Freezer FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions About Freezer Cooking

• what is freezer cooking?
• what are the benefits of freezer cooking?
• isn't freezer cooking a lot of work?
• what if my family doesn't like the recipes?
• my freezer is too small to store 30 entrees!
• how do I start?

what is freezer cooking?

Freezer Cooking is an assembly-line cooking method designed to fill the freezer with two weeks' to two months' worth of home-cooked dinner entrees. In a single day, freezer cooks process large quantities of food and assemble 14 to 30 entrees for the freezer.

Other writers use different terms to describe this concept: Lagerborg and Wilson coin the phrase "Once-A-Month Cooking" in their book of the same name. Jill Bond's Dinner's in the Freezer calls it "mega-cooking"; and Woman's Day magazine refers to the concept as "investment cooking." However you describe it, the concept is the same: cooking and freezing a large number of dinner entrees in a single day.

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what are the benefits of freezer cooking?

Time, money, convenience and nutrition! With freezer cooking, bulk buying saves money. Assembly-line processing--chopping ten onions at once, browning ground beef for chili, spaghetti sauce and taco mix in one pan--cuts preparation time for each entree. Freezer storage spells convenience: each morning, remove the evening's entree for reheating at dinnertime.

A steady supply of home-cooked entrees promotes good nutrition--no more trips to Happy Mac Burgers at the end of a long day. A good stock of freezer entrees makes it easy to extend a casual invitation to dinner, promoting hospitality. Best of all, by cooking once for an entire month, you've earned 29 nights of cooking freedom!

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isn't freezer cooking a lot of work?

Save money, save time, have a hot, home-cooked meal each night--the rewards of freezer cooking are great. That's good, because this method does require planning and effort. A full day of cooking is no light matter! Still, the benefits of a freezer cooking session outweigh the work involved.

Many of us already do freezer cooking in a smaller way. Cynthia specializes in Two-Fer Dinners. Cook a roast for Sunday's dinner, and thin-slice the leftovers for a Tuesday night French Dip meal. Double the mashed potatoes needed for Sunday night, and turn the remainder into Tuesday's potato salad. It's no harder to simmer a triple batch of spaghetti sauce than than a single batch, with leftovers frozen for use later.

Only problem is, such casual efforts frequently lead to waste. That delicious spaghetti sauce transmutes into a red-gray life-form from the ice planet Hoth when entrusted to the freezer, label-less and in a hurry. The heel of the roast sits lost and lonely in the back of the refrigerator, befriended only by a jar of cocktail olives and a forgotten container of leftover green beans.

Freezer cooking promotes efficiency and eliminates waste. Entrees are labeled, wrapped, and bundled with items needed to complete the meal. No more staring inside that mystery freezer container, wondering: "Is it barbecue pork, red beans and rice, or my son's science experiment?"

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what if my family doesn't like the recipes?

You're not alone! Many home managers find that recipes published in some Freezer Cooking guides don't suit their family's tastes or health needs.

The freezer cooking concept can be adapted to familiar family recipes. The cookbook contained on this Web site resulted from one family's adaptation of this method. Substitute your own recipes, or modify recipes to your family's taste--the benefits are the same.

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my freezer is too small to store 30 entrees!

Creative packaging and a scaled-down two-week plan can overcome lack of freezer space. Storing entrees flat, in zipper food storage bags and starting with an empty freezer compartment, even small freezers can hold at least two weeks' worth of entrees.

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how do I start?

Beginning freezer cooks should apply the concept gradually. A two-week cooking plan takes only half a day and can be stored in a refrigerator-top freezer. Once the method is mastered, a month's worth"--or more!--of entrees can be processed in each session of freezer cooking.

It's not an intuitive idea, though, so it's best to begin by reading more about freezer cooking. Print and online resources for Freezer cooking are listed on the resources page.

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Ready? Let's get cooking!

Get Started: Planning A Freezer Cooking Session

To begin, you'll need to create a freezer cooking plan. It's your road map to an easy, efficient freezer cooking session. Find a large table, spread out and get comfortable! Planning your freezer cooking session should be fun!

