Got in a mood for cooking and....

[FarmerChick]

I have 6 BIG containers of ready to go beef soup. Just add noodles, rice or whatever I want when the urge hits me to use it.

I had a few cuts of older beef in the freezer. I had to use it. Got out the crockpot and away I went with the base of the soup. I then blanched a ton of veggies in the stock. Not cooked alot, but then I bagged 6 big bags of veggies to be added back into the beef soup when ready. Pre-made made frozen dinners...lol ..beats the store junk

NOW all I have to do is grab a container from the freezer, add my frozen bag of veggies, add noodles or whatever I want and I have a delish meal.


OK--that was my big cooking venture the other day. I feel great when I know I have ready made meals in the freezer. Plus if power goes out for any reason, this hearty beef soup is a simple meal ready to go, without having to open a can!



SO WHAT types of premade meals do you have in your freezer?

 

[elijahboy]

pancakes..................

just find a basic recipe on the net or

when there is a sale and i have coupons and i can clear the shelf i buy all the boxes on the shelf and all the boxes in the back and then i have the manager call the trucker thats enroute.hahaha


get some cheap sandwich bags


flip flip flip

i will usually cook a box at a time

dont ask how many pancakes it will make....inever paid attentioin but its the best invention....

with 3 kids its super easy take em out the freezer pop them in the microwave and cover with adhd syrup

they tastes 101% better than the ones that are already boxed.

 

[justusnak]

eli, I used to do the same thing when my kids were little. Makes for a fast, easy, hot breakfast on cold winter school days. For me.....I have canned meats. Chicken, ham, and beef. Easy to make a delish meal....and when the power goes out, no worry about losing all that meat in the freezer. We lose power quite often.

 

[moolie]

We do waffles more often than pancakes, as the kids have a hard time getting the pancakes apart when they stick together--but home made freezer waffles are their fave breakfast

We also do a modified once-a-month-cook: usually something between 15-30 meals, depending on what's on sale. I have a few cookbooks for freezer meals, and just plan each dish around the protein. Lots of casseroles, some marinaded meat dishes, easy stuff like meat sauce for pasta, meat loaves, hamburger patties etc. I do a big shop on a Thursday or Friday, then we all get to work assembling meals on the weekend. I journaled about it once, I think I posted some photos--should be near the beginning of my journal I think.

Then we have lots of home canned "convenience foods". You need a pressure canner to do these, but we generally have the following on hand: soups (split pea with bacon, tomato, beef veg), chili with beans, baked beans, plain beans to add to dishes, hamburger, stew beef, pork chunks, chicken chunks, and a few home canned veggies (green beans, carrots). Plus we also have water bath canned foods to supplement meals: tomato sauce (all plain for the most versatility in making meals later), fruits (peaches, pears, fruit cocktail), jams/marmalades and fruit syrups, cranberry sauce, relishes (pickle relish, veggie antipasto, beet relish), pickles (dill cukes, dilly beans, beets), I'm sure there's more but that's all off the top of my head.

Finally, if I can get it in the freezer before it gets eaten we double or triple a recipe like last night: I pressure cooked a giant pot of beef stew and then divided it into 3 large casserole dishes--one was dinner last night, the other two went into the fridge to cool before going into the freezer today. Wasn't a problem this time around since I made so much, but sometimes it's 2 pans of lasagne and someone cuts into the cooled pan to take a piece for lunch the next day But doubling recipes goes a long way to stocking a freezer

 

[elijahboy]

moolie

i looked through your journal and like the meatloaf and pot pies

can you please share the recipe for the meatloaf becuase i bought a made meatloaf from the meat dept and everyone suprisingly loved it. but i dont want to pay 7.00 for a pound of ground beef ever again.

 

[yourbadd]

It must be something in the air!! I bought the necessary ingredients and plan to spend tomorrow cooking in double batches!! My kids like freezer waffles and eggs/meat burritos. I need to plan out some menus and try the once a month cooking, it would be so helpful once it busy for me at work later this spring. DH isn't much of a cook and the kids quickly got tired of chili and spaghetti.

 

[moolie]

moolie

i looked through your journal and like the meatloaf and pot pies

can you please share the recipe for the meatloaf becuase i bought a made meatloaf from the meat dept and everyone suprisingly loved it. but i dont want to pay 7.00 for a pound of ground beef ever again.

I'm not really a recipe person when it comes to meatloaf, but the basic version goes something like this:

Meatloaf

2 lbs ground meat (we use bison, some use half beef/half pork)
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 or 2 minced garlic cloves
1 egg
good dollop of bbq sauce (or ketchup)
3/4 cup breadcrumbs or oatmeal that you've spun down in a blender to make it finer textured
salt, pepper to taste

Mix it all together in a large bowl, with your hands, then press into loaf pan or form into free-form loaf and bake in a pan with sides to catch the drippings--usually about an hour or so at 350F.

Pot pies are another "don't usually use a recipe" meal, just your basic pastry over top of/around leftover stew.

 

[Joel_BC]

Here's one...

(I'll preface by saying: First, I live two borders north of Mexico... but I've visited there a couple times, plus New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and Calif, and I've enjoyed Mexican food in all those places. Second, I'm a guy, and I only know about half a dozen recipes... but this is a good one.)

Mexican Soup

1 quart (or litre) tomatoes in juice (either diced or blended)
3 quarts (litres) water (can consist of up to 1 quart soup stock on-hand)
3 medium-sized onions, diced medium-small, sauted, and
(optional) 2 or 3 largish stalks of celery, diced & sauted with the onions
2 medium-sized chicken breasts (or can use dark meat)
2 cups hominy or corn kernels
1/3 cup uncooked rice
2 rounded tsp chili pdr (you can use more if you like real hot soup) - and you can use crushed dried jalapeno peppers, if you have them
1 tablespoon cumin pdr
2 tsp lime juice
cup coffee (brewed)
2 large (or 3 medium) cloves of garlic, crushed
(optional - not completely Mexican) 2 level tsp curry pdr
Dash of salt (if needed)

Put quart of tomatoes with water (or water/soup-stock) in a soup pot, and add chicken, at medium-high heat if chicken is frozen; medium heat if it is thawed. Add diced onions (sauted), rice, and hominy or corn kernels. Add chili powder, cumin, lime juice, garlic, and curry powder (if youre going to use it). Avoid actually boiling, and stew for a minimum of one hour. Remove chicken and cool it enough to handle; dice into roughly 1/2 -inch cubes; return these to the soup.

Cover, simmer soup for at least another 90 minutes. Top-up water level if it evaporates out very much. Taste and add more seasonings, if desired.

You can add torn tortilla pieces 10 minutes before serving, if desired.