Here is the menu that I decided upon for my first round of freezer cooking (January):
- Cooked chicken fajita meat – 4 pound package (freeze in 3 freezer bags)
- Cooked, cubed chicken – 4 cups (2 cups per freezer bag = 2 freezer bags)
- Chicken noodle soup – multiply recipe x 6 (freeze in 9 freezer bags, plus 2 lunch servings in fridge)
- Meatloaf – multiply recipe x 3 (freeze in 3 freezer bags)
- Hamburger Casserole (From The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever) – multiply recipe x 3 (freeze in 4 freezer bags, plus 4 lunch/dinner servings in fridge)
In all, I froze 21 meals. I was able to shop for ingredients, prepare the food, and freeze it in portions that worked for my family, all in one day.
Throughout the week, I was able to pull things out of the freezer for dinners. It was so comforting to be leaving work each afternoon, knowing that dinner was already prepared.
On the far left, we have 3 meatloaves. The top, left basket has been taken over by tons of chicken noodle soup. The bottom, left basket has hamburger casserole, cooked, cubed chicken, and also cooked chicken fajita meat.
Freezing everything flat, in freezer bags, really helps to fit more things in the freezer.
For those of you wondering, I found the baskets at The Container Store. They weren’t in the kitchen section of the store, but I’ve found them to be very helpful in keeping my freezer organized.