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Way Back in the early 2000's


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Way back, when we were all younger, we used to cook ahead.  Do any of you still do that?  I had to with children at home at so many chores to do so they would have meals ready to microwave somedays.  I could have bought them prepared and ready to cook but didn't.

 

Then the children grew up, left home and I quit the cooking ahead.  Well now, at 74, I'm all of a sudden tired of cooking.  So tired of it I've gone back to cooking ahead.  A couple hours or so of cooking and I have food in the freezer for DH to microwave.

 

This morning I cooked 5 lbs. of sausage and 3 dozen eggs.  He had a breakfast from them and I ended up with 18 servings for the freezer.  I don't care for them so that's 18 meals that are cooked and he can just warm up.  He's happy!  I'm happy!  Life is good!:cele:sausage and eggs 21.jpg

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I knew I saw this post somewhere but I couldn't find it to respond, I finally found it again.  

 

It's funny you mentioned it now because the other day I was scouring the internet for freezer meal recipes. I have a few books and a lot of links downloaded. I especially like getting ideas from this channel... Jamerrill Stewart, Large Family Table - YouTube   And some from Pinterest too.

 

I have a tiny fridge freezer now with no room for anything but want to get a big freezer for the Indy garage. I just need to clean it out first. And paint the walls. And redo a step. And......

 

I love your bagged up sausage and eggs. I'm definitely stealing that idea! I want to make some breakfast burritos too. Breakfast bowls look good also. And lots of other one dish meals. We love homemade beef and noodles but they take so long to make so I don't make it very often. But stored in the freezer they are a quick heat and eat meal. Also some muffins and pot pies and all sorts of quick and easy 'fast food'.  I'm never sure on how to go about recooking them. To thaw or not to thaw or how long to cook if still frozen. I'll have to do a lot to trial and error I suppose. 

 

I'd like to make my own recipe binder for fast reference like I did with canning recipes. So many things with so little time and energy. 

 

 

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I must agree about being tired of cooking. I have days I just don't want to cook but don't want to get into a habit of running down the road for fast food. Making up ahead meals for freezer is a great idea. Now that it is just me, that would be right up my ally. And yes I also am stealing your idea. That looks good. Betting I can do that with bacon as well. 

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Jeepers, I used to make these into breakfast burritos but DH found the tortillas tough and prefers them this way.  It makes it that much easier and cheaper w/o them. :) 

 

Have you cooked your roasts in the crockpot?  It takes time, but little work, and the meat is so tender it falls apart with a fork.  Then take the meat out and add the noodles.  Yum!  If you want more noodles than your crock will hold put the broth in a Dutch oven and cook that way.  

 

If I'm wanting a really big batch to freeze I always have cans (used to be home canned) of beef and chicken broth on hand.  I cook it down until there's good flavor and add it to the original broth.  Voila' beef and noodles for the freezer.  Freeze in meal size portions and microwave when ready to eat.  Yum!

 

I never thaw so I use the microwave most of the time but I put things in my little toaster oven and reheat them that way sometimes, IF I think that far ahead.  DH always uses the microwave and likes it BUT I will admit he's an easy keeper and not picky.

 

Littlesister, there are so many things you can do ahead and freeze.  When I make pancakes I quintuple the recipe.  Once they're cooked I put 2 (or whatever amount you wish) in individual sandwich bags and freeze.  I did the same thing with French toast when the kids were home but DH isn't crazy about them.

 

This time of year I make and freeze zucchini or zucchini apple bread.  Bake, cool, slice and wrap each piece in plastic wrap.  Freeze, put in bags and thaw or microwave when ready for a slice.  Of course, you can do it with banana and pumpkin too but zucchini is ready right now around here.

 

 Apples make great frozen applesauce.  Same with squash.  I add a little butter and brown sugar to the squash when I reheat it.  I'm getting hungry! :) 

 

Yes, bacon would work fine, as would ham for the sausage and eggs.  DH prefers Italian sausage but like you, I'd prefer bacon.

 

I've added 3 more pictures of things I've frozen.  Chili already bagged and ready to freeze and enchiladas waiting to put 2 in a bag.

 

Spend a couple of hours making supper and then freeze tons for later.  The chili can stand alone but I usually have garlic bread in the freezer to go along with it and the enchiladas I'll add a salad and vegetable.  It's a great way to have a meal ready in 10 minutes on those nights you just can't stand the idea of cooking AGAIN.  

 

Our closest grocery store and restaurants are 22 (44 round trip) miles from us.  It made cooking daily pretty much mandatory so it's another of the reasons I learned to cook for the freezer.  There was nothing convenient to run to and pick something up quickly.  

 

Hope this helps!  :wave:

chili  2.jpg

enchiladas 9-19.jpg

zucchini.jpg

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Dee, that all looks good.  One of the things I would do is to make eggplant parmesan in sheet pans and freeze it. DH loved it. Now I will have to start doing other things for fast meals to freeze. I love the idea of having things made up ahead of time that I can pull from freezer and just heat up.

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Those pictures look fantastic!  :bow:

 

I'm a lazy cooker so freezer meals are right up my alley. I don't mind marathon cooking but cooking for one person every day gets old fast. I like leftovers but not five days in a row.  

 

People talk about, "What if the power goes out."  I always used my freezer for short term meals. Not something I would rely on in a true Grid Down situation. Also for storing meat until I could get around to canning it. Sort of like a working pantry. 

 

My grocery store sells pre cooked meals that they assemble right there. It looks like homemade dinners? They aren't frozen though. They look delicious but cost about $10.00 a meal. Yikes. I've been looking at the different combinations of food they put together so I can duplicate some. I noticed they use longer lengths of veggies like 3-4 inch green beans or baby carrots instead of round slices. Those make the meals look very appetizing.  

 

I think I'm gonna need a bigger freezer.  :D

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Your pictures look great, Dee! 

 

Right now I have a 9X13 Spaghetti pie and a 9X13 meatloaf in the freezer.

 

A couple of weeks ago, I made a huge batch of chili, froze some, ate some and Pressure canned the rest.

 

I only cook a couple of time a week at the most.  Anything I can do to make it easier on myself (and increase my stores), I will do.

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I agree snapshotmiki.  Anything to make cooking meals easier is my motto.  AND, yes, increasing my stores is an added bonus.

 

Do you freeze the whole 9x13 or cut it up and freeze in individual servings?  We have very little company, and it's just the two of us so almost everything I make is made in to individual portions.  I wrap each piece individually in plastic wrap, freeze ad then put it a large bag marked with what's inside and date the bag.  It seems if I date the bag I'm more apt to use it.  No date and I can convince myself it's only been there a month so no rush.  :D

 

Anyway, it's a convenient way to have meals ready in no time.

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5 hours ago, Dee said:

I agree snapshotmiki.  Anything to make cooking meals easier is my motto.  AND, yes, increasing my stores is an added bonus.

 

Do you freeze the whole 9x13 or cut it up and freeze in individual servings?  We have very little company, and it's just the two of us so almost everything I make is made in to individual portions.  I wrap each piece individually in plastic wrap, freeze ad then put it a large bag marked with what's inside and date the bag.  It seems if I date the bag I'm more apt to use it.  No date and I can convince myself it's only been there a month so no rush.  :D

 

Anyway, it's a convenient way to have meals ready in no time.

I froze the dinners whole and uncooked.  If we do have company, I don't have to kill myself trying to figure out what to cook.  Just sides.  I'm trying to date things now that I have more freezer space.  Like the 6 gallons of figs I have now.  More every day!

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