First things first: time. You'll need two days--one partial, for shopping, one total, for cooking--to fill your freezer with a month's worth of meals. Before you devote the time, you'll need a plan. Ready? The first step is to create a freezer cooking game plan: the menus, shopping lists and recipes you'll need for your freezer cooking session.

To start your family's freezer cooking plan, begin with the bottom dollar: the weekly newspaper food sections. Scanning these, jot down all the best weekly meat specials; after all, economy is one of the goals of the freezer cooking plan. Write the type of meat special--Sirloin Tip Steak, Whole Ham, Chicken Breasts--across the top of a 3-by-5 file card, one for each cut of meat.

These cards, and the recipes they'll suggest to you, form the raw data of your freezer cooking plan! Under each title, list the entrees usually prepared from that cut of meat. For example, on the "Sirloin Tip Steak" card, make a quick list of family favorites: Grilled Marinated Steak, Fajitas, Steak in Pitas (Mock Gyros) and Beef Stroganoff. Fill out cards for the proteins on sale this week, but plan to spend a few more planning sessions on the roasts-of-the-week and recipes that were missed this time around.

Next (and the most time-consuming single task in setting up this program--but you only do it once), locate the recipes for the entrees listed on each card. You may use cooking software (recommended) or write recipes out by hand. Include even "mental recipes" like Hamburgers; list these no-brainers in cooking software programs to take advantage of the shopping list and menu plan functions.

Alternately, to do this job manually, write each recipe on a large index card. Use these cards to plan menus, make shopping lists and to cook from!

Now, to creating the actual freezer cooking plan. With cooking software, this part's easy. With a family planner or calendar in front of you, use the menu plan function to select 30 days' entrees from the freezer recipes. Your family planner will remind you of evenings out and dinner parties in (double up on that Coq au Vin!); and help you choose recipes according to your family's habits. Choose easy entrees like Hamburgers, French Dip or Barbecue Pork on PTA nights, the Wednesday Bible Study, or kick-back Friday evenings; more complicated meals (Fajitas, Pork-Fried-Rice) for at-home evenings; and fancy entrees for family celebrations, Sunday dinners or entertaining.

Consider serving some family favorites twice during the month, to get maximum time savings from your efforts. Aim for nutritional balance, and for a good mix of easy-to-fancy entrees. Finally, don't forget! You'll go out to dinner on your cooking day!

After choosing your menus, use your cooking software's menu plan function to generate a menu calendar, or manually enter your selections on the blank menu calendar, one entree per day. Post this calendar as a key to the riches in the freezer.

Shopping List next! Using the computer, it's a snap--just generate a shopping list from your menu plan. By hand, you've got some writing to do; use recipe cards to list all needed ingredients.

Either way, take your completed list to the pantry, to determine what foods are already on-hand, and what foods must be purchased. Cross off staples that are on-hand, and you're ready to shop!

Last step: assemble your game plan--the step-by-step guide to your shopping and cooking days. If you're using your computer, print all recipes contained in your menu plan; if you're planning by hand, refer to your recipe cards. Next, group all recipe with common steps: browning ground beef, making white sauce, chopping and sautéing onions. Note how many cups/pounds TOTAL you'll need of common ingredients--grated cheese, chopped onion, sautéed chopped onion, browned ground beef--and write the totals on a separate 3-by-5 card (unless your computer shopping list has broken these amounts down for you!).

Get Cooking: Sample Freezer Cooking Game Plan

Game plan in hand, you're ready to shop and cook. Try the following sample game plan for your freezer cooking session:

Shopping Day:

• Shop for all needed food items OR have groceries delivered!
• Process, package and freeze any straight-to-freezer items such as Hamburgers or pork cubes for Pork Fried Rice.
• Cook any large roasts or ham that afternoon, serving that entree for dinner (Ham Dinner Slices, Roast Beef and Gravy, Roast Pork and Gravy); after dinner, process leftovers (French Dip Sandwiches, Barbecue Pork) or slice and cube roast meats.
• Alternately, if you're not cooking large roasts, make Basic Recipes such as Marinara Sauce, serve one portion for dinner and reserve remainder for use on Cooking Day.

