I have been toying with the idea of freezer cooking for a while now. Between constant trips to store, not knowing what to cook each night, and a rising grocery bill, I needed to do something. I decided I would start on September 8th. So, the first thing I had to do was plan...plan...plan. I watched many videos and read lots of blogs. I have a large family, so I wanted to know what others do. I also wanted to do breakfast as well as dinner. We do leftovers as lunches. I would only need lunch food if we ate all the meal the night before. All this meant I really needed to plan well. It being my first attempt, I did give myself some leeway to mess up.
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| Sitting down planning the month of meals |
Once I spoke with husband and the kids about meals they like and dislike, I chose which I would use. Then I decided on how often I would make the said meal. I will never make all 10 people in my house happy with a meal all at once, not even CRAWFISH does that!!! But, by asking them about it, I was sure to at least make them happy once. I also needed to find meals that would freeze well. I have a pressure cooker and a slowcooker, those are helpful in what I am planning to do.
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| My Original List |
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| The list after the trip |
Once I figured all the meals out, I packed my van with the baby, a helper (Alicia, 12), and reusable shopping bags. I love to use these bags! You can put so much more in them and the kids can carry them easier. We were off to Walmart. I did look for coupons and sales. However, I buy off brands anyway so I didn't find anything cheaper elsewhere. I so wish we had some of the stores others are able to use close to me. But, you do what you can with what you are given. It took 2 hours and 2 baskets. As we shopped, I wrote prices, adjusted some of the quantities, added and removed some things. Like I said, being my first trip, I gave myself some room to make mistakes. I plan on using this list as a master and putting it and prices into an Excel workbook. That way I can move quicker through the planning process. Maybe even use Excel and put what I want to cook and it will add what I need to the list. Being a nerd may come in handy with this!
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| Actually Less Than I Thought It Would Be |
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| The Van!! |
I didn't do to bad. I came in under budget, however, I did have to go back and get a few things I had chose not to get and wound up needing. Also, I was gifted several pounds of wild game!!! More on that later.
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| Spent $477 had a $700 budget |
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| Elizabeth and Alicia making sandwiches |
Now it was time to get cooking. In my planning stage, I wanted to cook all day. This did not work for us. I have a newborn who needs to nurse, I bring both my husband and daughter to work and back everyday, and just plain doing anything with kids. I put 2 to work on PB&Js for the freezer. We made loads of them. It was messy, but I wanted the kids involved.
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| 5lbs of potatoes for breakfast bowls |
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| My bell pepper isn't to happy |
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| upright freezer |
I made meatballs, taco meat, sliced peppers, (I still gotta do the onions), made dozens of muffins, pancakes, and sandwiches. I want to make it easy for a teenager to make dinner if they need to. Having the meals marked on the calendar means no one has to wonder what's for dinner. They can just look. It also helps me to. I think I will need to have a weekly shopping list too though. I need things like milk, eggs, and fresh veggies weekly. That will add to the budget too. I also would like to incorporate more snacks to the planning. Now they just use the PB&Js as snacks. I would love to add fresh fruits, but the cost is just to high.
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| door |
We eat Gumbo every Sunday, no matter the temperature. So, I pre-cut the sausage and pre-cooked the chicken. This way, the time consuming parts are done. I even cheated on the trinity and bought frozen seasoning mix. I know, I am going to be in trouble with some. But this whole thing is about time saving and money saving. I can't wait for the onions and peppers to go on sale. The 10 for 10 sale!!
So far all has went great. I am still not done with some stuff. But that is more my time management than planning. I will make double on some stuff next month. Here is a list of meals we used this month and number of times we will eat it. Not sure which ones we will keep or not.
Meatloaf 3 I made the loaf, wrapped in plastic, put in $1 pan, and froze. I will defrost in fridge night before and use crock pot next day. I am reusing pans, they are just for freezing and stacking.
Tacos 2 I made the meat and froze in family size portions in gal ziplocs.
Fajitas 2 I seasoned the chicken and froze it in ziplocs, we like these cooked fresh.
BFD (breakfast for dinner) 2
Gumbo 4 Chopped sausage and pre cooked chicken.
Spaghetti 2 Made a ton of meatballs!
Cajun Pasta 2 Chopped sausage and pre cooked chicken.
Hot Dogs 4
Chili 2 Precooked
and froze
Chicken (stew, baked, other) 6
