A quick detour from road trip planning activities to discuss one of my other planning projects. I have a pretty busy schedule. Between my day job, my night job, and my plethora of random activities, I don't have the time or energy to cook very often. But I don't want to eat out every meal, so my solution to this is to cook once every 4-6 weeks, divide everything into individual containers, and freeze the meals. It's a pretty great solution and I use the opportunities to flex my organizational muscle. So here it is - Lisa's amazingly obsessive guide to freezer cooking.
1. Pick a date. Actually, pick 2.
First you'll need to pick a date to cook. Good cooking days are days when you can carve out the entire day for cooking. I've been known to attend an evening event after a cook day, but I don't recommend it - it adds all sorts of stress. You should also have a couple hours free the night before immediately before you go to bed for prep purposes. I don't have a husband or kids, but I'd imagine you'd want to pick a day where anyone else living in your house won't be there. I say pick 2 days because you'll also need to pick the next cook day as well. For example, when planning my latest cook day (today), I also looked at my calendar and picked the next available cook date that is about 5 weeks out (March 3). I'll explain why this is important in the next step.
2. Figure out what you need.
I keep a very detailed calendar that I have planned out for months in advance. So I'm able to estimate how many breakfasts, lunches and dinners I'll need each time I cook. Yes, I know things will change, but this gives me a really good estimation. In the previous step you picked your current and subsequent cook dates. After I have these figured out, I then look at all of the dates in between the two and literally count out how many breakfasts, lunches and dinners I plan to have over that time period. For me, a breakfast is just what it sounds - breakfast foods, a lunch is a meal that can be room temperature or heated in the microwave, and a dinner is a meal that can be heated in the oven or slow cooker (at this point, I don't even want to bother with anything stove top). Once I have my needs figured out, I subtract the number of meals I still have left in the freezer. I'll discuss later on how exactly I know this without having to root through everything in there.
3. Gather your recipes
I use a site called OnceAMonthMom.com for freezer recipes. For the record, I am not a fan of the name of the site at all, but they provide me the information that I need, so I'll deal with it. This site publishes 7 full sets of recipes each month - traditional, gluten/dairy free, diet, whole foods, paleo, vegetarian, and baby food. For free, you can get the listing of recipes each month and lots of tips about freezer cooking. If you choose to subscribe to the site (for a fee), you get access to the recipes adapted for freezer cooking, and instructions, shopping lists, and labels for each full menu. I have a subscription and I think it's totally worth it, even with the amount of additional work that I do to customize my menus. So you can choose to grab a full menu and just follow the instructions for that menu, or you can do what I do and mix and match. I'll only discuss my process, since following a complete menu is detailed on their site.
So for me, I utilize a the diet and whole foods menus, mainly because they tend to both be adapted for single serving sizes, which is what I need. At the beginning of each month (usually as soon as I can get to a computer on the 1st of the month because I'm that antsy to plan), I download the recipe cards (Excel spreadsheets) for the Diet and Whole Foods menus. I will then sort through and delete any recipes that do not match my cooking criteria. I sort out anything that has an ingredient that I severely don't like (cabbage, brussel sprouts, etc), anything that uses equipment that I don't own (a toaster, waffle iron, etc), or anything that requires reheating that is "too much" for me ("Serve over brown rice", "heat the sauce on the stove top" - as discussed previously, I want something that I can literally throw in the oven and be done with it). I then combine the 2 spreadsheets (Diet & Whole Foods) into one and go from there. Based on the timing of my cook days, I'll sometimes have recipes from multiple months to combine as well (I didn't cook at all in December, so in January, I had both December's recipes and January's). I like to cook at least 4 servings of each recipe (I find 2 to be not enough to be worth the effort), so I'll adjust the size of each recipe to ensure at least 4 servings a piece. Sometimes, it's more than that (6 or 12 muffins is pretty standard - a loaf of bread is difficult to cut the recipe in half, etc).
So once I have all of my potential recipes and the number of servings each recipe will yield, I compare it against my demand calculated previously. I then start deleting extraneous recipes that aren't needed, usually based on what sounds best, what combination will create a good variety, or what is going to be easiest on a cook day (recipes that don't require any actual "cooking" on a cook day usually win). For a first cook day, don't do any more than 10 recipes. The most I ever do at this point is 15, and that's a marathon.
