Saturday, August 6, 2011

My first... and last day in the kitchen!

When I say "day in the kitchen", I mean ENTIRE day!  We finally broke down and bought a new AC unit.  So, I thought to myself, today, your first day with central AC all summer, would be a great day to make a bunch of dinners to freeze.  With this idea in mind, I headed to the grocery store with only Calvin in tow at 6:30 am.  It was 9:30 pm when I finally finished cleaning the kitchen.  Maybe I'm just a wimp, but I was hurting.  Bad.  Oh, and I was sweating a lot, too.  Every time I checked the thermostat it said 78 ir 79, and that was in the living room.  I bet it was about 85 in the kitchen where I was working.  I called my husband at one point and said it seemed really hot to me.  He said to call the AC guy and turns out our unit had frozen over and wasn't working!!  No wonder I was hot.  It was a scorcher yesterday and I spent all day in the kitchen cooking with no AC!  In retrospect, not a good idea.  Anyway, I got a lot accomplished thanks to the book Fix, Freeze, Feast.


I love that this book includes re-heating labels that can be copied and affixed to the freezer meals.


When I normally think "freezer meal", I think casserole.  I'm just so tired of transferring frozen block-of-ice casseroles into our oven for 2 + hrs in order to enjoy a break in the kitchen.  This book has lots of ways to use the freezer to plan ahead. Sometimes the meat is cooked and sometimes it isn't.  I don't know why, but I'm just happy to follow the directions of somebody who knows what they're doing!  It feels so good to have so many meals planned, even though I will have to do a few last minute things on the evening we eat each dinner.

 
Here's what I put away yesterday:

3 X Chicken a la King- sauce with chicken and mushrooms and also chopped bell pepper.
2 X Cashew chicken stir fry- Raw, cut chicken in marinade with veggies and cashews in separate bags.
3 X Ana's pork chops- Our local grocery store had a by one get one free on these yesterday.  The chops are raw in marinade- ready to thaw and throw on the grill. 
1 X Sticky Ribs- Actually I made two and we at the other one last night!  They were finger licking good!  Boneless ribs in marinade, ready to thaw and cook.
About 30 Beef and bean burritos, individually wrapped.  I'm hoping these will be good for an easy lunch option.  Oh, and I made my own re-fried beans.  Actually, I made non-fried smashed pinto beans.  It was my first time to work with real beans.  Measle was my official smasher.  (We don't have a food processor, nor do I think we need one with a Measle around.)


I didn't get it all finished.  I still have 6 lbs of hamburger meat in the fridge for making 60 meatballs.  I'm not looking forward to that.  Maybe tomorrow :).

4 comments:

  1. I have that book, and the chicken a la king is delish!! The last time we did freezer cooking our a/c froze over as well! It was really tough. We worked for 3 days with my SIL and made 60 meals.

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  2. I have done all day freezer cooking twice in my life! Twice! and both times I was pregnant. Once when Olivia was 3, Julie was 1, and I was pregnant with Clay. I did it by myself, and it about killed me. The second time was when I was pregnant with Sam. My friend Anita (from Busy Hands, Busy Minds) came over and we both cooked ALL DAY for our freezers. I think I put up 18 entrees. Crazy! I used Once a Month Cooking for both sessions. Plus Anita had a few extra recipes too.

    Usually I do mini cooking for the freezer sessions. Like when I make little cheesy meatloaves, I double or triple the recipe and freeze the extra. I do the same whenever I make a casserole. But that has been the extent of it for the past several years.

    Since I have recently pushed myself physically and mentally as never before in many areas, why not tackle freezer cooking again?!? That should just about put me over the edge! Ha! No seriously, I may be up for the challenge soon. I am going to order the book you used.

    I too, would rather put up healthier options...

    I hope you have a super week!

    Roan

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  3. Wow, Sam! You inspired me to tackle the meatballs this morning. I put away 3X Salisbury meatballs and one extra freezer bag of 25 meatballs, about 100 in all! And my mom sent me home from lunch with a meal. We're good to go!

    Celee

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I'm an on-the-run mom to 6 kids who studied and taught exercise science in a previous life. I love all things running, nutrition, and health-related. I usually run at zero dark thirty in the morning and am often quite hungry before, during, and after my run, but I live a rich, full, blessed life with my children, family, and friends. My faith in God is my anchor, and looking to Him and His promises allows me to live fully even when life circumstances are difficult. While running gives me an appetite, my desire is to hunger and thirst for righteousness more than for physical food.