Who freezes food alot....I need to have some

[dragun6]

guidance. I would love to start doing the big cook day and do alot of freezing. However, I have never really frozen anything that I have cooked.


So, anyone who wants to guide me. Please tell me how you do this.

Please Please

dragun

[rosie]

Re: Who freezes food alot....I need to have some

I'm listening too.....
I have the book Once-a-Month cooking by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg
but it just doesn't seem to click in my poor pea brain.

[floridagirly68]

Re: Who freezes food alot....I need to have some

Where's Stella??? She's the expert.

[roset]

Re: Who freezes food alot....I need to have some

Oh you really need to talk to Stella, she does this with her family. I know she will read this when she on the board. I am down to DH & me and seems to have a few leftovers & freezing little things. Also Stella needs to help us out too, my DD is away with a roommate it has only been 3 weeks in but I tell her to freeze bread & even buy frozen foods so they can have them when they want them. Seems they don't get into the fresh foods that fast, then they throw it away, waste of money. I think if you learn to cook & freeze you can save a lot of money. I know some things need to be fresh. Maybe for me, just buy small amounts. Stella help us out!!!!

[TexAnn]

Re: Who freezes food alot....I need to have some

Stella is the expert in this field. Without a doubt, she knows all about how to get the job done...and very well at that!

[AngID]

Re: Who freezes food alot....I need to have some

I just made a bunch of burritos a couple of weeks ago and froze them individually wrapped.
Beef, bean and cheese
and
Sausage, egg and cheese
You can add anything else you like in a burrito
Wrap in foil
To reheat, wrap in a damp (not wet) paper towel and heat for about 45 seconds, turn over and heat for about 45 more seconds
They turned out really good.

[Stella]

Re: Who freezes food alot....I need to have some

hey.

I have a pre written 10 foot email, pm me your addy and i'll email it to you.
i just typed out describing a "perfect" assembly day.

I could talk all day about this.

First i owe everything to Coleen. an internet friend who got me started. I hounded her i think for 8 months about the name of the book... poor girl. but she got me started. I cannot go on until i praise her. she told me about it. thank you coleen you are a true gem!!

first you need THE BOOK> i did not do all of this on my own.
the web site is www.30daygourmet.com go to the site and dig around in there.
you can either order the book at your local book store, or through the web site.
"the freezer cooking manual from 30 day gourmet "
try not to get it from ebay, unless you can guarantee it has all the worksheets in it.
the book is amazing it clearly spells out everything you need to know.

do not get overwhelmed. it really isn't that difficult, you just take one step at a time. do not look at the over all project. start off small. you may want to do a 2 week session first. see if you like it.

the most you prep the night before the better.
all the chopping, cheese grating, brown groung meat, pre cooked diced chicken.

not everything is pre cooked. a lot of things are just assembled and frozen.

for pies, like a chicken pot pie, you would assemble the filling and put in a ziplock and freeze. when you want to eat it, you defrost it, and finish your assembly, and bake ta da!!

if you don't want to cook this way, then anything you can do to help your cooking the better. like brown your ground meat, make taco meat, assemble quiche in a ziplock, when you are ready for it pour in a quiche crust.

french toast is so awesome, buy a loaf of texas toast, make as usual, take strips of wax paper to seperate the slices. put back in bag and freeze . take out what you want and pop in the toaster. ta da.

breakfast burritos, assemble and freeze.
these things heat up well in the micro.

keep those plastic ice cream buckets, currently right now, in the freezer i have in them a gumbo, loaded baked potato soup, fiesta soup, french dip, spaghetti sauce, chili, and corn and shrimp soup. they are perfect.

there are other web sites, you can google OAMC once a month cooking, or freezer cooking recipes, but honestly 30 day, is the best. the recipes are written so it is easier to multi cook.

ideally, you would make 3 lasagnas, you wouldn't eat all three in one month, you'd eat one and save the other two for the next month. build up your inventory.

just about anything you cook now, you can cook or prepare and freeze.