4. Cook day planning.
This is potentially my favorite step. If you subscribe to OAMM.com, it will provide you with the list of instructions for any given menu. This is where they detail out the step by step order in which things should be done. I highly recommend at least checking these out, because they provide a great foundation for planning your own day. There's a pretty standard order in which things are done:
- Night before - chop up produce, prepare any pre-recipes (Whole Foods menu often has tortillas, crepes, bbq sauce, etc that are best prepared the night before), cook chicken overnight in a slow cooker
- First thing in the morning - start any slow cooker recipes
- Oven recipes (starting at the lowest temperature and working your way up)
- Stovetop recipes
- "No cook" recipes (these go faster and you'll want to just knock them out at the end when you are exhausted and think you can't do any more)
So I take all of my recipes, print them up and start marking them up. Read and re-read and re-read each recipe. Take note of what equipment is used. If the oven is used, mark what temperature is needed. Note if there are any breaks in the recipe ("Allow dough to rest for 1 hour"). And then put them in order according the the outline above. Sketch out a plan (on paper). In your head, do a walk through of the whole day and see if any adjustments are needed. In terms of timing, I always plan for at least half an hour per recipe, assuming that you've done ALL of the pre-work the night before.
5. Grocery shopping!
Ok, so now you have your list of recipes that you're going to make. You then want to combine all of those into a grocery list. I have an Excel macro that I use to do this, but it can absolutely be done by hand - it'll just take time. Again, if you are using a standard OAMM menu and you have a subscription, they'll provide this list for you. One of the most tedious parts of combining the recipes into a grocery list is standardizing the ingredients - one recipe may call for "1 lb chopped carrots", while another calls for "1/2 C carrots, chopped." I end up going through the recipes and standardizing the units and information about each ingredient before running my macro. Once I have the full list, I print it out and do a kitchen inventory. I like to do the kitchen inventory on the day immediately prior to grocery shopping. This is because as I find each ingredient in my pantry, not only do I remove it from the shopping list, I also put it on my dining room table. So when I'm cooking, I don't have to dig through my pantry to find anything - everything I need is either in the fridge or on the table. One thing to make sure you don't forget - review the recipes for containers and cooking items needed (aluminum foil, parchment paper, etc). I often forget to do this and end up running out of freezer bags during my cook day. That's no fun at all.
A word about containers. After much trial and error, I have found that you need to have a set strategy when it comes to what items go in what containers. This is my strategy. Soups, Chiles, and Casseroles that will be reheated in the microwave go in plastic reusable containers, like Glad FreezerWare plastic containers. Items that can be individually picked up like chicken nuggets go in quart sized freezer bags. Muffins get wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in gallon-sized freezer bags. Dinners to be cooked/reheated in a slow cooker also go in quart-sized freezer bags. Dinners to be cooked/reheated in the oven go in aluminum containers - usually mini-loaf pans, but occasionally I use aluminum drip pans for their size (enchiladas work well in these). Any aluminum containers get covered in aluminum foil.
Another word about equipment. If you don't have the right equipment for a big cook day, it can be nearly impossible to get everything done. I have had to acquire a lot of equipment in the year and a half that I've been doing freezer cooking to get everything just how I want it. Here's my list of necessities that you might not think of (I won't bother to list out standard stuff like knives):
- Lots of bowls - I use a TON of bowls while cooking. All of the produce that I chop as step number one of cooking goes into bowls. A variety of sizes is needed - from teeny tiny ones that will hold a teaspoon of chopped rosemary up to a 2 quart bowl for chopped onions. I also utilize a couple of pampered chef measuring bowls for prep storage. And during the actual cook day, I'm always using many different size bowls for typical mixing & cooking. I need to have enough such that a load of dishes can be running, but I still have access to use as many as I need.
- Multiple sets of measuring cups/spoons. I've actually gone down to just one set because I got a good set for Christmas and got rid of my old crappy ones, but I think I may go buy another set again. Too many times do I need the teaspoon when it is dirty from the previous recipe.
- Multiple slow cookers. I have 2 slow cookers - one small and one large. The large I often use to cook chicken overnight or for larger batches of chili. The small I use for smaller recipes and also for reheating/cooking on an eating day.
- More spatulas & spoons than you think you need. Seriously, I have about 6 spatulas and 6 cooking spoons and end up using them all.
For the actual food shopping, I've started going to 2 different stores - I go to Central Market because I can get exactly the amounts that I need of bulk items (nuts, bran, etc) and I like their produce, meat, and cheese departments. I then go to Randall's for more staple items - canned goods, containers, cereal, etc. I generally plan to spend 2 hours doing my grocery shopping each time.
