Freezer Cooking this week

I tried to do a one hour freezer cooking session on Monday night. It ended up taking nearly two hours to get everything done and I had to put off making spaghetti sauce until Tuesday morning.

I nearly started a kitchen fire after leaving this towel near a hot burner. 

Here's what I got done

• Two meat and potato casseroles (one for dinner and one for the freezer)
• Five freezer bags of mashed potatoes
• Five onions chopped and frozen
• Seven bags of spaghetti sauce with meat
• French Toast Casserole for breakfast on Tuesday morning. I made this the night before and got up an hour early, popped it in the oven and went back to bed while it cooked for an hour. It's a great use for stale bread. 

David's favorite - Meat and potato casserole

Freezer Marinades for Chicken

Sorry for the terrible font discrepancies, I can't seem to fix it. 
I try and cook enough meat for a large serving for David and I plus enough for leftover. Usually about 3 breasts or thighs in a freezer Ziploc bag and add a marinade. Freeze flat. Once frozen they can stay flat or be stacked vertically likes books to save space.

I pull one bag out and let defrost in the fridge for about two days and bake. For bone in breasts bake at 350 for 45 minutes. I turn the oven up to about 425 for boneless breasts and cook 20-30 minutes. I'm not the best at keeping track of how long things actually take to cook. The juices should run clear when the chicken is done.

Freezer-Friendly Marinated Chicken

Honey and Soy

3 whole frozen chicken breasts
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup liquid sweetener (honey, maple syrup, agave)
1/4 cup soy sauce
Put chicken breasts and garlic clove in a freezer bag. Mix together sweetener and soy sauce and pour over chicken in the bag. Seal bag air-tight (use a straw to remove extra air, if necessary). Stick in the freezer (or you can cook immediately).
To cook: Thaw on the counter top for a few hours or in the refrigerator overnight. Cook in the crockpot on high for 3-4 hours or in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes.

Serve over rice, if desired. May also chop and add steamed veggies and serve over rice. Makes 3-4 servings.

The following marinades are enough for about six pieces of chicken. It makes enough for three meals for us.

Asian: Life as Mom

6 Tablespoons rice vinegar

3 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/4 cup oil

1 Tablespoon sesame oil

Spicy Southwest (Blend in food processor or blender):Life as Mom

1 tomato, quartered

1/2 onion, cut into chunks

1/4 jalapeno pepper

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 Tablespoon lime juice

1/4 cup cilantro leaves

Dijon: Life as Mom

1/3 cup Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/4 cup oil

Freezer Cooking and Meal Planning

I absolutely love to cook. What I do not like however, is coming home at 5 pm, opening my fridge and wondering what to make and then spending the subsequent hour in my kitchen preparing dinner. I’m moody anyways and I’m not always in the mood to cook. Menu planning and freezer cooking, also called Once a Month Cooking (OAMC) or batch cooking, has really revolutionized my grocery budget and the way I make meals.

I first came across this idea six to eight months ago while browsing blogs. Jessica at Life As Mom has many fantastic resources for learning how to meal plan and freezer cook. I don’t do a marathon weekend of cooking partially because it’s exhausting and partially because I don’t have a chest freezer, just the freezer above my fridge. 

When the freezer starts to get low or when we run out of marina sauce I will start cooking whenever I have time and am in the mood. I might make a big pot of pasta sauce one night and that's it. After it's cooled off, I pour two cup portions into quart sized freezer bags and freeze flat. Once they're frozen I stack them vertically like books. I've found this to be very space efficient. Another helpful and time saving practice is to buy ground beef in the big packages when on sale ($1.99/lb is my buy price) and cook it all up at once. I will do two pounds of plain, 2 pounds of taco meat and 1 pound of sloppy joes.

You don’t have to love casseroles (I don’t) or eat processed, canned food to prepare simple, frugal and healthy meals for your family. Here are some things currently in my freezer. Granted there’s only two of us (David eats for three though)

I haven't quite finished up from this weekend's cooking. The muffin tin has sloppy joes that need to go into a bag. The pyrex dishes contain lasagna casseroles that need to be moved to a bag as well. 

• mariana sauce with meat
• marina sauce
• diced onions
• cooked brown rice
• spanish brown rice
• season taco meat
• lasagna
• lasagna casserole
• shredded chicken meat
• plain cooked ground beef
• enchiladas
• sloppy Joes
• chicken breast in marinade

In the coming weeks, I will begin posting recipes for these dinners and more. Thanks for reading my first post!