I'm watching my freezer shelves gradually build up with pre-made food and it's SO exciting to think about having it all ready for those wild and crazy days of summer!
This is what I did over the weekend:
Over the weekend, I used this recipe for 4 Loaves of White Bread for supper one night. I used half the dough to make and freeze Cinnamon Rolls.
(Flash freeze, drop into zipper bags.)
I made Bean Burritos over the weekend with Saucy Black Beans and made a double batch of the beans for the freezer.
 |
| (Ground beef, shredded cheddar, and fresh parsley.) |
I used (a triple batch of) Crystal's recipe to make 'Beef-n-Cheddar Hot Pockets'.
Now- what to make tomorrow.....?
:-)
It looks like you have been busy making lots of good food for your freezer cooking. I just love having meals in the freezer I can pull out and make quickly. All of your dishes look great.
ReplyDeleteThank you Shelly!
ReplyDeleteIt has been so much fun- and such a blessing! I'm still plotting what I can work on tomorrow!
I have done this in preparation for the births of my children and it's wonderful having a full freezer. However, I can't figure out how to get over paying for the storage materials. The freezer containers work well for some things, but I hate using ziploc bags and foil and saran wrap for the other things. Seems so wasteful and it costs money. Have you found a way around this and/or have you figured out that the cost is worth it? Thanks for all the recipes!
ReplyDeleteKaryn,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, it is hard to justify the use of those items and honestly, sometimes I can't. But I reuse/re-wash as much as I possibly can. My teens joke around here; "When I grow up, I'm gonna make sure I can afford a whole bunch of Ziploc bags so we never have to re-wash them!" They HATE to wash those bags :)
But- foods that can be flash froze are the most frugal to store, since you can drop them in Ziploc bags and re-wash those.
I've also found it important to stay away from certain bags that the zipper goes bad after the first use. (Walmart brand.;-)
I hope you'll let me know if you find more frugal ways to do this!
Karyn,
ReplyDeleteI wondered if you also might like this post:
http://wholenewmom.com/whole-new-budget/which-costs-the-least-dehydrating-freezing-or-canning/
That is a great link - thanks! I, too, will wash the ziploc bags and such. Sometimes I use old bread bags or yogurt containers to freeze in, though I try not to buy those items to begin with. But it seems like the freezer containers are the best deal. Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteI also use a Food Saver and enjoy it very much. The bags can be rewashed and re used but, they do eventually wear down and some people find this too expensive. I think it depends on how long you need to store the food. They are air tight and will keep a very long time, so that is a great plus.
ReplyDeleteYou can also use other heavy plastics in Food Savers but that isn't recommended by some. ;-)
Yes! Bread bags -and some folks use the bags that cereal comes in too. (I rarely buy it though.)Anything you buy that would have heavy foil (from frozen) would be good as well and washes easy.
If you're really trying to be frugal, some of your flour bags (the heavy paper) could come in handy as well. Many freezer items come in similar things when bought in bulk, such as fries.
You're very welcome Karyn!
The initial cost may be a lot, but tupperware containers work the best for me. I just keep them in rotation and wash and reuse.
ReplyDeleteWould love to have Tupperware! I was just drooling over lidded Rubbermaid containers the other day. :)
ReplyDelete