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Freezer cooking is not only a wonderful way to save you time and money, but it also allows you to be a blessing to others in a time of need while still staying on budget!

New moms

Whether a woman is having her first child or her seventh, she will always welcome meals from family and friends to help her be able to keep her focus on her family.

Illness or Death

Having meals ready to go at a moments notice can be a huge blessing for your too in the event that you know of someone who is sick or who has had a recent death in the family.

Elderly

Those who are elderly are sometimes unable to cook and prepare meals for themselves.  You can help bring them not only nutritious meals, but a visit from a friend always cheers them up too.

Neighbors

Take a plate of cookies or a frozen dish to your new neighbors moving in down the street.  We all know how stressful moving can be and this will help ease the burden of them having to cook while moving in.

Christmas Goodies

Homemade Christmas goodies are a favorite gift among many during Christmas time.  Whether it’s cookies fresh from the freezer or a hot cocoa mix it will bring a smile to their face.

What other ways do you use freezer cooking to bless others?

If you are just joining us, you may want to read the previous posts in this series.

 

Not all of us will have the luxury to spend a day in the kitchen in order to prepare homemade meals for our families.   However, there are simple and practical ways that you can still stock your freezer with meals that do not take up a huge chunk of time.

Double Tonight’s Dinner

Are tacos on the menu for tonight?   Make a double batch and stick half of it in the freezer to enjoy later.   Making a double batch of a meal doesn’t take any longer than making a single batch.  This is a quick and almost effortless way to begin stocking your freezer.

Freezer Left Overs

Not going to eat that left over corn?  Put it in a baggie or bowl and toss it into the freezer to add into chicken pot pie or a soup later on down the road.

Marinade Frozen Chicken

Mix up a few different marinades in a baggie and place meal portioned frozen chicken breast or tenders into the bag and stick it in the freezer to use later.  The chicken will marinade as it thaws and this is an easy way to stock your freezer with several meals without a whole lot of time or effort!  To make things easy, simply toss marinaded chicken into the crock pot to cook overnight.

Make Hamburger Patties before freezing Ground Beef

Ground beef cannot be thawed and refrozen raw.  Hamburgers are tough if you freeze them cooked.  Pat out hamburger patties whenever you bring home fresh ground beef and either flash freeze or stack with wax paper in between patties to toss into the freezer.

Marinade Steaks

Saving those steaks for a special occasion? Mix up a tenderizing marinade in a baggie and throw those steaks in along with the marinade and freeze.  Steaks will marinade as they thaw and you can just stick them on the grill when you’re ready!

If you are just joining us, you may want to read the previous posts in this series.

 

Baking Soda

Keep a box of Baking Soda in the freezer to absorb any smells.

Double Wrap

Double wrap and place in a freezer bag in order to avoid freezer burn.  A great tip that I have found to be so helpful is to wrap the meal in wax paper before wrapping with aluminum foil to avoid having the foil stick to your food when you are ready to cook it.

Label, Label, Label

Make sure to label everything that goes into your freezer.  It is hard to tell frozen spaghetti apart from frozen chili.  Always make sure to write the date you put it in the freezer on the label as well – this helps not only to tell how long a dish has been in the freezer, but also which dishes you need to eat first!

Flash Freeze

Wash and Chop fruits and veggies like normal then line on a baking sheet and stick it in the freezer to flash freeze fruits and veggies to avoid them clumping together in the freezer bag.  Once frozen toss into a baggie and store in the freezer.   Once you have flash frozen your fruits you can simply pull out whatever you need now and leave the rest in the freezer.

 

Meal Size Portions

Store dishes in meal size portions to avoid having to cook 4 meals worth of spaghetti when you only need 1 meals worth.    We like to cooking 2 meals worth of whatever we are having for dinner in order to have left overs for lunch the next day so keep that in mind when portioning your meals!

Airtight

Make sure to remove as much air as possible from casserole dishes, tupperware, and baggies.   For casserole dishes and tupperware with lids you can ‘burp’ the lids to remove air before sealing completely.  With baggies you can zip top until almost closed and either press the air out as much as possible or insert a small straw into the top corner of the bag and suck the air out then quickly close.

If you are just joining us, you may want to read the previous posts in this series.

Freezer Cooking has been one huge experiment for me – the more in depth I go the more I learn!   Don’t be afraid to stick a bowl of left overs of a dish you love in the freezer to see how it does.  Experiment with dishes to see what works best for your family.   Spaghetti may not work well in the freezer if you mix in the pasta, but you can freeze the meat and sauce and simply cook the pasta when you’re ready to enjoy spaghetti!

Things that Freeze Well:

Spaghetti Sauce {with or without Meat}

Hamburger Patties

Pizza Dough

Marinaded Beef or Chicken

Taco Meat

Chili

Soups

Chicken Spaghetti

Lasagna

Tater tot Casserole

Bread, sliced

Cinnamon Rolls

Cupcakes

Cakes

Chicken Pot Pie

Cookie Dough

Fajitas (beef or chicken)

Peppered Steak

Meatballs

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Oreo Cheesecake Bites

Hashbrown Casserole

Twice Baked Potatoes

Beef Stroganoff

Creamy Italian Chicken

Cheese Dip

Sandwich Meat

Chicken Tetrazini

Apples Pie

Things that Freeze Well for Cooking/Baking Needs:

Cream Cheese

Sour Cream

Butter

Cottage Cheese

Sliced or Shredded Cheese

Eggs, cracked and mixed together

Things that do NOT Freeze Well:

Block Cheese

Lettuce

Mayonnaise

Potatoes

Cream Pies or Custards

 

If you are just joining us, you may want to read the previous posts in this series.

 

Breads & Muffins

Bread and Muffins can be set out to thaw in the fridge the night before you intend to enjoy them.  Or, you can stick them in the microwave for 15-30 seconds to enjoy an instant homemade meal.    You can also grab a few slices of bread, butter them, and slide them into the oven for yummy homemade toast for breakfast!

Meats

Place frozen meat dishes in the fridge to allow time to thaw before cooking the next day.  This also allows chicken in marinades time to marinade as it thaws.   Some dishes with meats already cooked can go from freezer to oven with no problem – such as lasagna or chicken spaghetti.    Always make sure to use your best judgement and do whatever you feel most comfortable with in preparing your meals.

Soups & Chili

You can place soups and chili’s out the morning you intend to have them for dinner.  If you stored your soups or chili in a freezer bag and froze flat, you may want to place the baggie in a bowl to thaw just in case the juice leaks out while thawing.

Fruits & Veggies

Usually frozen fruits and veggies are best served in other dishes or treats rather than eating them alone right from the freezer.  They will lose their ‘crunchiness’ as they thaw.   Toss chopped Green Peppers into fajitas or chili and frozen Strawberries or blueberries work wonderful when whipping up a yummy smoothie!

Desserts

Frozen cookie dough can do directly from the freezer to the oven – you may want to add a minute or two of extra baking time though to make sure they are fully baked.  Other desserts – such as cheesecake – will have to be allowed to thaw fully before eating.   Those type of desserts are wonderful to simply set in the fridge the night before or on the counter the morning you intend to use them.