Pampers

MY ADVENTURES IN FREEZER COOKING: INTRODUCTION

Posted by on Mar 2, 2010 in Frugalness | 10 comments

I have been interested in once a month cooking, (or freezer cooking as some may call it), for a very long time. I have seen so many mommy bloggers raving about the benefits of being able to go into their freezers and pull out healthy, homemade meals for their family. I am so against tv dinners. I only serve them under dire circumstances.

With freezer cooking I will be able to prepare quite a few meals and freeze them for later use.

The final push that I needed came when I found the website Once A Month Mom. I decided that I would try my first freezer cooking adventure the first weekend in March and that I would only create enough meals for 2 weeks instead of an entire month just to see how I like it. I know that it is daunting for me to cook a meal during the week, so preparing two weeks worth in one days is going to be no easy fete.

The reason I am doing this is because the benefits far outweigh whatever could go wrong in my kitchen. Not only is this a frugal way at preparing your family’s meals, because you no longer have to make last minute stops to fast food chains when you are having “one of those nights“, but it frees up your evenings to spend more time with your family out of the kitchen.

The first step in freezer cooking is planning out your meals.

I have decided that I will make enough meals for ten dinners (two weeks worth of meals) and four breakfasts (two weekends worth of yumminess).

Here are my dinner plans:

Here are my breakfast plans:

I am excited about my foray into my attempt at freezer cooking and I will be creating several articles throughout the week documenting my planning as well as an update this weekend with pictures and/or videos of my progress. So if you don’t already follow me on  Twitter, you really should. I will be tweeting all day Saturday with pictures and progress.

If this weekends attempt goes as planned, which it shouldn’t knowing my luck, then I will be attempting to do this once a month. Leave a comment and let me know if you’d be interested in joining up with me for the month of April.

Have you ever done once-a-month cooking? Do you have any tips or recipes to share? Have you wrote about freezer cooking/once-a-month cooking on your blog?

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10 Comments

  1. Jennifer / March 2, 2010

    I think this is something I would really enjoy doing. I love to cook, but getting dinner on the table every night can be such a hassle. I made all of my son’s baby food and it was so easy being able to just get it out of the freezer and warm it up for him. I would spend a few hours every couple of weeks making the food. I still keep a supply of homemade spaghettios in the freezer for him :) Right now I think I need to focus on gathering up recipes that my family would enjoy and then go from there. Your list is a good one – a lot of other lists I’ve seen have meals that just wouldn’t work for us or are too boring for my taste.

    Reply
  2. Mona / March 3, 2010

    I have had this discussion with my family and friends on several occasions. This is a good idea on so many levels, especially for those of us married to men who almost EXPECT you to cook every night. I’ve attempted it to some degree, but not more than a few days worth of meals. What’s so crazy is that..it does save me time, and it works fantastic..but I’m so doggone tired on the weekends that I don’t want to do anything extra. My family should count it all joy that I even cook on the weekends at all. I’m going to have to revisit this idea though and figure out how to make it work.

    P.S. – I’m slow, so I don’t use Twitter…can you post some pix to your site for those of us still in the 20th century?

    Reply
    • Shynea / March 3, 2010

      Dear Mona,

      I will definitely create a post on Saturday morning and keep updating it with pictures and videos. If you don’t get into this 21st century me and you are going to have a problem. ;) Girl get you a Twitter account and get “your tweet on.”

      BTW, I need to work on making the social network active again. I plan on making that my project next week. Updating it with a new layout and new discussion topics.

      Take care,
      Shynea

      Reply
  3. Shannon / March 3, 2010

    This sounds like a wonderful time saver. I will begin it this weekend!

    Reply
    • Shynea / March 3, 2010

      Dear Shannon,

      You’ll have to let me know how it goes.

      Take care,
      Shynea

      Reply
  4. cocoamommy / March 3, 2010

    Shynea-

    Does everything go into freezer bags or do you need something more than that?

    Reply
    • Shynea / March 3, 2010

      Dear Alanda,

      I put my soups and things that are runny, like my Shrimp Jambalaya, in freezer bags. Everything else will go into those tin lasagna/casserole pans. I will then add wax paper on top, then wrap in plastic wrap and then slide in a freezer bag.

      I hope this helps!

      Take care,
      Shynea

      Reply
  5. Priscilla / March 4, 2010

    This will be interesting….I never really heard of this before other than that my mother in law used to do it when she works the overnight shift at her job. I may have to try this since I am never motivated to cook! haha!
    I enjoy cooking on the weekends when I have more time though so this might work for me.

    Reply
  6. Ebonie / March 5, 2010

    I think this is a great idea! I’m making plans on doing this for my husband and myself! My big goal is for us not to eat our so much and eat healthier! Also, I think it will be a huge time saver!

    Reply
  7. Jae / March 12, 2010

    I am glad i came across this, I have followed once a month mom and was doing this once a wk for the wk. And like other moms get busy with life and forgot about it but it is time to get into this again. It is great when you can just pull that meal out of the freezer and warm it up. It helps to simplify life.

    Reply

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