Preparing for a Freezer Meal Cook-Off

Here are some ways to simplify the process of making multiple freezer meals in one marathon session. Mainly, prep as many items as possible ahead of time.

1. Chop the veggies. This includes chopping celery, slicing carrots, dicing/slicing peppers, and chopping/slicing onions (Store in a glass bowl--a plastic bowl will retain the onion smell for months. Experience speaking here.). When it is time to add these ingredients to a meal the work is already done.

2. Soak and cook beans. As soon as my groceries are home, I start soaking beans. I typically use black, kidney, and Great Northern beans in my recipes, sometimes pintos, too. I soak one type of bean the first night, replace the water and boil the beans for 2 minutes when I get up, then dump the beans into a crockpot to cook all morning. I immediately put the next type of beans into the pan to soak. Through this process, I am able to get all the beans ready with 36 hours or so.
Why do I waste time soaking and boiling and cooking beans when I could just buy canned beans? Well, it's a whole lot cheaper to pay $.79-$1.09 for a pound of beans that cooks into 6 cups of beans than it is to buy canned beans for $.79-$1.29 for 15 oz. LOTS cheaper. When I cook so many meals at once, I need to save money where I can.


3. Cook the chicken. Crockpots are such useful appliances! I place 6 frozen chicken breasts in a large crockpot with enough water to cover. I turn the crockpot on high for 4-5 hours. When the chicken is thawed, I often cut it into smaller chunks so it will finish cooking faster.

4. Label freezer bags. I try to write out the title, date, and directions on ziptop freezer bags before I make the meals. This way, when the food is ready, I can slip it into the bag and shuttle it straight to the freezer.

5. Clean out and organize the freezer. I pull on a pair of fleece gloves and dig through whatever treasures and mysteries are hiding in my freezers. Freezer-burnt mystery bag? Well, it predates my freezer cooking since it isn't labeled. Trash. A package of italian sausage? I think I need that for Stuffed Manicotti. Into the fridge to defrost. One bag on each shelf in the upright freezer? Stack all the items on one shelf. You get the idea.

Happy preparation! I have recipes coming soon. I have been orgainzing and typing them out.

I am also back in school--with the homework to prove it--so my posts will probably be even more infrequent for the next few months.