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Freezer Meals 101

Less time cooking, more time living

Freezer Meal Tips

Complete Guide to Freezer Meal Prep

By Sharla

Taking time ahead to prep your ingredients and your kitchen for freezer cooking will make assembling the meals go so much faster and more efficiently. This guide to freezer meal prep contains everything you need.

Preparing your kitchen

  1. Make room in your freezer.
  2. Wash the dishes and set out tools such as measuring spoons, measuring cups, spatulas, and large bowls so that you’ll have easy access. 
  3. Wipe down your counters.
  4. Print off recipes.
  5. Create stations by setting out what you’ll need for each meal including the recipe and freezer bags or containers. 

Brown the Ground Beef, Ground Turkey, and Sausage

Put 20 – 30 lbs of ground beef into a large counter top electric roaster and let it cook on 200/250° overnight. In the morning, it’s browned and ready to use. Use a ladle to take out the excess liquid or drain the meat. A big thank you to my friend Kimberly Walker, who is a mom of 10 and a freezer meal veteran for sharing this tip with me.

browning ground beef in electric roasterIf you don’t have a large counter top electric roaster, fry up your ground beef in a skillet, breaking it up with a Masher & Smasher as you go. Season it with a bit of salt and pepper. Drain the fat and store in a container with lid until ready to use. 

We typically use large pots with lids to store our cooked ground beef overnight in the fridge.two pots of browned hamburgerRemember: 2 1/3 cups of browned hamburger is 1 lb. This measurement will help you when you’re assembling your meals. You can keep a 1 cup measuring cup in the cooked beef and scoop out into the bags as needed.

Chopping, Mincing, and Slicing Onions

When you are chopping, mincing, and slicing dozens and dozens of onions, you need a better system than just using a knife and a cutting board. This is how we prep our onions for freezer cooking. It’s one of those things that’s better to show you, so watch the video below to see exactly how we do it. 

Know ahead how many onions you need to be minced, how many diced, and how many sliced. I make note of this while I’m compiling my shopping list.

  1. Set up a large cutting board and bring out your mandolin.
  2. Cut both ends off each onion.
  3. Peel the onions and discard the skins in the compost.
  4. For minced onions, use the julienne tool on a mandolin. For chopped onions, use the french fry tool on the mandolin.
  5. Be sure to use the safety guard.
  6. Run an onion down the mandolin repeatedly until it is all sliced.
  7. Use a knife to chop the sliced onion to complete the mincing or dicing.
  8. Place the onions in a bowl with a lid or plastic container with a lid for using when you assemble your freezer meals.

peeled onions, a mandolin, cutting board, and knife

Chopping Vegetables

You’ll want to cut everything ahead of assembling your freezer meals. This includes:

  • peeling and slicing carrots
  • chopping or slicing red, yellow, and green peppers
  • slicing mushrooms
  • dicing zucchini
  • getting broccoli or cauliflower into florets
  • slicing green onions

bowl of diced green peppers, bowl of diced zucchini, bag of sliced carrots, bowl of sliced mushroomsStore them in the fridge in bowls with lids, covered plastic containers, or freezer bags until you add them into your meals.

Shredding Cheese

Shredding cheese is usually pretty straightforward except when you have to shred 40 cups at a time! There are a few tricks that make shredding cheese easier and faster.

  1. Cut the cheese into blocks that will fit into your food processor. 
  2. Use the shredder attachment. 
  3. Add some corn starch so that it doesn’t clump and stays nice and loose in the container.
  4. Put the shredded cheese in a bowl. Add another tsp. or two of corn starch for every 4 cups or so of shredded cheese and give it a shake.
  5. Shred the next chunk of cheese and continue the process until all the cheese is shredded.

the process of shredding cheddar cheese using a food processorCooking Chicken Ahead

If you’re doing a variety of recipes for your freezer meals, you will likely have some that call for raw chicken and some that call for cooked chicken.  The cooked chicken is then cubed or shredded before adding into the meal.

I’ve found that the fastest way to cook chicken on prep day is to put chicken breasts or thighs in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake in a 350° or 375° oven for about 45 minutes. Cool slightly before chopping or shredding depending on what your recipes call for. 

