Freezer Cooking for the Holidays
Don’t you wish you could get a start on your holiday cooking now? Well the truth is, you can! Freezer cooking is a great way to get a jump start on your holiday cooking, so that when the season hits you have the hard work behind you and can do more of the things you enjoy. Take a look below at some helpful tips on freezer cooking for the holidays, so you can knock the work out now and enjoy the benefits later!
1. Plan your recipes.
Try choosing 3-5 recipes that you wish to prepare. These can be oven meals, desserts, side dishes, soups, stews, the options are endless. You will find all sorts of freezer meal ideas online including low sugar, Paleo, and gluten free friendly. For the holidays, consider breakfast casseroles, cookie dough, and hearty stews.
2. Create your supply lists.
Once you have your recipes in hand, compile all of the ingredients you will need into a single list. Gathering all of the supplies often seems like the biggest hurdle, but once this part is done it is smooth sailing. Create a list including the amounts you need of each so you can be prepared when you start shopping.
3. Head to the store.
With list in hand, head to the store! Be sure to take any coupons that might be applicable, shop sales, and price match. This way you are creating your meals for less, which is always nice! While at the store be sure you have containers for storing your meals, such as heavy duty plastic ware, freezer bags, and other freezer safe storage containers.
4. Prep your space.
Once you are ready to begin, you will want to prep your space. Clear all counters of clutter so you can easily move around the space. Give the counters a cleansing wipe down, rinse all produce, assemble your knives and storage containers, and get out those cutting boards. Having everything you need on hand makes the job easier and quicker.
5. Get cooking!
Prep and assemble your recipes just as instructed. Instead of cooking the items though you will assemble them in your freezer safe containers. Be sure they are packaged well and LABEL them with the contents as well as the date you prepared them. This will help you avoid confusion later. If space allows, write the time and temperature that the recipe needs to be cooked at. If space doesn’t allow, be sure to keep this information handy or taped to a sticky note on the container.
Once your items are in the freezer, they will keep for about one month. To use, simply take the container out, heat, and eat. These will come in handy after a long day of shopping, or when unexpected guests decide to show up. With freezer meals the work is done and you are left to enjoy the results.
FREE Printable Downloads for Holiday Freezer Cooking
I have 2 FREE Downloads for you to use to help get organized, the first is a Free Printable Recipe Card, I would recommend printing this out 3-5 times and then copying down whatever recipe you want to make onto the recipe card. You can do a pinterest search for recipes or you can check out our Amazing Christmas Recipes Here.
Once you have your recipes written down, decide how many of each recipe you want to make, I often double or triple recipes when I’m doing Freezer Cooking so that I don’t have to do it as frequently. Write down each ingredient on the shopping list along with how much you need TOTAL for each item. Then write down how much you already have on hand (So you don’t overbuy) and do some simple math to know exactly how much of each item you need to buy. This may seem a little time consuming at first, but I promise that this step is CRITICAL there’s nothing worse than being ready to assemble your recipes and finding out your missing an ingredient.
Download the FREE Printable Recipe Cards Here & Download the FREE Printable Shopping List Here
Check out all the HOT Black Friday Deals We have Posted Today!!! Click Here to see them all!
View all the recent Black Friday Deals | Ad Previews | Christmas Gifts
Sign Up below to get all of the best Holiday deals and Black Friday Deals sent straight to your email each day. This is the best way to save on all of the items on your Christmas Shopping List!
