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Thursday, June 7, 2012

Back to Freezer Cooking/Prepping

I am back to freezer cooking/prepping.  I have found that having a toddler to keep up with makes it a little difficult to cook a fresh meal every single night, so I am back to doing a month shop/prep/cook/freeze session.

Here are the meals:
Salisbury Steak
Meatloaf
Pot Roast
Pot Roast (had planned to do steaks but they were not on sale)
Chicken Pot Pie
Chicken Stuffing Pie
Chicken Noodle Dumpling Delight
Chicken with Noodles
Spaghetti
Spaghetti with Meatballs
Baked Ziti
Chicken Parmesan
Buffalo Chicken Tenders

I know that isn't that many meals, but we got based on our credit card cycle and I plan to do another round when our credit card starts over.  We plan to eat at church on Wednesday nights and one other night each week.

Here's how I did it:
I prepped the Salisbury Steak and froze the patties (just have to thaw and cook them and add sides).
I prepped the Meatloaf and froze it flat in a freezer bag (just have to thaw and cook and add sides).
I put the roast in a freezer bag (I cook my pot roast from frozen with some potatoes, carrots, onions, onion soup mix, and beef broth in the crockpot - probably the easiest meal ever).
I cooked 2lbs of chicken in the crockpot until it was falling apart and froze it in 1lb bags for the casseroles (just have to toss the chicken with some other things and bake).
I froze 2lbs of chicken to be used the day we have CNDD and CwN (I have to make the CNDD completely but the chicken is pre-diced).  (The CwN just involves throwing chicken in the crockpot all day with COC soup and tossing together some things at the last minute).
I made 2lbs of meat's worth of spaghetti sauce (added all the veggies) and froze it flat to be used on spaghetti and baked ziti.  (Just have to cook noodles).
I made 1lb of meatballs and froze flat.  (Just have to cook noodles).
I froze 2lb of chicken tenders for the Chicken Parmesan and Buffalo Chicken Tenders (I don't like the bread crumbs on it to re-thaw - not as good).

So the meals should take about 30 minutes each day (and most of that is just putting stuff in the oven and leaving it).  I love this.  It is so nice.

How do you do your meal planning and preparation?  I would love to hear what works for ya.