Cooking Day:

• Package and freeze any "overnight" entrees (Barbecue Pork); wash pot or crock pot and prepare for use.
• Perform all chopping, slicing, crushing and grating tasks, using your "common ingredients" card as a guide.
• Start bread dough (Pizza Dough) using automatic bread machine or food processor.
• Start with a "simmer" group: Marinara Sauce, Chili. Begin with one recipe, processing ALL required common ingredients as you go. For example, when sautéing onions for Marinara Sauce, sauté ALL onions required for the whole plan; browning ground beef for Chili, brown ALL ground beef needed.
• Assemble "simmer" recipes one at a time, and set aside extra amounts of common ingredients.
• Move to next recipe "group" and assemble entrees one at a time; for example, prepare marinades, package and freeze all Sirloin Tip Steak recipes (Grilled Marinated Steak, Fajitas, Steak in Pitas (Mock Gyros)). Bundle with appropriate "extras" when required.
• Move from group to group, assembling Chicken entrees, Ham entrees, Pasta entrees or Miscellaneous entrees in turn.
• Clean up--and go out to dinner. You've earned it!

Start Small: Sneak Up On Freezer Cooking

You've heard about bulk freezer cooking. Whether you know it as once-a-month cooking, freezer assets, OAMC or freezer cooking, the idea sounds intriguing. In a single day, cook and freeze dinner entrees for a month--or more.

But the work! Loaded down with toddlers or balancing a full-time job, you can't imagine devoting two full days a month to shopping, preparing and cooking all those meals.

Take heart! Freezer cooking is not just for the energetic. Try these strategies to build your frozen assets bit by bit:

Magic Multiples

The concept is simple. When you do cook, cook multiple portions and freeze extra servings.

Problem is, this method is a bit haphazard. Who hasn't known the virtuous feeling of cooking up a big pot of baked beans and tucking a container or two deep in the bowels of Moby Dick, the great white whale?

Where, sad to say, it remains. Months later, a freezer clean-out yields a variegated ice mountain of anonymous dribs and drabs. Without labels, planning or portion control, the effort goes to waste.

Fine-tune your bulk cooking skills to avoid the hazards of mystery meat:

• Plan multiple meals. Ground beef and Italian sausage on sale this week? By all means, buy extra for freezer meals--but make it a plan. Two pounds of beef and a pound of sausage will make four meals for your family? Great! That's what you buy, not a smidgen more. Too often, a weak "I'll freeze the extra" motivation leads to overbuying and waste.
• Package the freezer meals first. Back to our hungry family, faced with a huge kettle of spaghetti sauce. Before you know it, your meat-loving teen has gutted the pot and put a serious dent in those planned-over meals. Instead, fill freezer containers before you serve the evening's meal. You'll have a tighter handle on portion control--and there will be no more scant cups of meatless sauce marooned inside the whale.
• Freeze casserole multiples before cooking. Twice-cooked casseroles are nobody's friend. After dinner, who wants to scoop the leavings into freezer bags? Efficient multiple cooks build their lasagna in three single-meal containers and freeze two while the evening's dinner is in the oven.
• Package properly. Ill-assorted margarine tubs and gaping plastic containers are for amateurs--and they won't protect your freezer assets. Invest in three or four same-sized oven-safe casserole dishes. Is it beef stew tonight? Spritz the dishes with pan spray, and line with a sheet of foil long enough to wrap completely around the food. Spray the foil, too, then ladle in the stew. Gently tuck the foil up over the food. Freeze overnight, then release the foil from the pan. Wrap, label and freeze in freezer bags. To use, pop a foil-wrapped entree into the casserole dish, thaw and re-heat. Simple!
• Label, label, label! Our efficient once-a-month cook has assembled her labeling supplies before she begins. Casual freezer cooks often fudge the labels. Tuck a slip of paper with the multiple's name and cooking directions between the foil-wrapped entree and it's freezer bag. Better, use a permanent marker pen to label freezer bags. A page of computer address labels tucked in the phone directory provides quick labeling help.
• Track inventory. "Out of sight, out of mind" defeats many would-be freezer cooks--and nothing's better for inventory control than a whiteboard. Add three dinners' worth of macaroni and cheese to your freezer hoard? Write 'em in. Visiting family has you drawing heavily on your inventory? Erase each meal as you use it. A small magnet-mounted whiteboard can be placed on the freezer door to track frozen assets.

