One of my plans to make putting healthy food on the table easier in 2017 is to have a freezer cooking session once a month. I froze a few meals at the end of December, but I knew I needed to have a big freezer cooking session in January. So, when grass-fed ground beef went on sale at Sprout’s and my husband had Martin Luther King Day off, I knew the time had come!
I spread my freezer cooking over three days, and all told, it took me about 4 to 5 hours to make 20 meals. Combined with the few freezer meals I already had in the freezer, I now have 28 meals in the freezer. Yee haw!
Can I just tell you that as much as I don’t really enjoy 4 to 5 hours of freezer cooking, my future self is doing the happy dance!
Here are the meals we have stashed away:
- Pumpkin Chili x3
- Italian Wedding Soup
- Slow Cooker Chili Mac x4
- Jamie Oliver Spaghetti Sauce x4
- Green Pepper Chili
- Cheesy Hamburger Helper x3
- Slow Cooker Beef and Vegetable Soup x3
- Spanish Rice Soup x2
- Spaghetti Sauce
- Slow Cooker Taco Soup x2
- Stuffed Bell Pepper Soup x2
- Meatloaf x2
All the meals are gluten and dairy free.
I’m hoping these will last us through the end of February, when it will be time to have another freezer cooking session.
Do you have freezer cooking sessions? If so, what are your favorite recipes?
How do prevent freezer burn?
I pack the meals in gallon size freezer bags with the air removed. But honestly, we easily eat the meals up within 6 months (usually sooner), so we don’t really worry about freezer burn.
That’s a lot of work; I’m impressed! Looks like a whole lot of tasty going on at your house this month. Enjoy!
Love this! My mom and sister get together for “once a month” cooking sessions but I usually fly by the seat of my pants for dinner. Most of these recipes could be made from stuff at Aldi I think, (which is the only place I shop for groceries), so I’m going to have to try it! Maybe I’ll start small with once a week freezer meals and work my way up. I must feel great to get so much put away in the freezer!
My favorite way to make freezer meals is just to double a meal I’m already making for dinner, but sometimes I have big freezer cooking sessions like this. I so wish we had an Aldi near us.
Wow – good for you!! I didn’t do any freezer cooking in December or first part of January, and I’m regretting it now because I don’t have meals ready to go. I’m getting back in gear this week though!
Way to go! What are your favorite meals to freeze?
I really need to make a plan to do a large freezer cooking day. I always have good intentions, but then never get around to doing it.
I hear you. The actual freezer cooking day is a pain, but I’m so glad I took the time to prepare ahead when I don’t have to cook on other nights.
Do you find that you forget to thaw stuff in time? Or does it cook from frozen? Our freezer space is at a premium, so I rely more on canning, but years ago when I tried freezing more meals ahead I found that I forgot to thaw stuff at the right time 🙂
Sometimes, but I usually pull a meal out the night before so it has time to thaw before I need it.
Very impressive and I bet you’ll be so thankful for all the work at those busy dinner time moments!