The all too common question that plagues most households after 5pm. What’s for dinner? The average American family spends $225 a month on take-out or dine-in dinner. Not mention most of those meals are unhealthy alternatives to a home cooked dinner. Freezer cooking is a wonderful way to stop the stress dinner. There are many forms of freezer cooking to suit family’s busy schedules.
1) Dinner prep: This consists of simply cooking meat and freezing it. I, like many moms don’t always have 3 hours to spend cooking a bunch of meals at one time. I will toss 4-5 pounds of frozen ground turkey along with 1 cup of chopped onions in a crockpot on high for 4 hours. This method also works for other frozen meats such as; Chicken, Roasts, and Ground Beef. I typically shredded the chicken and roast after they have cooked. I leave the meats unseasoned and store in a freezer bag. When in a pinch they can quickly be defrosted and become to base too many meals.
2) Double it: Doubling is probably the quickest ways to start a stash of freezer meals. When making casseroles, cooking meats, meat loafs, etc. double the recipe and place one in the freezer for a later day.
3) Dump bags: While this may sound gross they can be quite yummy! Crockpot meals are sometimes the only way we eat a home cooked meal. Creating dump bags makings prepping a crockpot meal before work or a busy day quick and easy. Take the ingredients to your favorite crockpot friendly recipes and dump them into a freezer bag uncooked. Freeze. Then remove from the freezer and dump into a crock pot. That’s it! S I M P L E!
4) A day of cooking: While this is more time consuming it is well worth the effort. The best way to prep for a day of cooking. Is to make a master dinner list, create a prep list, and prep any ingredients such as chopping vegetables. Once that is completed start with crockpot meals, oven meals, than stove top cooking. Once the meals have cooked, let them cool, seal, label and freeze. If I stick to basic meals that use similar cuts of meat I can make roughly 12 fully/partially cooked dinners in 4 hours. This includes; prep, cooking and clean up.
For more tips and tricks to freezer cooking visit {The Frozen Kitchen} section atSeamlesslySavvy.com
Nicole along with Co-founder Janessa blogs at SeamlesslySavvy.com, where Nicole shares her personal journey of raising five ridiculously rambunctious boys, paying down debt and living a seamlessly savvy life as a stay at home mom.
