Freezer Cooking
See that below? That was my last Sunday. As in that's what I did. All. Day.
This was the second month that I tried my hand at freezer cooking. The idea is to cook enough meals in one day to last for a month. The first month was a trial run to see how it would work for my family. It went well, so there I was Sunday doing it again.
What appealed to me about freezer cooking wasn't the time that I'd be cooking. It was the time I wouldn't have to cook. I have a 3-year-old, work full time, and then there's things like sleep and showering to take care of too. I thought this kind of pre-planning would make weeknight meals a cinch.
You can get recipes anywhere you like, but I like onceamonthmom.com because the menus are planned out for you, labels are all ready to print, and best of all, it flows with grocery store sale cycles and in-season produce to make the whole process work with items you're probably picking up with coupons anyway. Magic, I tell you!
Seriously, I feel like I've found a beautiful/peaceful/magical balance between saving money, using my time better, and having healthy, homemade meals.
I'm curious. Have you found a balance like this? What made it click for you?
I know these frozen bags of food don't look very appetizing, but I swear they will be. I taste tested of course!
Tara Hanley lives in Janesville and writes about saving money for readers of Gazettextra.com. She is a community blogger and is not a part of The Gazette staff. Her opinion is not necessarily that of the The Gazette staff or management.
Jun 18, 2011 at 5:47 a.m.
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You should go buy a Food Saver vacuum machine,they are awesome and trust me the food will taste better than using Zip lock baggies,once thawed. They are great for blanched veggies,meat when bought on sale almost anything. It will pay for itself in due time. Cost is about a $ 100.00
Jun 17, 2011 at 8:55 a.m.
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I prepared some freeze-ahead meals just before my daughter was born and boy was I glad I did it. Aside from that one time though, I don't do it often, because I'm not 100% sure what freezes and reheats well.
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The only make-ahead work I do now is browning up 5-10lbs of ground beef to freeze and use throughout the month. Then I can come home from work throw a casserole, chili, or spaghetti together quickly.
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