Soup-er Strategies

Soups and stews are simple-but-good dishes for freezer storage. Try these ideas to build your stock of soup possibilities:

• Store the components, not the soup. Too often, frozen soups don't satisfy. Overcooked vegetables, gritty stock and stringy meat are a table turn-off. Instead of freezing completed soups, freeze components: a container of chicken broth, freezer bag of just-cooked chicken in single meal portions. To assemble, sauté onions, celery and carrots in a skillet, and add the freezer broth. Stir in leftover cooked rice. Add the meat, heat--and serve a soup that stands the test of time.
• Just say "No!" to potatoes. Whether in soup, stew or casserole, frozen potatoes don't cut the mustard. Package freezer stew before adding potato. When you reheat, stir in cold, cubed, peeled baked potato from last night's dinner. Freezer friendly potato substitutes include barley and slightly undercooked pasta.
• Store now, thicken later. Yes, you can freeze thickened stews, but do you want to? Cornstarch and flour-based gravies can separate after freezing, and never seem to have quite the right texture. Better, freeze the meal first and add thickening after thawing.

Super Six Freezer Plan

You're chafing at the bit, dreaming of making a big dent in nightly cooking chores. Still, you've got neither the time nor the money to invest in a whole month's worth of freezer meals at one time. What do you do?

Try the Super Six Freezer Plan. Once a week, you'll prepare the night's dinner plus six meals for the freezer. Even eating one prepared meal a week, after six weeks you'll have a fully stocked once-a-month freezer.

To stockpile meals under the Super Six Freezer Plan:

• Make a plan. Using the supermarket sale flyers, identify one bargain protein. Are bone-in chicken breasts on sale for 99 cents? Good candidate! How about low-priced chuck roast? There's another. Choose your Super Six candidate according to your family's tastes.
• Still sitting down with the sale flyers, identify two favorite recipes that can be made from your sale special. Chicken breasts yield Chicken Fajitas and Chicken-Biscuit Casserole. Chuck roast becomes Beef Bourgignon and Pot Roast. Check to make sure that you have other ingredients needed--if not, add them to the grocery list.
• Schedule a Super Six cooking session. For two recipes, allow an extra hour in the kitchen that evening; three recipes may require more time.
• Cook assembly-line fashion. For our chicken plan, we'll make 3 Mexican Chicken casseroles and four Fajita meals, one to be served that night.
• Toss one-third of the bone-in breasts into a large steamer pot. As the meat cooks, bone the remaining breasts. Reserve the skin, bones and scraps.
• Assemble Fajita marinade, and divide the boned breasts among 3 freezer bags and a glass bowl. Pour one-fourth of the marinade into each bag, and one-fourth into the bowl for the night's meal. Seal, label and freeze the Fajitas.
• Cool the now-cooked chicken breasts and remove the meat. Mix the casserole sauce ingredients, and grate cheese and chop onions for the casseroles (reserve extra cheese and onions for the night's dinner). Using three foil-lined pans, assemble the casseroles, label, and freeze. Grill the evening's fajitas.
• Dump the skin, bone and scraps right into the bottom of the steamer pot, add more water, and bring to a gentle simmer for chicken stock. Simmer very slowly for several hours or overnight, strain, and freeze. Your Super Six plan has given you a bonus--free homemade chicken stock!

Total time: 90 minutes. Total freezer investment: six meals. Multiply by six weeks, and you've filled the freezer!

Trade Money for Time

Oh, no! I've scared you! Super Six sounds like too much work, and who's got time to package freezer meals each night at dinner?

Okay, fine. There's a work-free way to have the advantage of meals in the freezer: buy them. You're going to trade money for time--but it's still faster and cheaper than five nights a week at Happy Clown Hamburgers.

