Cooking For The Freezer

[Dee]

Years when, when we had children at home, and world full of chores in the mornings and evenings I'd cook for the freezer.  Sometimes things came up that kept me outside too long.  An example, ewes lambing and one, or more, needing help.  We couldn't leave her to struggle w/o help and yet the kids needed to eat before school or even supper.

 

I learned to always have food in the freezer for them to take out and microwave.  Breakfast foods, pancakes, waffles, sausage, bacon, pizzas, hamburger patties, you get the idea.

 

Cooking for the freezer became a way of life that continues on to this day.  Now it's just DH and me but there are days when I'm busy, gone, or even just lazy or not in the mood to cook.  

 

Those days I pull food from the freezer, or he does.  Makes life so much easier.

 

So, with all that said, a couple of days ago I did up sausage patties and sausage and scrambled eggs.  I don't like them, but DH does and will eat them some mornings for breakfast.

 

The pictures below show what I did.  There are a dozen cooked sausage patties and a skillet full of scrambled eggs and sausage that turned into 27 one cup bagged portions.  

 

All are in the freezer now and ready for him to chow down on when he's in the mood.

[Jeepers]

I'm definitely saving this. One of my main goals is to cook for my freezer and have easy meals ready to heat and eat. It isn't always easy to cook a meal for one. All I need is a freezer. 

[Mother]

Jeepers, I always cook for four or five at a time even though there are only two of us.  I find it's not much more time consuming or fuel using to do that instead of just for one.  I keep containers ready and just put serving sized portions in them and once cool I freeze.  It's not even any more clean up except the pans I use are bigger.   I used to actually keep the pressure canner ready in the kitchen along with jars and lids all ready.  Then when there was left overs that could be canned I'd pop them into jars and can even if it was only two or three jars.  Soup is especially nice that way.  I am not up to canning now but I have some really nice silicone freezer trays called Soupers that hold a cup or two of soup.  I freeze them, pop the product out and store the frozen squares in gallon zip locks in the freezer. Easy to take one or two out.  And if the electric goes off at least they are in zip lock freezer bags.  

[Dee]

I use containers too Mother, but I use way more Baggies.  I get most of the air out and lay the bag flat to freeze.  They stack nicely and takes up less room.  

 

[Littlesister]

I haven't really done much in the way of prepared meals to put in freezer, I was just used to cooking every night both when the kids were home and when it was just DH and me. Now that I am by myself, I want to start doing that. It would make it so much easier now that I am keeping up the house, garden and yard. But I first have to get the meat canned in order to do that. Hoping it will be before the garden comes in later in year. I think it will be a busy summer for me this year because of construction.

[Darlene]

I freeze meals once in a while, usually when I've made too much and don't feel like leftovers. It's so awesome though when I'm able to pull something from the freezer and heat it up and it's a home cooked meal with MY recipe.

[Dee]

DH doesn't mind any of it warmed up in the microwave.  When I do it, I usually plan ahead enough to put it in my little toaster oven.  Seems to me, to taste so much better.  Here's one I put in the oven before going to church a couple of weeks ago.

 

The potatoes and ham were frozen separately and put in the toaster oven together.  The bread is pumpkin bread I made last fall, so all it had to do was thaw.  Fixed us a salad and voila dinner was ready in no time.  

[Ambergris]

That looks so good.  

[Jeepers]

OMG Ambergris! You are a sight for sore eyes. I had to check the date on the post twice to make sure it was really you. I can't tell you how much you have been missed. I've thought about you so often and wondered what you were up to on your property. Sorry for the thread hijack but I'm just so happy you are back.  

 

Carry on...

[Ambergris]

Not to hijack the thread, I wish I was up to more.  My health and a poor choice of where to put resources (meaning not in irrigation) means a lot of effort and a great start got wasted.  Now we're looking around and trying to figure out where to go from here.

At least we have two deep freezers, and are getting good at cycling the food in one of them.  The other, unfortunately, has meat hard-frosted to the bottom of it that will need to be defrosted out and then canned.  (At least we don't have to worry that it's been ruined by any extended hurricane blackout.)  No one is eager to approach this job, as you might guess.

[euphrasyne]

Ambergris   its good to see you again.

 

One of the major things I cook specifically for the freezer is breakfast meals so everyone can DIY.   I make huge batches of pancakes, flash freeze them on cookie sheets, then put them in a 2.5 gallon bag.  I cook sausage and scrambled egg and layer it with cheese and english muffins, flash freeze, place vertically in english muffin box (like cookies) and put that in a large bag.   Muffins get the same treatment as pancakes.   Scrambled eggs with cheese and meat rolled up in tortillas--flash freeze and place in large bag.   People grab and do their own thing for breakfast.  DH grabs whatever and puts it in tupperware and takes it to work.  Sometimes I put oatmeal, cream of wheat, or grits in  packets (bought or homemade snack bags) in a pint mason jar with oz markings.   It is easy for him to measure the liquid in the jar, dump the bag and microwave at work.  

[Ambergris]

Thank you Euphrasyne.  Do you make the silver-dollar pancakes?  That's what I pictured, with everything else being of a size as you described.

[Dee]

Quote

Sometimes I put oatmeal, cream of wheat, or grits in packets (bought or homemade snack bags) in a pint mason jar with oz markings.   It is easy for him to measure the liquid in the jar, dump the bag and microwave at work.  

euphrasyne, what a great idea.  I've never once thought of that with oatmeal or cream of wheat.  

