Our First Freezer Cooking Day

My mom, sister, and I decided to start freezer cooking about once a month.  All of us need quick week night meals that will prevent us from eating out, which is both healthier for our bodies and our wallets!

I have read many, many blog posts about freezer cooking.  So I thought I had done the appropriate level of research.  But apparently there is always more to learn.  

First, we started with our plan.

Instead of trying a bunch of recipes that we had never had before, we went with a few tried and true family favorites that would freeze well.  We planned out our grocery list, then a plan of attack!

*Here is where we learned that you can't plan to make multiples of 9 meals in one day! It's way too much going on at once.  Instead, it would be easier to make several of only 3 or 4 meals. 

Here is our lofty list!!! We didn't get all of it accomplished. But what we did do, went well!

Here's the french fries that we made:

The veggie cutter that my mom had
definitely came in handy! So much
quicker than by hand

The cut potatoes!

Next we partially cooked the fries in oil.

Then let them drain and cool.
After they cooled, we placed them
on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper
and popped them in the freezer.
Once they were partially frozen
and wouldn't stick to each other,
we put them in a freezer zip lock bag.
Once we are ready to use them,
just preheat the oven, and pop them
in to crisp up. I added a little cooking
spray to mine to help get extra crispy.
So good!!!

While the potatoes were going, we also browned ground beef, and cut and cooked onions.

We have a whole beef in the freezer and
it's so nice to have fresh beef whenever
you want it! Much cheaper too.

We cooked the meat and put into
freezer bags to make quick
spaghetti or tacos.

Those skills I learned from my stint
at the Art Institute's culinary program
pays off.

After cooking the onions til soft, we
set aside what we needed for the recipes
and put the rest in quart size freezer bags
to use in future recipes.

Next, cooking our homemade spaghetti sauce.  My mom has always made her own spaghetti sauce, no Ragu for us!  This proved a challenge for making it in a large quantity, because she doesn't have a recipe! It's a little of this, some of that kind of thing.  But we kept track of the amounts that were going in so we can replicate it in a large quantity again. 

We decided to freeze some of the sauce,
and can the rest of it.  We did not add
the ground beef into the sauce, so
it only needed a water bath to can.

Next was Chicken Parmesan:

Grated Parmesan. Much better
than the canned stuff!

Fresh mozzarella! Yum.

The finished product! We also made homemade
marinara sauce. So easy and tastes wonderful.

*In the future, we will use shredded mozzarella
because it got a little watery after frozen then thawed.
Another thing will be to not pre-cook the chicken breasts
as they got a little overcooked and tough.

Lastly, we made chicken spaghetti!

Because it was near the end, this is the
only picture I got! This is smoked chicken
that my dad smoked for us the day before.
Added such great flavor!!!

Also not pictured, was the "Bisquick mix"
that we made.  All you do is add eggs and milk
for pancakes, or just milk for biscuits.  Super easy.

So, that's about it! Like I said, next time, we won't plan so many different meals, but stick to a few, or ones that have similar ingredients.

Have you experimented with freezer cooking before? What do you think?

Homemade Pizza Dough with No Yeast

Over the weekend, I planned a small grocery shopping trip to buy as few items as I could get away with to make meals this week and next.  I am trying to use up some items in my fridge and pantry, as well as save some money at the end of this month.  It's a great thing to do when you're strapped for cash.  We usually have way more food than I think we do, so I try to figure out what meals I can make with what's left, and only adding one or two ingredients.

So pizza was on the agenda for this week.  My husband and I both got a craving for pizza at the end of last week, but managed not to order out.  Making your own is a great way to satisfy that craving, for less money and fewer calories!

I was supposed to pick up some yeast for this fantastic freezer pizza dough from Money Saving Mom, but alas, I forgot it.  So I scoured the internet for a yeast-free version. I found this recipe over at diethood.com. It worked out great!

I mixed the dough up with my Kitchen Aid mixer, kneaded the dough, then pressed the dough flat on a cookie sheet.  It probably would have been easier if I had rolled it with a rolling pin, but I didn't bother.

After flattening on the cookie sheet, I pre-cooked the dough in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes.  I was making the dough for use the next day, so I cooled the dough, then wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the fridge. If you are making the pizza right then, skip this step.

The next day, I pulled the pizza crust out of the fridge, added homemade pizza sauce (my own concoction of tomato paste, ketchup, water, Worcestershire, Italian seasoning, garlic, onion powder, and whatever other spices catch my fancy), pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese.  I cooked it at 400 degrees for another 10 minutes or so, until the cheese was browning.

Ta da! My husband LOVES pepperoni pizza.

This is my version, jarred Alfredo sauce that I had leftover in the fridge, shredded chicken, spinach, and banana peppers. So good!

See these beautiful pears? They were picked fresh from my parent's place over the weekend.  They are sweet and crisp.

 I happened to have a little bit of extra dough, so I made a pear, cinnamon, and local honey tart! No idea what happened to the other half...

I will definitely be making this pizza dough again.  I am planning to make it, pre-cook, and store in the freezer for quick meals later on.  My mother, sister, and I are planning a freezer cooking day, so be on the lookout for a blog post featuring our adventure!