Cooking Large Quantities of Bacon

Bacon is another thing that can be cooked in a large electric roaster if you have one. If you don’t or if you’re already using yours to cook your ground beef, you can cook your bacon in the oven on a cookie sheet.

The trick is in twisting the bacon so that you can fit more than twice as many slices on the cookie sheet!

Put the cookie sheet in the oven and bake at 375° until it’s reached the desired level of doneness. I would never dream of telling anyone how long to cook it for because there are two camps when it comes to bacon. Those who like it crispy and those who don’t!

Other Prep

Anything you can do ahead will save you time and energy on the day you assemble your meals. Take a look through your recipes and see what else can be done the day before. Cube the ham, roll the meatballs, cube or shred the cooked chicken, anything to save time the next day.

I know prep can be a big job, but you will reap the rewards on the day you go to assemble your freezer meals and most of the work is already done for you.

Filed Under: Freezer Meal Tips

The Best Tips to Organize Your Freezer

By Sharla

Have you been wondering how to organize your freezer? Maybe when you look in the freezer, it’s a hot mess and you’re not even sure where to start. The good news is that you’re one step ahead of the game because you know that your freezer needs to be organized. It’s just a matter of HOW to organize it so that it stays that way and you save yourself some work down the road. see-through containers with vegetables and plastic bags full of vegetables in a freezer and text reads "How to Organize Your Freezer"

How to Organize Your Freezer

Here is a step by step guide to organizing your freezer in a way that is easier to have it stay that way. We’re also sharing some great little tips along the way.

Take Everything Out of Your Freezer

The first step to organizing your freezer is to take everything out of it. If all the frozen food is still in the freezer, it’s going to be impossible to see everything that’s in there. Because you are just taking it out for a short period of time, you don’t have to worry about the food going back. Just remember, the first step is to take everything out of the freezer.

Do a Quick Wipe Down of Your Freezer

It gets dirtier than you think in there! Do a quick wipe down. You may be surprised as to how much grime can grow in a fridge, even though the temperature is freezing. I’d suggest wiping down all the grime so that you don’t have to look at it the next time you open the freezer.

One tip here is to use a warm (almost hot) cloth when doing the wiping or the wet cloth will just stick to the freezer.

Defrost Your Freezer if it Needs it

This step is optional. Whether or not it is necessary will depend on what type of freezer you have and how much ice buildup is in your freezer. If you’re going to be following this step, your food will be sitting out for longer, so I suggest you place it in a cooler with ice or if you live somewhere that is below freezing outside, you can place the food is a box outside.

There are a few methods of defrosting depending on the type of freezer you have. Read about the methods and how to defrost your freezer here.

Throw Out the Bad Stuff

While you are in your freezer, knee-deep, this is the time to throw out the bad stuff. You can throw out old meat that has been in your freezer for longer than you can remember. This is also a great time to rid your freezer of anything that is freezer burnt. (Read about how to prevent freezer burn so that this doesn’t happen to you next time.)

If you haven’t eaten it in two years, you are most likely not going to eat it anytime soon. Feel free to toss out anything that you don’t think is edible.

Stock Up on Organizational Tools

If you want to go a step further in your freezer organization, then you may want to invest in some organizational items. Purchasing the right items can take your freezer organization just a little further.

Plastic bins – these are such an inexpensive way to organize your freezer. You can get plastic bins from the Dollar Store. Use these to store small items such as canned juice concentrate, individual steaks, small packs of fruits or veggies,
Magazine holders – Magazine holders are an excellent way to store items flat in the freezer.

Label the Items in Your Freezer

How many times do you just throw some food in the freezer without a label? Stop doing that because then you have no idea WHAT the item is or when you put it in there. When you label an item you are making your life a whole lot easier! You don’t need a fancy labeler to organize the items in your freezer, a permanent marker works just fine!

Freeze Things Flat

A big mistake a lot of us make, when we are trying to organize our freezers is freezing items as they are. If you are freezing soups, casseroles, fruit, or vegetables, it’s wise to freeze them flat. Make sure you label them items and then stack them up! Just because you freeze it flat, doesn’t mean it will taste differently.

