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About three or four years ago I found myself purposefully doing freezer cooking in the month of February. I started it because I realized we had a habitual cycle of to getting take out too much in December (because hubby was home more), January would turn into a pantry challenge, and when February rolled around I had the momentum to eat healthy and fill our fridge/freezer back up with items we actually enjoy eating.
Last year I wrote out a detailed weekly update you can read here.
How did I organize freezer cooking?
Freezeable Baking Items
This includes any items that are used from pantry staple items like flour, sugar, butter — most of my items were items that are bread based:
pizza dough, dinner rolls, banana sourdough bread, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, biscuits, peanut butter ritz crackers, etc.
Freezable Breakfast Items
Having items in the freezer for breakfast is a big help when we need to get out the door quickly, when mommy wakes up later-than-normal 😉 or when you feel like there’s “nothing to eat” you can turn breakfast into dinner!
pancakes, baked oatmeal, egg burritos, French toast, smoothie packets, etc.
Quick Freezable Meals
Pesto Chicken, Lasagna/Baked Ziti, Meatloaf, Casseroles, etc.
Freezable Items
This includes items that don’t fall into the other categories and are single items that can be frozen, but aren’t a complete meal. Items like: cooked beans, pizza sauce, red pepper sauce, spinach/kale for smoothies, broth, etc.
Don’t be overwhelmed.
If reading this overwhelms you- take a deep breath. I encourage you to go back to a post I wrote on 3 Ways to Set Yourself Up For Freezer Cooking Success. I wrote it after I received a message saying she was inspired by my freezer cooking posts/stories on Instagram (@findingfaithsfuture), but was unsure how to start. If you read that and still have unanswered questions please, feel free to email me at findingfaithsfuture(at)gmail(dot)com.!
My Must Have Items.
These items are items I always have on hand. Items like mason jars are so easy to multi-use it’s a no brainer for me to use while freezer cooking. My personal favorite are the wide mouth jars, reusable white lids, and a skinny dry erase marker to mark contents/date on the lid. For items containing raw meat I prefer to use gallon freezer bags. When I make casseroles I will either use a spare glass dish I have or I will buy a multipack of disposable tin pans.
Tip: cooling food down in the fridge overnight before moving to the freezer has led me to NEVER breaking a jar!
Fill Your Freezer
I don’t have hours and hours a day to devote to freezer cooking, but February always gets me back into the routine of making progress. When I have my Freezer filled it makes meal planning easier, hungry kids happy, and my grocery budget a little less stretched!
Feel free to jump into the comments with items/recipes you love to freeze, and of course any freezer cooking tips are welcome!
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