Keeping track of what’s in your freezer and how long it’s been there is key to freezer cooking

One of the worst experiences for a busy mom is to open her freezer and wonder what is in a container and how long has it been there. Creating freezer meals requires a huge investment in time and groceries. The last thing you want to do is throw food away because it is too old or you don’t know how old it is. A critical piece of successful freezer cooking is efficient freezer management. You must keep track of what is in your freezer, the date it was frozen, and to use the oldest meals first. Without a good job of freezer management, freezer cooking can quickly lead to frustration. Freezer management has two major components, the freezer list and container marking.

A freezer list must contain three columns, the food type, the date it was frozen and the quantity. It’s easier to make the list on a computer but a hand written list works fine. Even if you make the list on the computer, print out a copy and fasten it to the front of the freezer for quick updates. Even with the best intentions, it is unrealistic to expect that you will always immediately get on the computer and update the list. Attach a pen or pencil to the freezer. As soon as you take something out of the freezer, change the quantity on the list. If you use the last of an item, make sure to cross the item off on the list. When, you make another batch of freezer meals, add them to the bottom of the list. It is important to add them to the bottom with the new date so that you can immediately recognize older items that need to be used next. If you made a new batch of meatballs and still had some left from a previous cooking session, it might seem easier to just update the quantity. However, that quickly gets confusing. By having separate entries you know the date of the meatballs that you want to use next. When planning the next week’s menu, you can focus on meals that are at the top of the list.

The second part of freezer management is marking your bag or container with a marker that will stand up to the freezer environment. It is important to include the type of food and the date that it was prepared. When you are tired after a long session of cooking, it is easy to skip this final step. A good idea is to go ahead and mark the bags and containers early in the session, before you fill them.

Every several months, you need to update your list and print a new copy. This is a great time to review what dishes you want to continue to prepare. If you quickly used all of a certain dish, it probably is either very popular with your family or one that provides a busy mom an especially convenient preparation and clean up. It should definitely stay on the rotation. A meal that is at the top of the list and not used means that you often didn’t choose to put it on your menu. Consider why and decide if it is a meal that should be dropped from your freezer cooking rotation. Meals that are in the middle might be alternated with a new recipe that you have tried and your family enjoys.

Trying a new recipe for the first time when making multiple batches for freezer cooking can lead to disaster.

A busy mom sees a great new recipe and really wants to try it. It is the weekend she plans to prepare a number of meals for freezer cooking so she adds enough ingredients to her shopping list to make a three dinner batch of it. Sometimes, she gets lucky and her family loves the dish and cannot wait until it comes up on the menu again. However, especially with picky children, sometimes it doesn’t work out so well and the meal doesn’t get a great reception.

Perhaps your family loves chili and so you think there is no way that you can go wrong with adding the chili recipe a co-worker told you about to your freezer cooking rotation. Unfortunately, your family is used to your traditional chili and really doesn’t like the change. It is incredibly discouraging to know that you have two more batches of the chili in your freezer. Frozen meals are not like canned or packaged goods that you can donate to the local food drive. Making a large batch of freezer food is an immense commitment of time and resources. If you end up throwing away meals, it is easy to think that freezer cooking is not for me. You can avoid this by never trying a new recipe for the first time when making multiple batches for freezer cooking.

A great time to try a new recipe is a weekend when you are not doing freezer cooking. Just making one dinner is a breeze compared to the long session required to create a number of meals. When making the recipe for the first time, think of ways to streamline the preparation for making larger quantities. Also, think of ways to alter the ingredients and improve the nutritional value of the meal without significantly changing the flavor and texture of the dish. Consider how well the ingredients will hold up to freezing and how the dish will be reheated. Finally, really pay attention to your family’s response to the dish. If it is a strong positive, you have found a new meal to add to your freezer cooking rotation. Whenever possible, look for recipes that use local produce. A great incentive to become more adventurous in your cooking is to join a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). For a yearly fee, you receive a portion of a farm’s harvest. Many CSAs last for 10 – 15 weeks and you get a variety of produce each week. Freezing extra vegetables or making a dish such as corn chowder is a great way to use the bounty.

Make your freezer meal quick to clean up.

Freezer cooking is a great way for busy moms to quickly get a meal during the week on the table. It is also easier to clean up after a freeze meal. Most of the pots, pans, cutting boards, food processor, and spoons required for food preparation were cleaned up on the day you made the meal. However, a few simple tips can help make your week day meal clean up even simpler. No, I’m not going to suggest that you eat on paper plates. Some people do choose this option, In fact, with recycling requirements; one person complained that although he threw away his dishes, he still had to wash out his cans.