Freeze Smaller Portions

When it comes to your freezer, you may be unmotivated to get anything out of your freezer and deal with it. However, if you freeze smaller portions, you are able to get to the items a lot easier. Freezing small portions makes more sense if you want to unthaw smaller portions at a time. Of course, this doesn’t work for everyone. However, it’s not a bad idea to keep in mind.

Know What’s In Your Freezer

You may think it’s weird to take inventory of what’s in your freezer, I think it’s smart. Whatever works best for you, take inventory and know what’s in your freezer. You may have 4 bags of chicken and 4 bags of corn. If you write that down, you’ll know what’s in your freezer. From there, you can plan meals and know what’s in there without causing more work for yourself.

You can use this Freezer Meal Inventory sheet to help you keep track. Then you’ll know at a glance what you have left. I suggest that you print it off and put it in a plastic sheet protector before hanging it. That way, you can update it using a dry erase marker.

These 9 tips for organizing your freezer are going to help you to get organized and stay organized. You don’t want to pass up any of these steps because I feel like it’s going to make your life easier. I do think that organizing a freezer is a bigger job than most people are willing to do. However, if you take the time and just do it, you will save yourself a lot of time and money down the road.

Good luck!

You might also find these articles helpful:

How to Prevent Freezer Burn

The Quick Start Guide to Freezer MealsFreezer Meal Hacks to Save You Time and Money10 Clever Freezer Meal Hacks that will save you time and money

Filed Under: Freezer Meal Tips

How to Prevent Freezer Burn

By Sharla

It is possible to prevent freezer burn. Have you ever had the night time munchies and needed a sweet snack? You remember that half-gallon of ice cream that’s tucked away in your freezer and you prepare to get a scoop or two, only to discover there are ice crystals covering your midnight snack. Talk about a downer! two raw steaks with ice crystals sit on a yellow foam tray. Text reads "How to Prevent Freezer Burn"This can be not only a huge letdown, but also a waste of money. While you won’t get sick from eating freezer-burned food, that ice cream has certainly lost its appeal. How do you stop your food from becoming freezer burned? These tips will help ensure that freezer-burned ice cream doesn’t haunt you again.

How Does Freezer Burn Happen?

In order to prevent freezer burn, it’s important to know why it keeps happening. Freezer burn is the result of air coming into contact with the surfaces of food and causes moisture to escape from the food, drying it out. It can even change the colour of your food with greyish-brown spots. There are also a few other reasons why your food might be becoming freezer burned.

While it is technically safe to eat food that has freezer burn, it is not appealing visually or tastewise. Having to throw food away wastes money and it’s always a disappointment to discover freezer burnt food. Therefore, it is best to prevent it from happening in the first place.

Preventing Freezer Burn

Maintain the Right Temperature

Make sure that you have your temperature dial set to the right temperature to make sure that’s not part of the problem. Set the dial to low or cold. Freezers are meant to keep food frozen and under 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Food that reaches temperatures warmer than this are susceptible to freezer burn.

Keep a Full Freezer

You might think that the fuller the freezer, the harder your freezer is having to work to keep your food frozen. That’s actually not true. It works more efficiently when it’s not half-empty. There’s actually less warm air in your freezer when you have it stuffed. Your freezer doesn’t have to work as hard when it’s stuffed to the gills with other frozen foods.

Keeping your freezer more full also lowers the utility bill as your freezer doesn’t take as much energy to keep its contents frozen. This is yet another way that making freezer meals can save your family money.

Maintain Air Flow

While you do want to maintain a full freezer, you don’t want your food blocking the airflow. Make sure there’s space at the top and bottom of your freezer where airflow is not being blocked. This ensures that your freezer works optimally.

Freeze Foods at the Right Time

Don’t make the mistake of putting hot steak or pork chops directly into the freezer for future enjoyment at a later date. Because you won’t be able to enjoy them later. Putting warm or hot food into the freezer is a mistake which can also lead to freezer burn.

Instead, put your food in the refrigerator for an hour or two before moving it to the freezer, allowing it to chill first.

