Cook for 2 days... Eat for 3 Months!

It's a quiet morning at our house. Kidders are still in bed and I decided to quickly have my computer time before they rise for the day. My Baby is STILL teething and has NO teeth to show for her efforts!!!! She clings to me and cries much. Poor child! She does have two big bumps on her top gums that have been there for at least a week. Hopefully they will come through soon!
I've been sitting at my sewing machine lately. I've decided that I shall use up scraps and make the girls summer wardrobe.  I LOVE to sew! I told Wes it's a stress reliever for me, but in the process of relieving stress, I seem to usually create more! I've found some easy and inspiring patterns online, so... It can be difficult to sew with a 13month old OR a 3 yr. old on my lap!!
But this is not what I set out to post about...
   Several Friends have been asking me questions recently about freezer cooking. In case you didn't know, I love to cook and the freezer has become one of my best friends. It has become my life saver. It saves so much stress over supper time!! Anyway, I thought that perhaps while the house is quiet ( My baby is talking in her crib... \"/) I could think better to answer questions... I'm not a pro, but it does become much easier after doing it several times.I will share my ideas and how I do things and hopefully answer some questions. You will find your routine and what works best for you.
  * What freezes well? Anything! Everything!!  \"/  South western Chicken Soup, Taco Soup, Creamy Turkey Soup, Mexican Chicken Rollups, Enchiladas, Burritos, Deep Dish taco Squares, Chicken Alfredo, Chicken Broccoli Shells, Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes, Mashed potato Casserole, Meatloaf, Poppy Seed Chicken, Hashbrown casserole,  Poor man's steak, Stew, Spaghetti, Lasagna, Cheesy Mexican Chicken Bake, Cheeseburger Rice Soup, Sloppy Joes, Ham and Cheese sandwiches, hamburgers, baked beans........... The list could go on and on...Any recipe that your family loves.In the summer, we grill alot. So if I buy chicken breasts , I just put the amount for our family in a freezer bag, dump in marinade and pop it in the freezer. Get it out of the freezer, thaw it, marinade it in the bag, grill it, throw bag away! No mess, no dishes!! The only 2 things that I don't like to freeze are chunks of potatoes and rice in casseroles. The potatoes will taste ok, but the texture is grainy. Shredded potatoes and mashed potatoes are fine. They will look watery when thawed, but pop it in the oven and it comes out perfect. Rice freezes well if cooked or steamed first and frozen separately. If you freeze it with liquid, the 'kernels' go to nothing. It's like eating tiny, itty, bitty grains.
  *Decide what you want to make and how much of each. Make a List with each recipe name, which cookbook it's in and the page number.  This can actually be a big job.  \"/  I don't suggest trying a new recipe and freezing 4 pans of it. I did that once. It wasn't a good idea. We ate it all, in case you wondered. But it wasn't a favorite. I find it easier to cook for 3 months at a time. Which usually will come out to 13 weeks. Plan for 12 wks, unless, of course, you will be home every night with out fail.  \"/  Usually something comes up here and there and we always have plenty of food for the last week. I find it works best to go on a 3 week rotation. It means that we have the same menu every three weeks. For example, This is our menu currently:
Week 1
    Sun.  Chimichangas  w/ lettuce, salsa, sour cream, cheese,  applesauce
    Mon.  Mexican Chicken Soup, Fruit
    Tue.    Mashed Potatoes, Meatloaf, Green beans
    Wed.   Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Salad ( I didn't freeze my sandwiches.  \"/)
    Thurs.  Leftovers
    Fri.      Chicken Ranch Pizza

Week 2
   Sun.   Grilled Steak, Campfire Potatoes 
   Mon.  Tomato Soup, trail bologna, fruit
   Tues.   Poppy Seed Chicken w/ Rice, Steamed Veggies
   Wed.   Sloppy Joe Sandwiches, Salad
    Thurs.   Leftovers
   Fri.  Enchiladas, corn

Week 3
   Sun.  Spaghetti, Green beans
   Mon.  Chili Soup, fruit
   Tues.  Baked Chicken, Steamed Veggies, Rice
    Wed.  Hot dogs, Salad
   Thurs.  Leftovers
    Fri.  Impossible Cheeseburger Pie, Corn

If I don't have any leftovers, we eat something else. \"/

*Make your grocery List.
 I like to do this a month ahead of time, that way I can watch for sales. But it also works just fine to do it the same day you go shopping! You just might spend more money.   \"/  I always make my own cream soups and usually my own tortillas. It makes more work, but it saves money and I know whats in my food! This winter, we got a beef, so this time around I didn't spare on my meat. It seems like a huge grocery bill at the time, but this DOES save us money!
* I Make a list of how I want to cook my food. 

Aubrey thought it was rather plain looking, so she added her decorations.  \"/  The first day I try to do all my 'prep work'. Such as 'fry 3 lbs hamburger for spaghetti'. Then I keep it separate in a large cool whip container, or ice cream bucket, label it, and put it in the fridge. I also shred any cheese, make tortillas, cream soups(except for this time when I needed milk. I also go down thro' my list of food and add up how many batches of mushroom or chicken soup that I need. Like this time I needed 10 recipes of mushroom. So I did it all at once, in one big kettle. Then the next day when I assembled my food, I needed 6 batches for my poppy seed chicken. So I took out 6 cups...)
* Dump the food together!  \"/  The 2nd day, I get up EARLY, guzzle coffee and assemble food as FAST as I can before my little helpers crawl out of bed. I try to use the same big bowl over and over. I usually do my chicken recipes first, rinse the bowl and then start on the beef. I like to plan this out, too. Like I can be cooking my spaghetti while I mix up my poppy seed chicken. It Saves time to do 2 things at once.  \"/  Then I dish it out into all the pans, cover with plastic wrap, write directions on tin foil and pop it in the freezer! My poppy seed chicken and sloppy joes, I just froze in large yogurt containers. The Chimichangas can just go back into the tortilla bag, or into ziploc.

The little person on this pan makes me smile.  \"/ I buy tin foil pans and use them over several times. One time i thought I would save money, so I lined my few casseroles with waxed paper, froze a casserole and once frozen, I pulled it out of the freezer, took it out of the pan, wrapped it up and started all over with a different recipe. It took MUCH longer and was frustrating!! Once everything is in the freezer, I throw ALL dishes in the dishwasher and put up my feet!  NOT. I AM the dishwasher in this house and generally the house is upside down until I'm done!!
This has saved me so.much.STRESS and dishes every evening! It also came in handy once when we had to be host at the LAST minute, ( I went down and pulled all of my meatballs and mashed potatoes out of the freezer and nobody knew!  \"/) or if i want to take a meal to somebody else and it saves me from trying to decide what I want to make for supper at 4pm.
Anyways....
Hopefully, this will help answer some questions and if anybody has more, just ask!
Happy Cooking!  \"/