After my experience doing once a month cooking last year and my freezer cooking day last week, I have some helpful tips to pass along to anyone who might be considering doing their own freezer cooking day. 10 Tips for a Successful Freezer Cooking Day 1) Do it with a friend. I am so thankful for my friend Donna from Another New Season. I honestly can't imagine doing a big freezer cooking day with out a friend along for the ride! Having a friend working with you makes the time go by faster and you can get twice as much accomplished. A win-win! 2) Get organized. Organization is so important! Double check your shopping list. … [Read more...]
Freezer Cooking Day (Part 2)
In case you missed it, here is Freezer Cooking Day (Part 1). I had such a great freezer cooking day with Donna from Hey Donna. We got started around 11:00 AM and I finally sat down to relax at 5:00 PM. It was definitely a long day, but we made so much food! Here is all of the food that I now have in my freezer: plain browned ground beef - 4 lbs. taco meat - 4 lbs pizza dough - 4 pizza's worth honey mustard chicken - 2 meals, plus 1 extra batch of sauce italian marinated chicken breasts - 8 chicken breasts baked spaghetti - 2 meals curried lentils - 2 meals zuppa toscana (an Olive Garden soup!) - 3 meals black … [Read more...]
Freezer Cooking Day (Part 1)
All day I'll be busy in the kitchen with my friend Donna. We are doing a mini freezer cooking day. Last year we did a huge menu that was organized by Tricia from Once A Month Mom. It was great, but we wanted to try something a little smaller this time. Here is the menu: plain browned ground beef taco meat pizza dough honey mustard chicken italian marinated chicken breasts baked spaghetti curried lentils zuppa toscana (an Olive Garden soup!) black beans banana bread granola I'm excited about our menu this year. It isn't nearly as many complete meals as what we made last year, but they are all foods we know we … [Read more...]
Fill Your Freezer with Ham
Last year I shared how now is the time to buy ham. Grocery stores often have a sale on ham around Easter. Also, there should be a coupon in the Sunday paper for ham. Pair these two together and you could find yourself with some cheap meat! Last year I used a $3 off coupon for a Kunzler ham. Along with the sale, I ended up paying $1.37 per pound. I cut up my ham into several chunks and froze it. I had every intention to keep track of how many meals I got out of my 7 pounder so that I could see how much I paid per meal, but I moved to a new house and apparently my list did not. I used most of my ham for: Omelets Chef … [Read more...]
Once A Month Cooking: The Big Day
My first Once A Month Cooking Day went very well. To help document the day, I took timed notes on our progress. 7:00 AM – Up with Grace. Why did she have to wake up early today?!? I have a feeling that I need to be fully rested for a day like today! The kitchen still smells like onions! I cut up about 24 cups of onions last night. 8:00 AM – Eating Breakfast 9:00 AM – Mom is here to babysit Grace. Grace is fed and soon ready for her first nap of the day. I’m all packed up and ready to go to Donna’s house! 9:45 AM – At Donna’s and getting started! Donna has everything all organized. Bless her heart! 11:10 AM – Enchiladas are done. Dishes … [Read more...]
Once A Month Cooking: The Calm Before The Storm
On Wednesday, I will be doing something crazy that I've only read about! My friend Donna and I will be doing a "Once A Month Cooking" Day! This is something that is pretty popular among "mommy bloggers." Basically, the goal is to make a lot of freezer friendly meals that you can enjoy over the course of the next month. It will be a lot of work tomorrow, but should save us a ton of meal prep time in the next couple of months. It is perfect timing for me since I'll be busy packing and moving into my new house! Thankfully, Donna has done this before. She has been great at getting us organized and ready for tomorrow. Tonight she is … [Read more...]