• Scour warehouse stores and supermarket freezer sections for freezer meal candidates. Family-size lasagna is made to order, even if you do have to "plan over" the second half of the package for later in the week.
• Think in terms of building blocks, not complete meals. Pre-cooked frozen meatballs can be tossed into spaghetti sauce from a jar. Cooked shrimp takes simple fried rice from a side dish to a light entree.
• Try a Ewer family favorite: place meatballs in a medium saucepan, and add water just to cover. Stir in two or three teaspoons of beef soup base, bring to a boil, and simmer gently. Cook rice in a rice steamer as the meatballs simmer. Toss a salad. When the rice is ready, stir a tablespoon of cornstarch into a small amount of water, and add to the meatballs to thicken the sauce. Simple!
• Other freezer-friendly meal components: bags of pre-cooked frozen shrimp; small bacon-wrapped filets of beef; pre-formed hamburger patties; flash-frozen chicken breasts.

Freezer convenience, home-cooked taste, and more free time. Give Freezer cooking a try . . . one way or the other!

Using Computer Software To Speed Freezer Cooking

Computers and cookbooks are a tasty combination! Today's cooking software makes meal planning--even planning once for a month's worth of dinner entrees--nearly effortless. Improved import-export capabilities permit capture of recipes from on-line services or text files; software menu plan and shopping list functions spell an end to tedious hours of sifting, sorting and listing. Recipe junkies are in food heaven as the Internet shares thousands of recipes available for the downloading.

Cooking software can create a freezer cooking menu plan in a matter of minutes, complete with shopping list! To make full use of the power of your computer to speed the planning/shopping process, keep in mind these "computer cookbook conventions".

Be Consistent. Remember, your computer is a high speed idiot; it won't know that a bay leaf and a bayleaf are the same article. When entering recipes into your Freezer cookbook, pick your terms and stick your guns! Is it "hamburger", "ground beef" or "ground chuck"?

Use Standard Measurements. To ease assembly of your shopping list and your cooking day game plan, standardize measurements and values across your cookbook. Measure meat in pounds; list common convenience foods (canned tomatoes) by can sizes; note baked goods by the "each" (6 hamburger buns) not the "package" (1 package hamburger buns) whenever possible. Your cooking program may assist you; for example, Mastercook for Windows features pre-assigned measurements and values available for a click of the mouse.

Pay Attention To Amount Conventions. Be aware of common measurement/amount conventions when writing your cookbook. For example, for shopping ease, recipes in this cookbook list "onions" by the "each"--and each "each" is considered 1/2 cup of chopped onions.

Watch Format Consistency. Finally, strive for a consistent format, especially when writing recipe directions. Separate paragraphs by a carriage return or blank line; your courtesy will be appreciated when other users try to import your work into their software programs.

Freezer Cookbook: Recipes for Freezer Cooking

So, what do you eat if you're trying freezer cooking?

Take heart! Many favorite recipes adapt well to freezer cooking--and it's not all casseroles and lasagne.

These family recipes have been specially adapted for freezer cooking. They include a range of entrees, side dishes and desserts.

Familiar favorites, these recipes illustrate how to adapt cooking methods for freezer storage:

side dishes and desserts
includes garlic mashed potatoes, carrot cake and freezer coleslaw!

Freezer Carrot Cake
Blast from the past, this traditional recipe freezes well, icing and all. Be prepared for the next pot-luck dinner!

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Creamy. Rich. Flavorful. So good that a single serving won't do!<

Freezer Coleslaw
Crisp and crunchy, pair Freezer Coleslaw with Texas-Style Barbeque for a make-ahead summer dinner.

chicken recipes

find the sticky chicken recipe here

Chicken Pot-au-Feu
Sophisticated and rich, this French-inspired chicken and vegetable stew makes a gourmet treat of ordinary chicken thighs and drumsticks. Serve with Garlic Mashed Potatoes for an all-from-the-oven meal.

Sticky Chicken
The most requested freezer cooking recipe, Roast Sticky Chicken boasts a golden, chewy crust and moist, tender meat. Long, slow roasting seals in flavor and juices. Make more than one!

Tarragon Chicken
Low in fat and high in taste, Tarragon Chicken features tender carrots, mushrooms and zucchini baked with plump chicken breasts.

