So far freezer cooking has been going very well. I am pretty pleased with what I've managed to accomplish this morning!
You can see My Plan and links to online recipes
here. Oh and for reference purposes - here is what my freezer looked like before - not totally empty but there is plenty of space for some goodies!
Ok s0 what have I accomplished so far?!?!
Well I cheated a little bit and got a head start last night since I was just hanging around the house. I baked some chicken breasts to shred for salads, summer, rolls, and other misc. meals and shredded them up. I also made granola bars which I am very pleased with. I've tried other granola bar recipes in the past and was never really satisfied with the end result - this recipe is definitely a keeper.
Here is the chicken all shredded up. I really find it useful to have already cooked chicken on hand. I seasoned it with some salt, pepper, and italian seasoning so it is pretty simple and goes with pretty much anything.
I freeze my chicken in 1 cup portion in these snack sized bags. These bags probably aren't great for long-term storage, but I find that they work well for me. I usually manage to use it up pretty quickly. One bag works out to about 2 meals worth for me depending on what I am eating.
On to the granola bars. As I said, I am really impressed with this recipe. I made chocolate chip bars this time since I had plenty of chocolate chips around. I probably won't use so much cinnamon next time - I found it had a little too much for my taste. Also, I thought 1 cup of butter was a little much so I only used half. I didn't change anything else and I don't think it mattered.
I individually wrapped the bars in aluminum foil and stuck them all in a large freezer bag. The recipe made 18 god sized bars.
This morning I started with pancakes (plain and a few chocolate chip), italian marinated chicken, peanut sauce, and banana bread.
Here are some chocolate chip pancakes cooking on the stove. I have been in such a pancake mood recently! These should make for a few good breakfasts and possibly even a 'breakfast for dinner!"
Here is the batch of pancakes that I made. I froze them in 2 freezer bags - one for chocolate chip and one for plain.
The Thai peanut sauce has got to be one of my favorite recent recipe discoveries. This sauce goes great with
Summer Rolls and I like it on chicken and salad too. It is super easy to make too which always helps. I freeze the sauce in ice cube trays and then pop all the ice cubes into a freezer bag once they are solid. I find that 1 cube is just enough for me.
I didn't take a picture of the Italian Marinated Chicken because - well it looked like a plate full of chicken. The banana bread is in the oven as I type this so I might include a picture of the finished product on my next update. I'll probably try to get a little bit more done today and then save the rest for tomorrow.
So - lets cross some things off that list!!
Plain shredded chickenItalian marinated chicken stripsBBQ Chicken (?)
PancakesMuffins (flavor TBD)
Banana BreadPeanut Sauce - frozen in ice cube trayPizza (4 personal size)
Some sort of dessert...maybe brownies?
Chewy Granola BarsHomemade Soft PretzelsChop onions for freezer
Chop peppers for freezer
I also chopped some onions in the food processor. I love onions but I am EXTREMELY sensitive to them. I can't even be in the kitchen if someone else is chopping them. Anyway, so I like to have a bag full of chopped onions on hand so that I don't have to torture myself too often. Even with the food processor I had tears running down my face!
So I am pretty pleased with what I was able to cross off the list. I think tomorrow is going to be another productive day!