 

 

[euphrasyne]

I usually make full size pancakes.  I have an 8 pancake electric griddle I cook on for large batches and I just scoop the batter out with a metal 1/4 c measure.  It clings to the measure so it is a bit less per pancake but they are maybe 4" pancakes.  I usually make them flavored--pumpkin, chocolate chip, apple, sometimes oatmeal pancakes or applesauce pancakes.  

 

DH gets up at 415 and leaves the house by 5; he eats breakfast and lunch at work.  He has a giant lunchbox--think coleman camping type thing.  I pack lunches 1-2 days before and put them on a special shelf in a specific spot in the fridge because he is completely incapable of seeing it if I put it anywhere else.  Even the kids know not to put anything in that spot because it is the 'lunch spot.'  Anyway, he grabs a lunch from the spot and picks a breakfast he wants.   Into the giant lunchbox along with all his meds, etc. and off he goes to work and I get to sleep longer.  

 

He loves mason jar cereal too.   I can pack a small jar of milk and a jar of cereal and ta-dah.   I have been warned that if I try the 'pintrest salad mason jar' again he will be very angry.   Apparently the salad is too hard to eat out of one and I'm only allowed to pack them in tupperware.  

 

I have all these weird bento shape cutters and sometimes I will press shapes out of cheese, lunchmeat, carrots, etc. and put them in his lunch--especially if it is a salad.   It drives one of the women at his work crazy because 'he should be making his own lunch not forcing his wife to.'  I love to annoy her with cute lunches.  

Edited March 19, 2022 by euphrasyne

[Buttercup]

I love freezer meals. I need to get back to it! 

[Dee]

Today is our weekly luncheon at the library.  One lady called and said, "I was to bring dessert today, but I have to be gone.  Can you help?"  I tell her sure but my mind  is racing.  Our closest grocery store is 20 miles away so no running there quick to pick something up.

 

Ah, I think, I have cookie dough in the freezer.   So, within 20 minutes I had cookies baked and ready to go.  

 

Cooking from the freezer is a good thing!

Edited March 23, 2022 by Dee
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[themartianchick]

When I first saw the topic, I immediately thought of Dee. I remembered that she was the queen of preparing a whole lot of food and freezing/saving it for later to feed her hubby. Then, I realized that Dee actually started the topic!

 

I like to make casseroles (lasagna, ziti, etc.) and then refrigerate them. They slice into portions so much easier when cold. Then, I place them in regular ziploc sandwich bags and a little extra (loose) grated cheese. Those little bags are then loaded into 2 gallon freezer bags for long term storage in the freezer. 

[Dee]

Loved reading your story tmc and they do sound good!  Doesn't it make life simple for times when you're in a hurry or simply don't want to cook?

 

 

 

 

[TheCG]

I've made breakfast "cups" before.  Was doing low carb, so a bit of cooked ground breakfast sausage and some roasted radish in the bottom of an 8 ounce mason jar, then frozen.  To eat, heat it up in the microwave, then crack an egg into it, stir, and heat again until the egg is cooked to your liking.

[Cricket]

I love freezer cooking! I got a bunch of 8 inch square metal pans from the Dollar Tree that I use for meals like burritos and casseroles. It's so easy to make a recipe that's supposed to fit a 13 x 9 pan and divide it into two. Later I can take one out and thaw overnight in fridge, then bake in the toaster oven for dinner. When my friend was going through cancer treatment, I could grab a couple meals at a time to take over.

 

I have the thawing and baking instructions on my computer for the things I make most often, so I print them off and put them on top of the casserole under a covering of plastic wrap. That way if I give it away, or one of my menfolk had to cook, they would know what to do with it. 

 

I always make meatloaf mixture in batches. I shape the loaves on a waxed-paper lined baking sheet and freeze overnight. Then the frozen meatloaves are wrapped separately and easy to fit into the freezer. 

 

I make big batches of meatballs baked on a rack in a shallow pan. The cooked meatballs are then divided into meal-sized portions for the freezer. Similarly, I bake two or three packages of Italian sausages, then divide into meal sized portions for when we have a pasta meal.

 

I pre-cook loose Italian sausage, drain and put into a zip lock freezer bag. When we make homemade pizza, it's easy to take some out for topping. A pound of sausage can top four or five pizzas for us, as we usually have pepperoni on top, too. 

[Dee]

I LOVE how many of us are doing this.  I hope we can get other's convinced to give it a try.

 

I know they'll be surprised at how nice it is.  I know you can buy many of these things premade but homemade is so much better, made to your preferences, and so much cheaper.

 

Give it a try and if you have any questions just ask.  We'll all be glad to help.

[Mother]

I like to make frozen meals for the crock pot.  I put raw meat, seasonings, vegetables, and liquids into a gallon freezer bag, lay flattish on a cookie sheet and freeze them.  That way they are fairly flat and store nicely in the freezer.  I get one out the night before needed and let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator.  In the morning I just dump the contents into the crock pot and turn it on.  Fresh and tasty. I do this with roasts and fish most often but it works for so much more.  

[Dee]

I've wondered about putting the vegetables in with the meat at the beginning Mother but have always waited until closer to time to eat.  I thought they might get too mushy if they were in that long.  Thanks for the info. I'll give it a try.

[Mother]

I love doing pot roast this way. Carrots, celery, and onions are great this way.  Potatoes are too but do get a bit of a texture problem but sweet potatoes work really nice.