Chicken Biscuit Casserole
My adult son dreams of this dish when he thinks of home cooking. On busy nights, substitute refrigerator biscuits for the home-made variety.

Ginger Chicken
Microwave cooking speeds this unusual Asian-flavored chicken dish. Serve with steamed rice to catch the richly-flavored juices. Leftover bones and scraps make a flavorful Asian broth for hot and sour soup!

Mim's Mexican Chicken
She was short, sweet, and the best cook in the world: my grandmother, Mim. Mim's take on King Ranch Chicken is a potluck favorite!

Chicken Vol-au-Vents
Purchased puff paste shells turn simple creamed chicken into a dainty, delicious light meal. Serve luncheon guests or for everyday!

Chicken in Wine Sauce (Coq au Vin)
Showy enough for a dinner party, this French favorite freezes beautifully.

Chicken Liver Pate
Working on a chicken plan? Stop! Don't toss those livers in the soup pot! This rich, creamy pate transforms them into an elegant appetizer for your next social gathering.&

ground beef recipes
old favorites, new friends--and freezer pizza!

Freezer Pizza
The secret's in the way you build it, but this Freezer Pizza combines great taste with a crisp crust. No more expensive deliveries!

Cannelloni with Cheese Sauce
A little Marinara Sauce, a topping of Cheese Sauce, and you have a hearty, husband-pleasing pasta dish. Freezes beautifully.

Mim's Cabbage Rolls
Grandmother Mim excelled with sweet, tender cabbage leaves filled with savory ground beef and rice. Will convert the most ardent cabbage-haters.

Meatloaf with Mushroom-Rice Stuffing
Meatloaf goes upscale! Cook this ring-shaped, stuffed meatloaf in microwave for speed.

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Mom's reliable family favorite. Our Marinara Sauce sneaks shredded veggies into the mix.

beef recipes
steak fajitas, freezer french dip sandwiches and more

Beef Bourguignon (Burgundy Beef Stew)
Rich casserole with French flair. Elegant enough for a dinner party!

Roast Beef(microwave method)
Yes, you can roast beef in the microwave! Fast and tasty, the drippings make flavorful gravy. Recycle leftovers as Freezer French Dip Sandwiches.

French Dip Sandwiches
Friday night fast-food meals are a thing of the past when this meal lives in the family freezer. A favorite!

Steak Fajitas
Quick and fresh, with Mexican flair, Fajitas are easy on the meat, and a good way to increase vegetable servings.

Grilled Marinated Steak
A summer favorite, packaged for freezer cooking convenience.

Mock Gyros(Steak in Pitas)
Zesty tzatziki-style cucumber sauce tops tender steak strips wrapped in pita cones. A quick-fix for busy families!

pork recipes
find Texas-style barbeque, grilled pork loin and fried rice

Barbeque Pork
This succulent, tender filling for barbeque sandwiches recycles roast pork leftovers. Simmer as you sleep, and freeze for casual evening meals.

Grilled Pork Loin with Mustard Sauce
Marinate and grill tender pork loin chops, then spark with a stir-and-serve mustard sauce. Low-fat and showy enough for dinner guests!

Pork Roast with Gravy (crock pot)
Super, simple supper for prep night, this Crock-Pot method roast pork provides a hearty meal, plus leftovers for Texas-Style Barbeque Pork.

Pork Fried Rice
Fast food with an Asian flair! Keep frozen pork cubes on hand for this "clean out the refrigerator" family meal.

ham recipes
creative uses for ham in the freezer

Macaroni and Cheese with Ham Cubes
Hungry teens appreciate this rich, home-style macaroni and cheese dish. Great for cool fall evenings.

Bone Beans
Eldest child, Brighid, claims this dish as her favorite. Ham bone and scraps flavor simmered pinto beans. Pepper ads a dash of flavor.

Classic Quiche Lorraine
An oldie but a goodie, this Swiss cheese/ham quiche can be spiked with steamed vegetables for a light, all-in-one meal for hot summer nights.

basic recipes
building-block recipes for freezer cooking sessions:

Freezer Pizza Crust

Marinara Sauce

White Sauce for Freezer Cooking