and have adapted (or am in the process of adapting) all of them to "freezer" meals. (I only purchased one freezer menu with 22 recipes. Some were hits and some were misses!) I purchase meat on sale...whatever meat is on sale that I can use in the meal kits. If pork loin or pork ribs are on sale, then I will put away several "pork" freezer kits. If brisket is on sale, then I will put away "beef" freezer kits. You get the idea.

 

What I have learned from purchasing the recipe subscriptions...

1.) You can make any recipe a "freezer" recipe.

2.) I knew more than I thought that I did about meal planning/shopping.

3.) There are spices other than Tex-Joy Steak Seasoning!

4.) Pork Ribs + 1 cup of BBQ sauce + Crock Pot = BBQ sandwiches that everyone loves!

 

Freezer recipes are not hard to do. One of our favorites is "Crock Roast". Simply take a portion of beef for your family place in a freezer bag, add 1 tsp of minced garlic and 1 tbsp of olive oil. Seal bag, label and place in freezer. Thaw the night before and put in your crock pot after browning all sides (to seal juices). Cook on low 6 -- 8 hours. We have this about every 10 days. I serve it with cooked carrots and mashed potatoes.

 

I have tried (or am trying) to adapt all our favorites to recipes that can be thawed and dumped into a crock-pot or put in the oven. I have a George Foreman grill that I use for grilled meats...or DH uses the big grill or smoker. My goal is to spend less time in the kitchen on a daily basis. Meaning that I will spend a couple of hours putting together a month of meals one day to have the other 29 free.

 

I don't pre-plan the entire month. What I do is create the known favorites, and maybe one or two new ones to try, and put those meals in the freezer. I have a "freezer" notebook that I have listed all of the meals that I have in the freezer. When something is taken out, it is marked out in red. I add new meals at the end and use the marked out ones to know what meats I need to shop for. We keep a fairly large variety in the freezer. Each Sunday after dinner, the family sits at the table and we use the notebook (and our family calendar) to decide dinner for the coming week. On days where we will be gone most of the day, whatever Crock Pot recipe is in the freezer goes down for that day's dinner. The rest of the meals are chosen around that. I have also created (to make it fun for the kids!) a "Mom's Diner" menu. I have listed the favorites for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. This helps the kids (& me!) avoid the "same ol', same ol' " rut for breakfast and lunch.

 

For vegetables/side dishes:

I really like the Bird's Eye Steamfresh vegetables. There is a fairly large variety (you will probably have a better variety being close to Houston) and they take 5 minutes in the microwave. We occasionally have potatoes. I peel & chop those and place in a microwave dish with a couple of tbsp of water and cook on high for 10 minutes...test doneness...cook again (if needed in 5 min intervals) and mash with butter & milk. Or we bake sweet potatoes & serve with cinnamon & butter. We ALWAYS have a salad (green leaf, mixed baby greens & spinach, tomatoes, red onion (just a little :)) and petite carrots) and sometimes a dinner roll - we like Sister Shuperts best.

 

What I am working on: Making homemade bread, rolls, buns, etc....

I have been reading the some of the other posts about storing food and buying in bulk wheat, rice, etc... We are putting in a big garden this summer and will be freezing a lot of peas, beans, and squash. If I can find someone to teach me how to can, then we'll be doing that too. I have ordered some different wheat berries (for grinding), wheat flours, and oat groats (for crock pot oatmeal instead of store bought cereal) to see if this is something that I can keep up with and if it will truly save money.

 

One of our favorite recipes is Chicken Tortilla Soup.

2 cans black beans

1 can whole kernel corn

1 can original Rotel

1 can Del Monte Diced Tomatoes with Zesty Green Chilis

1 box chicken broth

1 can water

4 cups diced cooked chicken

 

Dump all in crock pot and cook on low 2 - 4 hours or high 2 hours to blend all flavors. Serve over broken tortilla chips. ***COOK LONGER IF ADDING RAW CHICKEN*** 6 - 8 hours on low***

 

Honey Apple Porkchops (Freezer Meal from Saving Dinner)

In bowl add the following & mix:

1/2 cup BBQ sauce (your favorite)

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup apple jelly

2 tbsp ketchup

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp chopped onion

2 tsp brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp sweet pickle relish

1 tsp yellow mustard (I use spicy brown because that's what I buy!)

1/3 tsp ground cinnamon

 

Remove 1/2 of mixture and place in a quart freezer bag. Add remaining mix to a 1 gallon freezer bag and add 4 boneless pork chops. Place BOTH bags inside another 1 gallon freezer bag. Label and freeze. (I put cooking directions on bag also...this is an oven recipe.)

 

To prepare: Thaw bag in fridge the night before. Remove pork chops from marinade and discard marinade & plastic bag. Place chops in a 9x13 casserole dish. Bake in pre-heated oven at 400 degrees for 30 - 45 minutes until chops are done. In saucepan on stove, cook marinade until bubbly but not boiling. Reduce heat & simmer for 15 minutes. Serve chops with warmed marinade.