Use the Right Containers and Remove Excess Air

This is the number one thing you can do to prevent freezer burn. It’s important to make sure that you package your food in air-tight containers, and freezer wrap food when you store it in the freezer. Make sure that air is not being left in storage bags. There are some great containers that will do the trick like Ziploc freezer containers and Ziploc freezer storage bags.

Be sure to take out as much excess air as you can before freezing. One tip is to close a freezer bag almost all the way and then insert a straw in the tiny opening left and suck out the air before fully sealing. Vacuum sealing is another way to ensure there isn’t much air in there.

If something needs to be in a casserole type dish, place plastic wrap directly on top of the food and then place a lid or aluminum foil on top of the dish. This helps keep extra air away from the food.

Freeze Appropriate Portions

It’s also important to freeze your food in appropriate meal portions. This way, you’re not pulling out an entire batch of something, only to put it back in the freezer. Repeated exposure to air will cause freezer burns too. Make smaller batches by separating them into smaller containers or bags.

Don’t Open the Freezer Door So Often

This is another tip to keep in mind. Every time you open the freezer door, you’re allowing warm air in, increasing the possibility of freezer-burned food. Do your best to keep the freezer door shut as much as possible.

Our new freezer has an alarm that sounds when the door is kept open too long or when one of our kids accidentally don’t shut it all the way. That’s been a handy feature.

Don’t Keep Food In the Freezer Too Long

While putting food in the freezer may extend the life of your favourite slab of meat, that doesn’t mean that it will last forever. Uncooked frozen meat such as steak, roasts, and pork chops should remain in your freezer for no more than a year.

Ground meat, no more than 4 months, while frozen cooked meats, only 3 months. In general, freezer meals can be stored for 3-6 months.

Put dates on the container or freezer bags to help you stay on top of how long certain food has been in your freezer. You can print off our Freezer Meal Inventory sheet and keep it in the door of your freezer to help you keep track.

I suggest that you keep it in a plastic sheet protector and use a dry erase marker to mark off which of your freezer meals you’ve used. This also helps you to be able to see at a glance what you have left.

Freezing Greens

If you’re wanting to freeze your vegetables, a great way of doing this is by boiling them for 30 seconds. Then put them directly into an ice bath before putting them into the freezer. You should be able to put them in a resealable freezer bag where they will be safe for up to 6 to 8 months.

These are a few methods you can use to keep your foods from becoming freezer burned. Have you ever had expensive meat or food products tampered with by freezer burn, costing you a lot of money? What other ways have you discovered to prevent freezer burn on your food?

These tips will also help:

What Freezes Well (and What Doesn’t)What freezes well and how to best freeze it

What You Need to Know to Make Freezer MealsFreezer Meals 101 - your complete guide to batch freezer cooking #freezermeals101 #easyfamilymeals #freezercooking #freezermeals

Filed Under: Freezer Meal Tips

How to Freeze Rhubarb

By Sharla

Fresh rhubarb is only available for a limited time each year. Once you know how to freeze rhubarb, you’ll be able to enjoy it later in the year. You can also use it in many delicious recipes. 5 bags of sliced rhubarb are stacked on top of each other at the top and a close up of sliced rhubarb on the bottom with text that reads "How to Freeze Rhubarb"Both my neighbour Christie and my friend Denise grow rhubarb in their gardens. Fortunately, this means that I am the lucky recipient of fresh rhubarb every year. I am super thankful for this as I’m a fan of this unusual vegetable.

If you aren’t fortunate enough to have a neighbour or friend that grows it and gifts it to you, you can find it at Farmer’s Markets and even sometimes in the produce section of the grocery store when it is in season.

If you’re a fan of this vegetable too, there’s great news. Rhubarb freezes beautifully. Freezing rhubarb is very easy as it doesn’t require blanching beforehand.

