Freezer Cooking

In order to make save much needed time during their busy days, many moms do something called Once A Month Cooking, or OAMC. This means that they will spend one (long!) day making as many meals for the rest of the month as they can before sticking it all in the freezer to pull out as needed. This is a nice concept. Except not everything I want to eat can be frozen. Nor do I have enough time to do that. Enter MoneySavingMom and FishMama. They team up once a month to host a virtual Freezer Cooking Day. They come into the day with a list of foods they want to prepare, but their list is not made up of 37 different casseroles like you expect. Sometimes those foods are casseroles, sometimes soups, and sometimes meal components (such as shredded chicken or marinated beef) to make a fresh cooked meal go faster. They also usually include breakfasts and snacks, too. I usually like to participate to some extent, but this time I am prepared with a plan (or at least a list of foods):

Breakfasts

breakfast cookies done

banana muffins done

bagels (egg & cheese on some)

instant oatmeal

mini apple pies

pancakes done

breakfast burritos done

mini egg frittatas

Snacks

cookie dough done

pretzels

granola done

Lunches/Dinners

shredded chicken done

tortillas

bean burritos

pizza pockets

brown rice done

lentils

beans done

This list does look a little long and ambitious, but I am confident in my ability to get things done. It may take a few days, but all these foods will get cooked and put away in my freezer to be pulled out during some hectic time. See, that is the beauty of freezer cooking. You pick a time (be it 3 hours or 30 minutes) that works for you, cook a little bit of food, then stash it away. You can also just make a double batch of a food you are already cooking so you can stick one in the freezer. Then when you have no time (and are this ------- close to picking up a pizza or going out to eat) to cook or just don't feel like it, you can grab something out of the freezer. Freezer cooking is also especially helpful in the mornings when the husband gets up at 4 am and needs a quick something to eat before rushing to the gym and something to eat once he gets to work. Since I am still in bed with the kid, he is able to grab something either out of freezer or something that I had put out for him on the counter the night before that was previously made.

Wanna participate too? Then go check out MSM.