If you choose to freeze your meal in a container that is both freezer and microwave safe, you can eliminate an extra container to reheat the dinner. Many plastic containers are now freezer, dishwasher, and microwave safe. Investing in a family of containers such as Rubbermaid that stack neatly together can save freezer space as well as clean up time. A square or rectangular shape best utilizes precious room in the freezer. Being able to put the container in the dishwasher is a major time benefit and also ensures the container is properly sanitized.

If you need to cook or reheat something in the oven, using foil is critical to quick clean up. Put a thawed meat loaf in a pan lined with foil before baking it. You can throw away the foil and the pan should just require a quick rinse. Another product that saves clean up is Ziploc’s Zip’n Steam bags. If you froze the main dish and still need to cook side dishes, these bags allow you to nutritiously cook vegetables in the microwave. You can plate the food in the kitchen and throw away the bag. The bags also provide a good way to flavor the vegetables while cooking.

A week day meal should be quick to the table and also quick to clean up. Every step taken during preparation to minimize clean up time pays off when the meal is done. Evenings can be consumed with homework, practices, meetings and errands. The last thing you want to add is unnecessary time spent cleaning up from dinner. Even worse is facing dirty dishes the next morning that you didn’t have time to do the night before. Having a meal where everything can be quickly placed in the dishwasher is a wonderful goal.

Modify recipes your family already loves for freezer cooking

There are many systems available to help people efficiently prepare multiple meals for freezer cooking. However, frequently families don’t like the meals and busy moms give up on the idea of freezer cooking. That is a shame because freezer cooking is one of the best ways to provide the benefits of home cooked meals to families and individuals whose evenings are too busy to include long food preparation. A solution to this problem is to modify recipes that your family already loves for freezer cooking.

There are a few foods that don’t freeze well. For example, fried foods, vegetables with a high water content such lettuce and tomatoes, and some herbs such as sage (gets bitter) don’t freeze well. When making a dish to freeze, you also should consider how the freezing process will affect the ingredients. You need to be aware that freezing potatoes can cause the potatoes to get soft so you should be careful not to overcook them. Some people even add them raw before freezing and allow them to cook while the food is reheating. Freezing onions cause a loss of flavor so you might want to add extra while freezing garlic tends to intensify its flavor so consider adding less. A bread crumb casserole topping can get soggy when frozen. It usually can be fixed by reheating in the oven uncovered which crisps the topping.

However, most dishes freeze well. Sometimes, it is not necessary to freeze the entire meal. If you have a recipe for meatballs which your family loves but use spaghetti sauce from a jar, a quick meal can be created by cooking the pasta while thawing and heating the meatballs in the sauce. Many children would like to live on chicken nuggets. By buying chicken breasts on sale, cutting the breast into pieces and coating with your own ingredients, an inexpensive and nutritious version of the dish can be created and frozen. You can take out as many pieces as you need and quickly bake. This is a great dish to have on hand if the adults want to try a dish and the kids aren’t as adventurous.

It is a waste of your time to prepare and freeze meals that your family ends up not liking. By modifying recipes that you know your family will enjoy and preparing them in bulk, you are guaranteed to have dinners that will be both quick and enjoyable.

Getting new ideas for freezer cooking using make and take food centers.

The benefit of freezer cooking in allowing busy mom’s to prepare meals in bulk and freeze so that they are available when needed have been known for years. However, in the past several years, a new trend called meal preparation / meal assembly has swept the country. It began in California but now franchises for companies such as Dream Dinners, Everyday Gourmet, Let’s Dish, and Supper Thyme USA can be found all over the country. These franchises recognize that families have less time to prepare meals. Instead, families want home cooked meals without all the shopping, preparation and clean up. The store offers a monthly menu and consumers can come, make as many dinners as they choose, and bring them home to freeze. It’s the ultimate in convenience since you still get to customize the meal for your family but don’t have to shop or clean up. The ingredients are already cut into the size needed for the recipe.

To make a dozen dinners that serve 4-6 at a meal preparation center costs approximately $250 in Maryland. However, it can be a wonderful way to get ideas that you can reuse in your own kitchen. If you’re a busy mom who has been using freezer cooking for a while, you’ve probably gotten into a rut and frequently make the same meals. Going to a meal preparation center and making a number of new recipes can be a great way to see how your family likes the dishes. Because all the chopping and cleaning is done for you, it is possible to make 12 new dishes in a two hour session. It’s also a lot of fun if you go with a friend or family member. Since the meals are intended to be frozen, the owner has selected dishes that will freeze well.

If there isn’t a food preparation center near you or the price is more than you are willing to pay, then looking at their menu can provide many ideas for meals that freeze well. At the web site, the company normally provides this month’s menu as well as next month’s menu, usually illustrated with a beautiful picture of the meal. Although the actual recipe isn’t given, a list of ingredients is normally provided. If you see a dish that you want to try, Google recipes and three or four of the main ingredients. You’re sure to find a recipe close to the one the store uses. Many of the menus are seasonal so it also a good way to use local, fresh ingredients.