Freezer Cooking!

A few months ago, another mama and I did some freezer cooking for a friend in need. What a great experience! I learned a lot, as I have never done any major freezer cooking before. Fortunately, the mama I was working with freezer cooked every month and had lots of tips.

Now I am trying this for my family. I went to a local butcher and bought some very nice meat! We arent big meat eaters here, but when we do eat meat, it goes quickly. And its amazing how the better quality, local, fresh meat tastes SO much better. (Well, its not really that amazing because it makes sense. We are simply accustommed to eating what is offered, and don't get the chance to use a fresh butcher often.)

Here is my list so far, for one adult and two school aged kids:

Four pound pork loin made into two smaller loins and 8 small medallions, all marinated in garlic, olive oil and herbs. That will be meat for three meals.

Four pounds of ground round (its RED not pink and fatty!!) to make small baggies to add to other dishes.

2 beautiful 3.5 pound little roasting chickens

4 pound beef chuck for pot roast.

OK! A few hours later, I can add this...

I made two lasagna pans of burritos. Each one has 10 gorgeous burritos with hamburger, blackbeans, refried beans, corn and cheddar. That is four meals. When its time to bake them, I can either fry them, or more likely, pour sauce over them and cook. Really tasty!

And two baggies of hamburger to add to whatever. (Macaroni and cheese comes to mind!)

Its very exciting to watch the new freezer fill up... And to know that there are meals in there for several weeks! Yippee!
Now onto the next thing...

Cooking up some lentils al dente to add to this that and the other,
and cooking up some awesome Minnnesota wild rice!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Lake_Indian_Reservation
I ended up with two bags of each, lentils and wild rice.

Let's see... I also made three gallon baggies filled with pot roast fixings: Cubed beef chuck,carrots, potatos, garlic, onions, celery, and seasonings. I learned a bit about freezing potatoes. You have to peel them, soak in salt water, then blanch them for 3 minutes. THEN you can freeze them, and they shouldnt get mushy. Somehow the blanching slows some enzymatic breakdown that freezing can cause. I will see how it works. This will be dumped in a crock pot (or a covered pan for the oven) and cooked, as I left everything raw.

After that, I made two big bags of chicken soup with rice (and lentils, vegies, etc). This was all cooked, so just bringing it to a simmer when its time will be enough.

There was enough chicken left over for our dinner tonight (chicken breast wrapped in bacon!), and for two more baggies for another couple of meals.

This should be enough for about 18 meals! I am excited. In a few days, I will make some large batches of muffins and breakfast cookies as well as a couple of pasta casseroles to freeze. There is some freaky fun casserole that involves dumping ravioli, chicken, cheese and a bit of white sauce into a pan baking like a lasagna. I think I will mix tortellini with plain pasta to make it a little less expensive and lower fat.

Why on earth have I not done this sooner? Well, actually, I know very well why. But that particular stumbling block doesnt live here anymore, so I am free to live a healthy, productive life! Yippee!