6. Night before
I don't always do all of the pre-work on the night before, but I highly recommend it if it's at all possible. Most of the produce can and should be chopped the night before. Sometimes there's something that just won't keep over night in the fridge (an apple), so you'll have to suck it up and chop it up when it's time to use it. Chopping up all of the vegetables can end up being quite tedious and exhausting, so I always have to remind myself that for many of the items, it's perfectly acceptable to use a food processor because no one is judging me on the perfection of my knife skills. I also have a mandolin that I like to use for slicing potatoes, onions, peppers, etc. Run your dishwasher the night before so that you can unload and have an empty washer in the morning. Nothing worse than starting the day and not having anywhere to put dirty dishes. Execute to your plan as best as possible on the night before and then get a good night's rest.
7. Day of
So I've somehow ended up with a bit of a ritual on a big cook day when I get up. I like to roll out of bed at 9 AM and get moving. I wear yoga pants and a t-shirt - comfort is KEY. Be sure to wear the right shoes - sneakers or something with a lot of support. My first big cook day, I wore flip-flops and my back and feet hurt after only about 2 hours. (I've also acquired an ergo-mat for my kitchen which helps SO much.) I then turn down my thermostat. My apartment tends to retain a lot of heat, so when I'm cooking all day, it can get REALLY hot, so I try to prevent that by turning the thermostat way down and/or opening as many windows as possible. I then go get a cup of coffee and a few tacos from Torchy's. Even though I'm around food all day, I can't think about eating any of it or actually preparing food for day-of consumption. So I get 3 tacos from Torchy's and eat them throughout the day. As soon as I get home from coffee pick-up and Torchy's and eat one breakfast taco, I get to work on my schedule. I have the schedule printed out and the recipes printed out and ordered based on the schedule. I then just execute one by one. Not much to say about it, other than expect something to go wrong - it always does. Once, I sliced open my fingertip chopping onions, so I had to cook the entire day with a bandaid on my finger. Once, I ran out of chicken and imposed upon my neighbor to give me a chicken breast he had in his fridge. Today, the dough for my cinnamon swirl bread refused to rise and I had a small grease fire. So whatever happens, stay calm and soldier on.
As you use each produce that is pre-chopped, remember to check how much you need to reserve for subsequent recipes. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to start a recipe and realized that I've already used all of the green peppers in other recipes. I guess you could prevent this by chopping exactly the total amount that you need and then measuring out exactly the amount to be used in each recipe, but I don't do that - I eyeball a lot of my measurements. Also, I often find that I need to make adjustments to servings as I go. For whatever reason, I will usually find that some recipe yields WAY too much for the 4 servings that were expected, so I'll just package it up into 8 containers instead. No big deal, but I make note of this for the last step in the process.
Also - dishes. My kitchen is quite small and even with the supplies that I have, I find that I have to do dishes all day long in order to keep up. I throw all the dishes into the sink as I'm done with them and after about every other recipe, I turn around and empty out the sink, loading and running the dishwasher and doing some by hand. I have a hot air dish rack, which is very convenient for quickly drying dishes that I have to wash by hand because I don't have time to put them through a full dishwasher cycle.
At some point during the day, you will want to quit. Especially on your first couple of days. I've found that it's necessary to give yourself a little space to sit between recipes, recharge, and then go on to the next. After about 10 recipes, I hit a bit of a Zen place where I'm just working through it, putting one foot in front of the other.
The worst part of the day for me is always the final packaging and clean-up. By the time I finish cooking that last recipe, it's like I've hit the finish line and then I realize that I still have another mile to go. So package up and freeze as you go if possible. The freezer loading puzzle can sometimes be a bit of a challenge if you don't have a separate deep freezer (I don't) and you're cooking a lot of recipes (I often do). I like to think of it like a real-life game of Tetris.
8. Last step - inventory control.
So I mentioned at the beginning that when I'm planning a cook day, I use the inventory of what is in the freezer to determine how much I'll need to cook. You can just rely on sorting through the freezer for this or you can do what I do and have the information outside of the freezer. At the end of the day, I take the list of all of the recipes that I've made and the quantities of each and put it on a spreadsheet. I create a table where each row looks like this:
Buttermilk Spice Muffins Thaw and reheat in microwave 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
The first column is obviously the name of the recipe. Second column is the reheating/cooking instructions. And then listed out a number for each item. I print out this spreadsheet and put it on the freezer. I keep a pen nearby and whenever I take an item out of the freezer to eat, I cross off the largest number listed. So then the highest number listed not crossed out is the count of that item still remaining in the freezer. Simple, no?
Ok, I think that's pretty much it in terms of my process. I'm happy to answer any questions you have. A huge thanks to OnceAMonthMom.com for getting me started on this process and providing a great variety of recipes every month.
