A Little Planning Goes A Long Way

I have long been envious, in a purely biblical sense of course, of Shelley Gallamore’s ability to produce a freezer full of food in one day. She has graciously shared her secrets with us here…leave a comment and let us know if you have done this and what your secrets and tips are.

How do you make a freezer meal?  

This week, I worked with 6 other ladies to prepare between 25 and 35 meals each to stock our freezers and feed families over the next 6 weeks. It was a fun, tiring day with a great sense of accomplishment at the end as we looked over the pile of meals waiting to be taken home.  Over the time we were planning the date and working toward it, lots of people made comments like “I’ve always wanted to do that” or “teach me”.

Hopefully this blog will teach you. And before you start thinking, I could never make 25 meals for my family let me say something up front.

It doesn’t have to be that hard.

Freezer cooking can be as simple as making 1 extra pan of lasagna to put in the freezer for another day or seasoning your meat before you freeze it.  All systems of feeding your family have at their root “make a plan” and freezer cooking simply allows you to go beyond planning a menu to preparing it in advance.

So, how can you get started?

First of all, decide what you are going to prepare. There are lots of ways to choose what to make such as:

·         Choose your families top 3 favorite recipes.  You do not need special “freezer recipes” .

·         Think about meals that your family really enjoys but rarely make due to putzy steps or lots of chopping and assembling.

·         Check the sale flyers and choose recipes that use the currently best priced meat.

I recommend that you start with 3 recipes. This simple start will only take a small investment of time and money; but you will have a good cushion against busy nights for your family.

Here are 3 recipes that are different types for you to use as a basis to understand the process.

Beef Stew    Store this in a gallon freezer bag. When you are ready to cook it, you simply thaw and cook on the stove like normal. Or you can add two time saving devices and drop the frozen chunk of soup into your crockpot.

Here is my beef stew recipe:  Into the bag put 1lb of chopped stew meat,1chopped onion and 2 stalks of celery chopped,  1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables (or fresh veggies cut by you), 1 can of diced tomato and. 3 beef bouillon cubes . Fill the bag with water until the items are just covered and seal.  Freeze. When you get ready to cook this soup, it can be thawed or placed frozen in a Dutch oven or crockpot. 

Chicken Enchiladas   Put this into a glass Pyrex with lid, foil pan, metal cake pan or newly purchased glad ovenware. As long as you cover it well with foil or a tight fitting lid any of these will work.

Here is my chicken enchilada recipe:  Combine 2 cups of cooked chicken (shredded, chopped or canned) with 1 cup sour cream, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese and salsa to taste. (I use probably a cup)  Put this filling in each flour tortilla and roll them lengthwise and place in the pan. Pour enchilada sauce over them and top with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese. (I use a sparing amount of enchilada sauce – really just enough to look pretty) Freeze at this point. When you are ready to eat them, thaw and bake till done.

Taco’s  Store in a plastic freezer bag or plastic container. One of the helpful parts of freezer cooking is that you make sure that ingredients you purchased for a specific meal will stay together.  At my house, cheese and tortilla’s seem to be grabbed by people looking for a snack. Funny…they don’t usually grab the lettuce. J

Here is my taco recipe:  Brown ground beef and season with taco seasoning.  Take small bag of shredded cheddar cheese (either purchased like this or that you have shredded or divided ) and package of tortilla’s and place together in freezer.

These are just a few suggestions to help you think about what you can do in advance to make meal preparation easier.  As you slowly begin to think in terms of doing some work in advance, your freezer will slowly fill up. You will discover that it is as easy to make 2 pans of enchalada’s as one pan. Even better, you will discover that the afternoon hours are better when you aren’t stressed trying to prepare dinner every day. And maybe, you will find yourself cooking with a crowd and producing a haul designed to keep you out of the kitchen for a while.  Happy Freezing!

Check out Shelley's blog at http://shelleygallamore.com/ for some deeper insight as to why we would want six extra people in our kitchen...