How to freeze rhubarb:

Method for if you’re wanting to be able to take out smaller amounts of rhubarb from the bag:

  1. Cut the leaves and the tails off the rhubarb stalks.
  2. Wash the stalks.
  3. Dry them well using a tea towel or paper towels.
  4. Using a sharp knife, slice into 1/4″ to 1/2″ pieces.
  5. Place the slices on a cookie sheet in a single layer and place the baking sheet in the freezer.
  6. Once frozen, transfer the rhubarb pieces into a large resealable freezer bag.
  7. Remove the excess air from the bag, seal, and freeze.
  8. For best results, close the bag almost all the way and then insert a straw in the opening to suck out whatever air is left. This will prevent freezer burn. Do this whenever you take some rhubarb out and are resealing the bag.

Method for how to freeze rhubarb for use in recipes:

  1. Cut the leaves and the tails off the rhubarb stalks.
  2. Wash the stalks.
  3. Dry them well using a tea towel or paper towels.
  4. Using a sharp knife, slice into 1/4″ to 1/2″ pieces.
  5. Measure into 1 or 2 cups and transfer to a medium sized resealable freezer bag.*
  6. Label the bag “1 cup” or “2 cups” so that you don’t need to re-measure.
  7. Remove the excess air, seal, and freeze. For best results and to prevent freezer burn, close the bag almost all the way shut and insert a straw in the opening and use that to suck out any air that is left.
  8. When needed, dump the contents of the bag into the recipe you need it for.

*I measure all of mine into 2 cups because if a recipe calls for one cup, I just double it as we have a large family.You don’t need to thaw the rhubarb before adding it into a recipe.

Once frozen, rhubarb keeps for up to one year as long as the air is removed from the bag.

Ideas for using your frozen rhubarb:

In case you have rhubarb sitting in your freezer and aren’t sure what to do with it, I’ve gathered some ideas and recipes for you.

  • Add it to smoothies. My husband loves the tartness this gives.
  • Rhubarb muffins
  • Easy Rhubarb Cake
  • Rhubarb crisp or any variation such as combining it with strawberry, apple, or other fruits. I’m partial to pairing it with Saskatoon berries myself!
  • soda
  • Rhubarb compote
  • Rhubarb Dream Bars
  • ice cream (homemade or as a topping)
  • jam
  • stewed rhubarb
  • Rhubarb Cinnamon Buns
  • in salads
  • Rhubarb pie
  • salsa
  • pickles
  • Rhubarb & Date Chutney
  • Rhubarb Platz (I had never heard of this before until my neighbour introduced me to her delicious squares)

You may also be interested in reading:

The Quick Start Guide to Freezer Meals

Filed Under: Freezer Meal Tips

Make Ahead Keto Meals to Get You Started

By Sharla

My husband announced recently that he was going Keto. I’ll admit that I wasn’t exactly thrilled. It’s hard enough to cook for a large family, considering the allergies and preferences without throwing a new diet into the mix! But I knew that if I could find some good make ahead keto meals, it would be doable. Make Ahead Keto Meals to get you started #freezermeals101 #freezercooking #makeaheadmeals #keto #ketogenic #lowcarb #ketolife #ketodietAlmost all of our dinners are freezer meals. This enables me to make them ahead of time and have them ready to go. It cuts back on time and saves us a lot of money. Most of all, it saves me sanity because I never have to think, “what’s for supper?”!

I knew that some of our staple freezer meals were already keto friendly, but I set about to find others I could use.

My husband has been doing a lot of reading about keto. One of the things that keeps coming up is that food prep is the key to success. I want him to be able to succeed with this, so I am on board with helping. We’ve had several friends have tremendous health results by going keto.

I know how busy our lives are, so I realize that being prepared is the only way we are going to be able to make this work.

As I’m preparing another freezer meal assembly day, I’m putting together a list of make-ahead meals that are keto or can be easily adapted to be keto with just a small substitution or two.

This list came about as a way for me to be able to support my husband with this lifestyle change and I hope that in sharing it with you, it can make things easier for you to get organized as well.

What is keto?

Keto is a high fat and very low carb way of eating. The keto diet aims to put your body into a metabolic state of ketosis. Bodies usually burn carbohydrates as their fuel. It is when you restrict the amount of carbs that you consume that your body can begin to break down stored fat. This creates molecules called ketones for the body to use as fuel.

