Freezer cooking

[Rooney]

I watched a youtube video last week of a lady with a fairly large family showing how she did freezer cooking for the month to make here life simpler.  She put away like 38 meals for her family of 8 in like 6 hours !  It was amazing to me!  Have any of you ever done this type of freezer cooking?  What do you put your meals away in?  Do you use glass casserole pans? Ziplocs? (I am trying to get away from plastic as much as possible.)  What amazed me was the bulk of really good meals she put up and in the amount of time she did it.  But I do have to say that day did not look like much fun, but it freed up much of the rest of the month.  Anyway, question is do you ever do this and if you do what do you freeze your foods in, and what meals do you put away?

[greyhoundgirl]

I have done this in the past, though not in depth at all recently.  Funny you should mention it today, as I just sat down here at the table with my favorite freezer cookbook, Not Your Mother's Make-Ahead and Freeze Cookbook, by Jessica Fisher.  We have been struggling with eating out too much due to the change in schedules with me working and Earl still in grad school full-time along with his full-time job.  I am determined to cut down the grocery and eating out bills without sacrificing health and quality of meals. 

Anyway, storage really depends on what you are making/freezing.  In the past, I did a lot of meals ready to go.  I bought the bulk packs of 1/2 size steam table pans at Sam's Club, way cheaper than individual ones at the store.  They are not quite 9 x 13, but pretty close.  Those slide nicely into a 2 gallon freezer bag.  For some foods, such as hashbrown casserole or mac and cheese, I put it in gallon freezer bags, laid them flat to freeze, and then they can be stood up like books on your freezer shelves for easy storage.  Or kept flat, however they best fit.  Then, when thawed, you can pour it into a glass pan for heating.  More recently, I've been doing more meal starters as opposed to full meals, so would freeze chicken in a marinade or something like that.  Hoping to get a few meals ready to go as well, for the crazy nights like tonight when Earl is busy and I need to get two girls to dance at different times. 

HTH.

[pamgonzo]

On our trip to FL, I made ahead freezer crockpot meals and brought the crockpot along to the house we rented.

It worked like a charm!  Kept them frozen on the drive down, threw them in the freezer and then popped them into the crockpot daily.  We didn't have to eat out at all the first week we were there.

Here is a website with some recipes, I'm sure you would have to adjust for your family size.  I put them in Ziploc baggies, but was wishing I had a vacuum sealer.  It would have been ideal.  There are tons of recipes available through Pinterest if you are on there.  Just do a search for what kind of meal you are looking for!

http://newleafwellness.biz/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/8-Healthy-Crockpot-Freezer-Meal-Recipes-and-Grocery-List.pdf

Hope this helps a little.
Pam

[Rooney]

I just cooked my pancake mixture x 22, so that was like 130 pancakes.  That is enough for tomorrow for the kids breakfast, 2 meals for the freezer, and hubby's breakfast to take to work tomorrow.  But that took 2 hours, so I am really not getting how 38 meals could be put away in 6 hours.  I am just not that good.   I did cook tonight's supper at the same time though.

Catherine, I have always precooked meat for meals too, just because I don't like cooking meat.  Doesn't it make all meals so much easier?!   What are steam table pans?

Pam, would you believe that I don't even own a crockpot?

[pamgonzo]

Wow!  That's a LOT of pancakes!  Great work!

And, no, I am in total disbelief that you don't own a crockpot!!  That is one of my biggest kitchen helpers!  I several sizes.  You should consider looking for one at goodwill or garage sales and give it a try!  Huge time saver!!

   Pam

[wrancher]

I agree with Pam. You need a crockpot. You can buy bigger ones now. Like 8 annd 10qts I think. I buy bigger ones usually. The normal ones are fine too. Check kohls and amazon. around $30 or so.  Dont be discouraged on batch cooking. Pancakes are time consuming Otherthings arent that bad

[greyhoundgirl]

Steamtable pans are what caterers use.  The half size are just like slightly deeper almost 9 x 13 disposable aluminum pans.

And I don't actually precook the meat, just freeze it in marinade, so when it thaws, it is ready to bake/grill or whatever.

P.S.  How do you not have a crockpot?        Girl, it will change your life!  I only have five kids and I have a 7 quart one, so I'd definitely suggest a huge one or two 6 quart ones.

[Rooney]

Ok so don't laugh at me when I tell you why I don't own a crockpot, because all of you seem to absolutely love them.   My reason is that I have not been able to come up with one that is labeled lead free.  There has been a growing concern about lead that leaches from the crockpot insert when foods simmer for hours in them.  I would LOVE to have one, but I can't find one labeled this way.

[pamgonzo]

I found this information:  Maybe there would be one here that would work for you.  I'm sure they could be quite costly, so maybe not even worth it for you. 

Slow Cooker Brands and Lead Contamination
1.    VitaClay: This unglazed earthenware was independently tested and found to be 99.99% lead free. 
2.    Elite Gourmet Quart Transparent Slow Cooker: Insert is glass, so no known risk of lead exposure.
3.    Precise Heat 12-Inch Surgical Stainless Steel Deep Electric Skillet/Slow Cooker: Insert is surgical grade stainless steel, so no known risk of lead.
4.    Proctor Silex: States there is no lead or cadmium in the crock.
5.    KitchenAid: States their slow cooker glazes are lead-free.
6.    Sunpentown SC-5355 Zisha Slow Cooker: Contains a clay insert and states that it is lead free .
7.    CrockPot & Rival: States their product meets FDA guidelines for lead.
8.    Cuisinart: States their slow cooker glazes are lead-free.
9.    Hamilton Beach: “Satisfy FDA heavy metal requirements”.
10.    West Bend: “Glazes are inspected for maximum allowable amounts of trace elements in accordance with the United States Food and Drug Administration’s guidelines. If the glazes are chipped or cracked, the vessel should not be used.”
Prop 65 and Lead Contamination in Slow Cookers.

[Rooney]

Thank you, Pam!!!!  This is the exact list I have been looking for!   I am going to start looking for one of these that is big enough.

[pamgonzo]

Yay!  I hope you can find one!  It will change your life!!

Pam

[Rooney]

After looking into it, I am leaning towards the Kitchenaid. I really like Kitchaid products anyway. Believe it or not, the Kitchenaid slow cookers aren't easy to find.  The only place I could find a 6-quart one was BedBathandBeyond.  So this may be a purchase next month if I can get my Bosch mixer repaired instead of having to get a new one. 
Definitely gonna get some of those pans too, Catherine.  Thank you so much for the helpful ideas.

[wrancher]

Must have lost my post those disposable pans from SAMs are the best!  1st they are cheap but the quality is the best. Deep sides and heavy duty. We use camping on a fire and grilling when I give food to someone they are durable.

Janice

[wrancher]

On the crockpot do you have coupons for bed bath n beyond. They take expired ones to. They usually mail out like 15% off or $5 off every month

[wrancher]

Ok last post on this but I keep thinking of something after I post. I like to put lasagne in freezer. Also cookies. The best thing about batch cooking is you can make say 5 lasagnes use the same pans so less clean up and time. You will see eventually after you start getting your freezer built up of the time savings.