Serving suggestions: Serve with baked potatoes & steamed broccoli.

She also gives nutrition information.

 

**How I cook this recipe**: dump all ingredients except pork chops in 1 gallon ziploc bag. Seal and mash bag to mix. Open and add 4 pork chops. Seal bag and place in freezer. Place ALL contents in 9x13 casserole dish and bake on 400 for 30 - 45 minutes. This also works great with pork ribs cooked in the crock pot on low 6 - 8 hours.

 

This is all that I have time for right now. If I think of anything else, I'll post it.

 

Hope this helps!!

[jmgconner]

1. What are your favorite meals that you repeat over and over? (looking for new ideas to get out of our rut)? Are there any meals that you have every single week, without fail?

 

Some sort of stiry-fry, a pasta dish, and Mexican. The stir-fry is great because I can use up lots of veggies. The pasta dish is quick and easy using pre-made spag sauce or a simple pomodoro with veggies. The Mexican meal is usually made from pre-cooked, seasoned and frozen meat. I heat the meat up, and usually have a taco bar or taco salad.

 

2. What are your favorite dishes that you do some preparation in advance and put in the freezer, so that it's ready to go?

 

I've found that I don't really like pre-cooked meals from the freezer. I use my freezer to hold bits and pieces of a meal. For example, I may have spaghetti sauce in one bag, cooked italian sausage in another bag rather than actually preparing a Ziti Sausage Casserole. This also affords me the greatest amount of flexibility. I recently had some meatballs in the freezer that I had planned on using in spaghetti, but something came up and I instead used them to make BBQ meatball sub sandwiches. I wouldn't have been able to be that flexible if I had already prepared the entire meal ahead of time.

 

3. If you do bulk preparation and preset menus, do you plan every single meal, all seven days... or do you leave a few meals open? What have you have to be the best "ratio" in this regard?

 

I plan all dinners for 7 days. It may not be exact, but I have a general idea. Like I mentioned above, I'll plan on stir-fry, but I won't know exactly which veggies I'll be using until that day. This week it was all fresh veggies from the farmers' market, sometimes it's a frozen bag of stir-fry veggies from the supermarket.

 

4. Do you also preplan and/or prepare and freeze side dishes, breads and desserts? Or only entrees? What about breakfast... do you have a preset breakfast schedule? Eat the same thing for breakfast every day?

 

We generally eat the same thing for breakfast every day: cereal, granola bars, and/or oatmeal. I have a general idea of side dishes when I create the menu, and I'll write it in - but it's just a general idea - for example, a potato dish of some sort to go with our main meat dish - then on the day I cook the meat dish, I decide if I want mashed potatoes, oven fries, roasted, grilled, what have you.

[Julie in Austin]

I, too, keep parts of meals in the freezer. I do this because full meals take too much room and are often mushy if frozen. So I buy meat when on sale, cook up 10-20 pounds all at once, and then freeze. Then I just have to defrost it and cook a starch and veg.

[momee]

I've found the biggest deal for us, living out of the way of better grocery stores is having the ingredients on hand.

 

Another thing to think about is what your family likes. It does no good to make three trays of enchiladas if they don't like them, ya know? I just say this because sometimes using those books that have you cook a big batch of stuff ends up having some recipes you just won't eat. That's a big waste of money.

 

I'm learning it's much more economical and I've READ (not sure yet though) that frozen veggies are just as good as fresh. Being "out here" it's hard to find good produce so we've tried the bagged veggie Sam's route this month. We'll see.

 

I made a monthly meal listing (no dates though, we're too irregular to predict which nights which dinners will be best) and tried to premake things that make that go smoother. Meatballs and sauce, pizza dough, stir fry veggies, fried rice fixin's and the rice, baked chicken and beef with onions - that kind of bulk stuff helps as others have already posted. I think it's more flexible that way.

 

Keep at it - my family LOVES when I cook and it makes me feel as though I'm really taking care of them all. That's my goal as a mom - to care for them in ways no one else does :) It's a worthy adventure, be encouraged to continue in it.

[Cindy in C-ville]

BUMP! I want to see more discussion! We like to eat as much fresh produce as we can, although I will do some frozen veggies - green beans, corn, etc. I, for the most part, don't use cream of anything soup. Most of our meals are a yummy, healthy protein, a complex carb, and a couple of veggies. We also love homemade soup and I'll be experimenting with some hot-weather soups pretty soon. We eat fish about once/week.

 

:) Cindy

[momee]

Cindy, you're the one to discuss for us! With all those mouths to feed you're an expert by now!

 

We saw your dh and kids at Sam's months ago - I was imagining how much you all spend on groceries. I can't seem to get mine much below $600 for everything.

 

This month, we've spent a RIDICULOUS amount of money eating out - Economically stimulating the food economy is my goal - just kidding. It's been fun taking the kids out but boy oh boy is it EXPENSIVE>>>

 

Chat on girls, I just love this subject...