While many choose a keto diet for weight loss reasons, others choose it for health reasons, particularly reducing blood sugar and insulin levels.

Make Ahead Keto Meals:

Instant Pot Pork or Chicken Shawarma

Lemon Mustard Chicken Dump Recipe

Easy Asian Meatballs

Garlic Butter Shrimp

Beef Dip – Skip the bun and use lettuce or cabbage leaves instead.

Lemon Pesto Chicken with Cheese

Instant Pot or Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Chicken Tacos – Use these keto taco shells or make it into taco salad.

Slow Cooker Ragu

Tequila Lime Shrimp

Italian Wedding Soup – Make without the pasta.

Lemon Garlic Chicken

Instant Pot Italian Chicken and Veggies

Beef Fajitas – When serving this, use low carb tortillas or cabbage leaves for wrapping.

Stuffed Pepper Soup – Make this without the rice for it to be keto friendly.

Droolworthy Shredded BBQ Chicken with Garlic Mayo – If you want to serve this on buns, there is a recipe for keto buns on Gnom-Gnom.

Cabbage Roll Casserole – Replace the rice with cauliflower rice.

Easy Chicken Marsala – Make as directed, but without the flour.

Chili Glazed Chicken – You’ll need to replace the honey for low carb sweetener like monk fruit or erythritol.

Cauliflower Rice

Make ahead bone broth:

One of the tips that many on a keto diet suggest is to have bone broth on hand. It’s nutritious and good to have when the temptations for sweets hit.

This Instant Pot bone broth recipe is a great way to get you started. It’s easy and faster to make in the Instant Pot than on the stovetop. keto bone broth made in the Instant Pot in a bowlOnce you make your bone broth, allow it to cool. Pour it into ice cube trays or a silicone tray and place in the freezer. Once the broth is frozen, pop the cubes out of the tray. Place them into a large resealable freezer bag and seal.

Place the bag back in the freezer. You will now have individual portions of bone broth that can be taken out whenever needed. Using this method, you can pull out enough for a small snack or for an entire meal.

Other ideas for prepping ahead for keto:

If you have favourite keto meals and aren’t sure what can be made ahead and frozen, you can read about what freezes well, what doesn’t and how to adapt your existing recipes. This will allow you to freeze your own best recipes and have them ready to go. What freezes well and how to best freeze itThis Broccoli Cauliflower Salad isn’t a freezer meal, but it can be made ahead and kept in the fridge for up to 5 days. It’s great for lunches or to have as a side dish.

Brown ground beef or turkey and season with salt and pepper. Allow to cool. Fill medium sized resealable freezer bags. Remove the excess air. Freeze. This will allow you to pull out the bags when needed.

Make stir fry bags and freeze them. These are so quick and easy to cook up.

Bake keto muffins and freeze them for handy snacks.

Make Ahead Keto Breakfasts:

Smoothie bags in the freezer make for an easy on-the-go breakfast or snack. Be sure to include keto approved ingredients such as berries and spinach.

Make keto pancakes ahead and freeze them. I find that freezing them flat on a cookie sheet first before placing them in resealable freezer bags makes them easier to separate later.

Grain free sausage and cheese biscuits can be frozen and then warmed up in a toaster oven.

Freezable stuffed breakfast biscuits

Low carb breakfast balls can be made ahead and frozen.

Whip up a frittata and freeze (before cooking). Then, simply thaw and bake in a casserole dish or bake individual portions using a muffin tin.

These meal prep sheet pan eggs can’t be made and frozen, but they can be kept in the fridge for up to a week, allowing you to have breakfast ready each morning.

What are keto friendly foods?

  • meat
  • seafood
  • eggs
  • cheese
  • butter
  • heavy cream
  • seeds
  • nuts
  • low carb vegetables in moderation (a general rule of thumb is that vegetables grown above ground are low carb and vegetables grown below ground are higher in carbs and therefore, not keto friendly)
  • avocados
  • small amounts of berries

Please note that this is a very simplified version of the keto diet. You can find a more comprehensive list of what to eat on a ketogenic diet here.

Filed Under: Freezer Meal Recipe Collections, Freezer Meal Tips

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