Stocking the Freezer without a “Freezer Cooking Day”
I really like the idea of having a “Freezer Cooking Day” — setting aside a day or two and prepping a few week’s or a months worth of meals or parts of meals. My closest attempt at this was last summer when I spent some time doing freezer cooking in the weeks before we moved to our new house. It was very effective for me to have our freezer stocked with meals in disposable pans I could use just before and after the move.
Every month when I see various bloggers write about having a big freezer cooking day, I ponder joining in…but between scheduling and my personal style of shopping and menu planning, it hasn’t felt like a good fit for me at this time. For one thing, I don’t like to repeat dinner items on a menu within the same month. Weird, I know. There are a few things I might schedule more than once a month (family favorites like pizza, stir-fry, pork chops, beef roast, spaghetti, and meatloaf), but even if I plan those meals more than once in a month, it would be about 3 weeks apart. It seems like a lot of the efficiency that can be gained in freezer cooking is found in cooking several of the same meal.
Then, when it comes to shopping, I am trying to practice the idea of stockpiling — that is, buying items at rock bottom prices, and buying enough to last until the next time when it will be at a rock bottom price again (anywhere from 4-12 weeks later, depending on the item). I am no pro at this by any means, and I am not usually a month “ahead” with everything. Which means, if I was going to do a mass freezer cooking day at any given time (even if it was just prepping basic items like meat that would be the basis for future meals), I would have to buy some items at non-rock-bottom prices to have it all at the same time. Maybe this won’t always be the case, but this is what I am generally experiencing right now.
Finally, I am not excited about the idea of prepping for a month, watching my “stock” fall to low levels, and then having to count on finding time again the following month to re-stock. With my luck, fifteen things would all come up at the same time and I would find myself scrambling with nothing pre-prepped in my freezer. Instead of relying on needing to find four or six or eight or more hours at the beginning of each month, it’s a lot easier for me to spend a few extra minutes (or sometimes a half an hour or an hour) here and there.
So, I’ve decided that what “works for me” in my current season of life and shopping and menu planning is to try and do little bits of freezer cooking throughout the month to keep my freezer reasonably stocked with easy meals, partially prepped parts of meals, and sometimes a few baked goods too. Here’s a few things I do to make this happen:
Buy cuts of meat on sale that can be used for a simple “meat+starchy side+veggies” meal. There is almost nothing easier than a meal that involves thawing a piece of meat and sticking it in the oven or crock pot. Adding baked potatoes and a frozen veggie or pre-cut salad makes this meal a no-brainer. Even if I prep a side dish that takes a little more effort, it is still a pretty simple meal. If I watch the sales and buy at rock-bottom prices, I can feed my family meals based around pork chops, beef roast, chicken (usually whole or leg-quarters) for a total meal cost $4-$5 (and this usually includes both leftovers for a lunch for Tony to take to work, plus with everything but the pork chops there is usually leftovers I can use to make at least one whole other meal).
Make double or triple of something I am making anyway. I don’t make as many casseroles as I used to a few years ago, but a lot of casseroles can be made in double quantities with little extra effort. That makes for one night of “average” meal prep to make the casserole in the first place, and one night of no prep as I throw that second or third dish in the oven.
Prep chicken or ground beef right after I find it on sale. I can’t always predict yet when I am going to see chicken breasts or ground beef at rock bottom price. And sometimes it is pure chance that I happen to be at the store when there is ground beef about to expire that is marked down on price reduction. But when I do find it I try and buy a bunch (two or three bags of chicken breasts or five to ten (or more) pounds of ground beef). I cook then chicken in the crock pot, shred it, and freeze it in meal size portions. Ground beef I cook in a large pot (stock pot if necessary), with water that comes about half-way up the level of the ground beef in the pan. It then just needs to be stirred once every few minutes while cooking, then drained well at the end. Presto — large quantities of browned ground beef cooked with minimal effort. After it cools I place it in the freezer in approximately two cup portions.
Buy dried beans, cook, and freeze some in meal size portions. When I buy my black, garbanzo and pinto beans, I try and buy two to three packages at a time. Then, when I need more beans I make them on the day I need some for a recipe, and freeze the rest in two or four cup portions (approximately equal to either one or two cans) to last me another month or two.
Make quick veggie or starch side dishes to pull out of the freezer. Some of this could probably be done any time — so there would be no problem with including it in a scheduled freezer cooking session. Potatoes are almost always inexpensive at Aldi, and, well, I recently bought a 50lb bag of rice so I will have plenty of rice for the foreseeable future. Since I am not necessarily scheduling in my freezer cooking time, I’ve been making extra side dishes on afternoons when it seems like I will have a bit of extra time. One will go in the oven for that night, and the rest go in the freezer. This past month I made a couple batches of “make-ahead mashed potatoes” as well as a couple pans of Cheesy Broccoli Rice to serve a side dishes throughout the month. I also envision myself doing this with other items as various veggies go on sale in coming months.
Making extra baked goods for the freezer. Have I mentioned before that I love baked goods for breakfast? Muffins, cinnamon rolls, cinnamon raisin bread, scones…and other things too that are harder to make at home. 
I’ve discovered that is is usually very little extra work to make a larger or double batch of many recipes (or at least to make enough of something that some can go in the freezer). So, I try and make two dozen muffins instead of one dozen and put a dozen in the freezer already baked. I also figured out that I can freeze cinnamon rolls in an un-baked state (already rolled and cut, but not risen). Then I can just plop them in a pan the night before, let them thaw and rise overnight…and I have rolls that are ready to bake in the morning with no effort at all! Making more than two dozen muffins at once is more of a chore for me since I currently only have two muffin pans…but on occasion I have made as many as four dozen muffins, to have plenty of bags of yummy pumpkin muffin goodness to pull out of the freezer (it works with other kinds too…those are just my favorite!)
Make wise use of frozen prepared or convenience foods. While I would not consider this a backbone of my menu planning, I find it very helpful to look for some convenience foods on sale, and have them in the freezer for those times when I need a truly quick meal. Let’s face it…freezer meals are, well, frozen. There is often thawing or extra long cooking time involved, or there is still some meal prep that needs to happen. There are just “those days” when I would otherwise resort to fast food or other eating out or I would end up serving dinner really, really late making everyone (including me) super crabby. I love having some “nice” frozen pizzas in the freezer that I have only spent $2-$3 on. A frozen commercial lasagna somehow cooks faster than my frozen lasagnas, so even these make a great “back up” to have in the freezer. A bagged stir fry mix and some frozen egg rolls make an easy meal. I can have dinner on the table in 15-20 minutes if I have those items in my freezer stash. Frozen french fries, tator tots or other potato items make a quick and easy side dish to go with grilled meat or to serve as a last-minute substitute if some other side dish has failed for some reason!
I’m sure a time may come when I take a day and do a bunch of freezer cooking. Who knows, maybe it will even be soon! But so far, this method is keeping my freezer stocked with minimal stress!
