30 Day Freezer Meal Friday

Dinners are somewhat rough around here. I have a picky husband (whom I love dearly!) and his lack of desire for variety often clashes with my love for it. When I cook something he doesn't like, which happens often, I am left with the two choices of cooking a separate meal for him, or letting him fend for himself. Neither of which are ideal.

Freezer meal cooking has been my rescuer! Even though Karl still doesn't eat most of what I cook from the freezer, it has freed me up to cook him a separate meal if I need to. I had been cooking up an extra serving here and there, but after talking with my friend Jessica from Feeding the Family for less, we decided to get together via Skype and have a 30 Day cooking frenzy! The day was a fun and furious mix of chatter and cooking and at the end my freezer was well stocked:


Ok, fine, so that isn't really my freezer. Mine looks more like this:



but at the end of the day I had bagged 41 dinners and as soon as everything is frozen solid, the freezer will be organized.

There are a few things that I could not have done without during my first 30 Day Freezer Meal frenzy. The first was Jessica. She was my pillar of strength when my feet were burning from standing. More importantly though, she introduced me to 30 Day Gourmet's BIG Book of Freezer Cooking and to the software that goes with it! The cookbook gives you over 150 recipes and the software does everything from a grocery list to telling you what order to prep and cook! It was WONDERFUL!

What made the day so easy was having directions on what to do when. Starting out with chopping all of our veggies for every meal that we were going to make:



I had a hard time taking photos while we were cooking, but the software gave us instructions every step of the way!

Wondering what I did with the kids while we cooked? They did a bit of food art! The bottom end of the cut celery stalk makes a great stamp! You can also get neat patters with onions, a stalk of celery, potatoes and just about any other firm fruit or veggie. Oh, and grandpa took them out to lunch for about an hour and a half.





Her uncle is in the USAF and she loves wearing his hat in case you were wondering.

A few things I learned through this process:

Have a plan
Shop ahead
Do as much prep work as you can ahead of time (cook meat, chop veggies)
Do the dishes as you go

So there it is! My fun freezer meal day with Jessica. Even though my kitchen still looked like this at the end of the day:

it was fun and I now have 41 yummy dinners/lunches in my freezer! I am actually looking forward to adding some breakfasts and maybe even deserts!

Do you do freezer meals? I would love for you to share your freezer meal posts with us. Just add your post to the linky below! Look for this meme at the end of each month!

Wordless Wednesday: 30 Day Freezer Cooking

Prepping for my freezer meal cooking day with Jessica at Feed The Family for less. We will be Skype chatting and cooking from our own kitchens! Can't wait!

Zaycon Foods is Back in Town with Ground Beef!

Zaycon is back in town with 93/7 hormone free ground beef for just $2.89/lb!!

There are pick-up locations all over the Dallas/Ft.Worth area so be sure to check the list and I bet you there is one near you!

Picture Credit

Freezer Meal Friday Edition #2

This is my second instillation of Freezer Meal Fridays! To participate all you need to do is post your recipe for a freezer meal on your blog and link back to my blog using mr. linky. You are welcome to use my graphic or make your own just please be sure to link back to my blog!!

This week we have vegetable soup!

Ingredients
SOUP BASE:
1 quart chopped fresh tomatoes
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced onion
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS (for each batch):
2 cups diced cooked potatoes
2 cups water
Directions
1.Combine soup base ingredients in a kettle or Dutch oven; bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Cool. Place 2 cups each into freezer containers. May be frozen for up to 3 months.
Footnotes

To prepare soup: Thaw soup base in the refrigerator. Transfer to a kettle or Dutch oven. Add potatoes and water; simmer for 30-40 minutes. Yield: 4 serving per batch. Nutritional Analysis: One 1-cup serving (prepared without salt) equals 108 calories, 31 mg sodium, 0 cholesterol, 25 gm carbohydrate, 3 gm protein, trace fat. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 vegetable.

Freezer Meal Fridays Edition #1

This is my first instillation of Freezer Meal Fridays! To participate all you need to do is post your recipe for a freezer meal on your blog and link back to my blog using mr. linky. You are welcome to use my graphic or make your own just please be sure to link back to my blog!!

My Recipe for this week:


Shepherd's Pie Recipe
Potato Mixture

•6 large potatoes, cubed with peels left on

•3 cloves garlic peeled
•1 1/2 c sour cream

•1 c cream
•1/2 stick unsalted butter
•1/4 c chopped chives

•1/2 c chopped onion

•salt and pepper to taste
Meat Mixture

•2 tablespoons butter

•1/4 c finely chopped onion
•1/3 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
•salt and pepper to taste
•6 carrots, sliced and cooked
•1 lb of green beans, cooked
•1/2 lb mushrooms
•2 tablespoons olive oil
•2 onions, chopped
•1-1/2 pounds ground beef, ground lamb, ground pork, or a mixture of all three.
•2 tablespoons flour
•1 can cream of mushroom soup

•1 can cream of celery soup

•1/2 c half and half

•1 c shredded cheddar for sprinkling over the top
Put the potatoes, onion, and garlic in a pan and nearly cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender. Drain.

Transfer to a large bowl. Add cream, sour cream, salt, pepper, butter, and chives. Mash with a hand masher to maintain some texture. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add mushrooms and onion. Cook until onion is transparent. Add ground meat and cook until well browned, seasoning to taste. Pour off excess fat. Add soups and half and half. Mix well.

Spread the ground beef in a layer on the bottom of a casserole dish. Next, spread a layer of green beans. Top with a layer of carrots. Put the mashed potato mixture over the top of all layers, and sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese. Let cool to room temperature, seal and freeze.

To bake: Thaw in refrigerator overnight and bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes. Allow to stand for a few minutes before serving.

Serves 6-8

For a quick alternative to using fresh potatoes you can substitute instant. It cuts down cooking time but will change the taste a bit.

For more great freezer recipes visit here.