Other freezer pleasers...

Ok, last post related to My Freezer is My Favorite handout! When I talk about cooking day, I am mostly referring to making dinners. You can add other recipes into your routine that day, but I tend to do a few things on an "as needed" basis.

Other things you will find in my freezer- breakfasts! I will make breakfast sandwiches, breakfast burritos, and smoothie packs as needed.
I also make large batches of cookie dough, scoop into balls, flash freeze, then put them in a clean, empty ice cream bucket and voila!, ready to go cookie dough!
I keep pizza dough in the freezer, easy to thaw, then rise and top with favorites. I always have sloppy joe meat mixture in the freezer, along with refried beans. Taco meat is also a good freezer pleasure, that you can turn into several dinner options. Chili is a staple as well. My husband built a meat smoker, so when he is in the mood to smoke some meat, I always have him do more than I need and freeze the excess. It reheats beautifully for pulled sandwiches, salads, or just serve the meat with some great sides. I know Cafe Rio recipes are popular; you can double or triple the recipes and freeze for another meal later! Takes a lot of the work out of it!
I also have potatoes coming out the wazoo, and I hate to see them go bad, so I make a lot of twice baked potatoes, hash browns, and French fries and freeze them for later.

I haven't tried this, but I heard that you can freeze peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! Take them out and put them in your child's lunchbox and they should be thawed by lunchtime! You can also freeze ham and cheese, turkey and cheese or any other combo of meat and cheese, but you can not put the mustard or mayo on until they have thawed, and for obvious reasons, you would add the fresh tomato and lettuce later as well.

Finally, the last thing I want to mention is cooking groups. There are two groups you might want to consider being a part of when freezer cooking. The first is an actual cooking group- establish a cooking day with 3 or 4 of your friends, decide on recipes, share the grocery costs, and get to work!
The other one would be more fitting for my lifestyle, and that is a dinner swap. Get 4 or 5 people to organize with, establish a day to swap, come with your meals all prepared and ready to freeze. The meals should be discussed beforehand, so that costs are equitable, recipes aren't duplicated, and recipes will be ones that everyone will like, and no one is allergic to! This is a great way to get started and give you some variety in your meals.

I hope these past few posts have been helpful! Feel free to leave comments with any questions and/ or more helpful tips about freezer cooking. Freezer cooking has literally changed my life! I wish I had stumbled on it four or five years ago! I am definitely not an expert on it, but will continue to perfect my techniques and find recipes that my family loves. Happy Freezing!