Making Friends with your Freezer!

Tara Wohlenhaus loves to cook.  She serves homemade bread, creative side dishes and vegetables from her garden almost every night with dinner.  Her best friend, Nanci Slagle, hates cooking.  "The wretched thing about dinner is that it happens every day," Nanci says sadly.

Pancakes, hot dogs, and macaroni and cheese (boxed, of course) were staple dinners at the Slagle's until 1993.  That's when Tara heard about bulk cooking and convinced her best friend to try it with her.

Not only did the two busy women learn how to prepare and freeze delicious, fresh-tasting and nutritious meals for an entire month in one day, they discovered they could also save hundreds of dollars on groceries.  They found that preparing meals ahead of time decreases the stress before mealtime and allows them more time with their families – after school and after dinner (clean-up is a snap with fewer pots, pans, etc.)  They also feel good about providing their families with a greater variety of healthier foods.

So, if you are tired and out of ideas by 5 p.m., Tara and Nanci can help you "make friends with your freezer".  They offer the following tips to feed an entire family for less than $6 per entrée.

FIND A PARTNER

Ask a friend to join you in bulk cooking and determine each other's strengths and resources.  Tara hosts the cooking day at her house.  Her well-equipped kitchen is small, but her dining room provides a large work area to assemble the 60+ entrees the cooking duo assembles each month.  Tara chooses recipes and supplies creative time-saving cooking techniques.  Nanci does the grocery shopping, budgeting and tracking of expenses.  "A friend can keep you organized and on task," says Tara.  "You can share cooking utensils and recipes, and split bulk items bought from the grocery of food co-op."  Plan to spend the entire day cooking together.  Tara and Nanci treat themselves to big muffins from a local bakery, turn on their favorite music and make the day fun!

PLANNING/SHOPPING

Take inventory of what you have and clean out your refrigerator and freezer.  "This is no time to hang onto venison from the '70's," laughs Nanci.

Decide which recipes you will use.  Nanci and Tara usually choose 8-10 recipes, making 6 of each and splitting them evenly.  Each goes home with 24-30 entrees for a month of family dinners.  For assembling up to 6 of each dish, they simply follow the already multiplied recipes in their cookbook, The Freezer Cooking Manual from 30 Day Gourmet: A Month of Meals Made Easy. Necessary ingredients are easily tracked on a tally sheet provided in the cookbook.  The cooks subtract what they already have on hand and then transfer final totals to a shopping list.

Next, shop grocery ads for sale items, and color-code the items on your list with a highlighter by store.  If you need to purchase a large quantity of sale-priced meat, call the meat department ahead of time.  Take coolers to store meat and other perishable foods on hot days.

Remember to buy in bulk and use generic brands.  Purchase items such as frozen diced potatoes and onions to save on prep time later.  Allow several hours for shopping, and leave the kids with your cooking partner!

PREP WORK

After shopping, there are many jobs that each cook can do ahead of time to be ready for cooking day.  Nanci might make chicken coatings, skin chicken, and cook rice while Tara browns beef, makes white sauce and cubes ham.  Clean off your counters the night before cooking day and get out the pots, pans and utensils you will need.  Large containers are best but don't have to be expensive.  A large, plastic dishpan can be used for mixing all of the beef recipes, with hot soapy washings between each recipe.  Long-sleeved rubber gloves and long-handled spoons and spatulas are recommended for mixing mass ingredients.

COOKING/ASSEMBLY

Decide if what you're making should be pre-cooked or just prepped for future cooking.  Much of this depends on whether you have the time at the end of the day for foods to cook.  Nanci and Tara always pre-cook their meatballs, chicken nuggets, and quiche.  These make for fast entrees which save time on busy evenings.

Save time and avoid confusion by dividing tasks and recipes.  For example, Nanci works on the beef recipes and Tara works on the chicken recipes.  They assemble the recipes one at a time and then do enough for both of their families.  You can begin the time-intensive recipes in the morning and plan more simple ones for later.  Try to do the on-your-feet work early, so that you can sit and make hamburger patties or stuff pasta shells in the afternoon.

As each recipe is completed, cool if needed, and then place into a freezer-quality bag or container.  Label each entrée with a permanent marker, including cooking directions, so that the family cook doesn't have to present for someone to start dinner!

MANY REWARDS

Instead of shooing their kids our of the way before suppertime, Tara and Nanci have time to read to them or hear about their day at school.  No matter how many activities might get packed into a mid-or late afternoon, both women resist the fast food, drive-thru temptation.  They know a healthier alternative waits at home.

Quantity cooking also benefits others.  Freezing fruit salads and breads along with your entrees allows for last-minute company or potluck dinners.  Instead of spending all day preparing a meal for a sick friend or a family with a new baby, you can grab a meal for them from your freezer.

So, if you dread the dinner hour and are eager for a new solution, consider trying bulk cooking.

It could forever change the way you view the dinner hour.

FIND OUT MORE

To learn more about 30 Day Gourmet freezer cooking, visit their website at www.30daygourmet.com where Nanci and Tara offer additional information, recipes, message boards, contests and a free monthly newsletter.

NOTES ON FREEZING (sidebar material)

• DO use quality freezer bags or freezer containers.  Containers such as whipped topping tubs aren't made for long-term storage.

• DO lay freezer bags flat after filling them.  Food will freeze and thaw faster when spread in a thin layer.  The bags save lots of freezer space when stacked neatly.

• DON'T overfill freezer bags or containers.  They might pop open, risking freezer burn.

• DON'T say you can't do this because you don't have an extra freezer.  A month of entrees will fit into most refrigerator freezers.  Your friend or neighbor may be glad to share her freezer if necessary!

• DO blanch all fresh vegetables before freezing them.

• DO cook rice and pasta only half the recommended time when stirring into sauces and casseroles to freeze.  Starches won't become mushy this way.

• DON'T thaw frozen meats, make something out of them, and then put them back into the freezer without thoroughly cooking the meat first.

• DON'T freeze cooked eggs (they become rubbery, or fried foods (they will never crisp up again).

• DO label your entrees and include cooking instructions; then you're not the only one who is able to start dinner!

RECIPES & PHOTOS AVAILABLE AT:

  http://www.30daygourmet.com/Manuals/Manual_Sample_Recipes.asp

• Parsley Parmesan Chicken

• Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes

• Frozen Peanut Butter Bars

• Fruit Slush

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• Click here to download photographs of the recipes from our Photo Center.