salsibury steak, chicken patties, taco stuffed shells, swiss steak, mashed potatoes, soups, stews, chili's, crawfish pies, feef pot pies, quiche, enchiladas, dump chicken recieps are the best ever, italian chicken, roasts, spaghetti, ziti, manacotti, bacon wrapped chicken, brown sugar chicken, hot dog chili sauce, chicken nuggets ( i make my own chicken breasts, cubed dipped in ranch, breaded in seaconed bread crumbs baked and frozen, no spongy nuggets and much healthier than Mc Nuggets or tyson I usually do 20 pounds at a time) fish fillets, 'hot pockets' i make my own those too. buffalo shrimp..
the list is endless...

pm me, i'll forward you a bigger email.
that goes for anyone, but i can tell you, i make about 33 dinners, a few lunches and a few breakfasts for 200 to about 220 dollars a month.
this a massive savings, this feeds the 5 of us, three teens mom and dad.

[Sabine]

Re: Who freezes food alot....I need to have some

Hey Stella, if I send you the money, will you prepare the meals for me, freeze them and ship them via overnight express to my house. j/k

[Sabine]

Re: Who freezes food alot....I need to have some

Seriously, you should think about doing that, preparing meals for people who are too busy too cook or don't want to cook and can afford to pay someone to do it for them. Sort of like a private chef.

[kirkland]

Re: Who freezes food alot....I need to have some

Stella - how do you keep things from getting freezer burnt? I am really weird about things being in the freezer for too long but love this idea.

[floridagirly68]

Re: Who freezes food alot....I need to have some

Stella - how do you keep things from getting freezer burnt? I am really weird about things being in the freezer for too long but love this idea.

The foodsaver works great!!!

[kirkland]

Re: Who freezes food alot....I need to have some

DUH!!! I knew that!! LOL!! Don't know why I didn't think of that.......

[Stella]

Re: Who freezes food alot....I need to have some

food isn't there long enough to get freezer burnt.
i have a food savor, but I don't truly love it. maybe it doesn't work right? i don't know, but it's not really my favorite thing, i know QVC has a new and imporoved food savor, but i just think they should have improved it from the beginning before I spent the money on it.

Sabine I have thought about selling the foods from the freezer, but it really is a lot of work, not so much I coulodn't get it down better, but once ork got out i'd have to have a commercial kitchen. I don't want something I enjoy to turn into a chore so that i don't enjoy doing it, and i give up.

[SHEL]

Re: Who freezes food alot....I need to have some

Hey Stella, if I send you the money, will you prepare the meals for me, freeze them and ship them via overnight express to my house. j/k

THERE IS A PLACE HERE THAT YOU CAN GO. YOU PICK OUT 6 OR 12 MEALS TO MAKE FOR THE FREEZER. THEY HAVE EVERY THING CHOPPED AND READY TO GO. ALL YOU DO IS FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS OF PUTTING THE DISH TOGETHER, PUT IT IN A CONTAINER AND THEN TAKE THE FOOD HOME AND PUT IN THE FREEZER. FOR 6 MEALS FOR 2 IT COMES TO ABOUT 10.00 PER MEAL.

WE HAD A CHICKEN POT PIE FROM THERE THE OTHER NIGHT. IT WAS VERY GOOD.

[Sabine]

Re: Who freezes food alot....I need to have some

THERE IS A PLACE HERE THAT YOU CAN GO. YOU PICK OUT 6 OR 12 MEALS TO MAKE FOR THE FREEZER. THEY HAVE EVERY THING CHOPPED AND READY TO GO. ALL YOU DO IS FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS OF PUTTING THE DISH TOGETHER, PUT IT IN A CONTAINER AND THEN TAKE THE FOOD HOME AND PUT IN THE FREEZER. FOR 6 MEALS FOR 2 IT COMES TO ABOUT 10.00 PER MEAL.

WE HAD A CHICKEN POT PIE FROM THERE THE OTHER NIGHT. IT WAS VERY GOOD.

Yes, I know what you are talking about. We had a place like that very close by, I never went there, but drove by several times a week. And now it's gone out of business. I guess not enough business ??