Post by contributor Erin Long
Freezer cooking is all the rage these days. If you’re at all steeped in the frugal/real food/homemaking world you’re probably inundated with headlines like, “Make 20 Freezer Meals in 2 Hours!” or, “15 Freezer Meals for $150!” The list goes on and on.
For almost all of us, even those of us who love to cook, it can be easily overwhelming to face down the dinner hour after a long, hard day. Who doesn’t want to just pull something out of the freezer/fridge, heat it up and serve it?
It’s pretty obvious why processed convenience food became so popular: it’s easy. But eww, gross. Just gross. We don’t want to feed that junk to our families or eat it ourselves and for a long time it seemed like the only alternative was to prepare meals from scratch every day.
Then freezer meals became all the rage, and for good reason!
Freezer meals are the perfect hybrid of homemade food and convenience food. You make your meals from scratch and then freeze them, typically doing a large batch at once so you’ve got a freezer filled with meals that only require re-heating or minimal prep at most. You’re left to spend time doing what you want rather than slaving over a hot stove.
When I first heard about freezer cooking several years ago my interest was piqued. I loved the idea but the stars never aligned for me to really get into it. I have always either had very limited freezer space (think freezer in Europe), or a husband who works a lot of hours and three small children (so taking a weekend afternoon to sequester myself whip out meals simply wasn’t practical).
Also, I didn’t want to develop a whole new repertoire of ‘freezer-friendly’ meals – I wanted to cook what my family already liked but if I did that it would take up even more time. But I still wanted a freezer full of homemade meals.
So, I set out to find an alternative that would work for me.
One day while I made meals for a friend who just had a baby I decided to double each recipe and keep half of it for my family. At the end of the cooking session I had a week’s worth of meals for two families.
It felt awesome! Once I tucked all that food into the fridge/freezer I realized: this is what I need to do! I don’t need to set aside a full day of cooking and prepping.
It’s as simple as doubling the recipe you’re already making and freezing the extra.
You can do this with most foods: meatloaf, soups, roasted chicken, cooked grains, muffins, veggies, the list goes on!
Or, you can double a recipe and use each batch in a different recipe. I like to make mashed parsnips and have them as a side with chicken one night and then use the rest a few nights later as a topping for cottage pie.
A large chunk of the time spent preparing meals in taking out all the equipment and food and then washing it and putting it away again. So by doubling recipes you spend about the same amount of time but get twice the amount of food. It only takes a little bit longer to measure 2 teaspoons of vanilla than it does 1 or chop 6 carrots instead of 3 You only have to get everything out and wash your tools once!
It will take some time to build up a good stockpile of meals and it’s not as immediately effective as the more traditional approach to freezer cooking. But for those of us who aren’t able to freezer cook that way, or just don’t want to, recipe doubling is a simple alternative.
And with that – I’m going to go get some muffins out of the freezer for breakfast tomorrow!
Angela
Yes, I do this – and call it “planned-overs”! I think the idea first came from my trusty old “More with Less” cookbook, which has so many thrifty, nutritious and varied recipes, variations and tips.
Janee
I’m glad I’m not the only one. I tried so hard to get into the freezer cooking one afternoon a month thing but most of the recipes I found were not things my family liked. So, for dinners that is what I do…double or triple the recipe and put the extra into the freezer. It has the added benefit of a ready made meal in case a friend is in need (new baby, surgery, etc). The only things I do put in the freezer in the “freezer cooking” style are breakfast muffins, breakfast and lunch burritos, and “uncanned” beans. About every 3 months I will spend several days in one week putting away breakfast items. One day it will be 30 blueberry muffins, another it will be 30 or so breakfast burritoes. When I run out of beans I’ll do 5lb’s of beans in my two crock pots. These are great for soups, etc and much cheaper than canned beans from the store. It is so much easier than either cooking daily or even monthly freezer cooking. The breakfast items last us about 3 months so I only have to do this quarterly.
I probably would not have had the time when my kids were little but now that they are older they are able to occupy themselves while I spend an hour or two whenever I need to on a freezer project. They also like having thing ready for breakfast that are hearty and that I would only make a few times a year if I had to do it individually.
Thanks for sharing what works for you!!
MamaV
This is great! I am in the similar position of little freezer space and little time. I will try to do this!
Susan
When my.kids were in elem and middle school, hubby worked out of town a lot so I would freeze leftovers just keeping out enough for lunch the next day. On Fri or Sat, my back yard neighbor would bring over her leftovers and kids (my house was less disaster) and my.kids would eat her leftovers anf vice versa as her hubby worked nights. She cooked more convenience foods and I didn’t so the kids all got a taste of something differnt
(I just refuse to make hamburger Helper or ANY Helper). Or I just made pizza dough and she would bring some toppings. Either way, it worked. Just wish we could have afforded.wine!