Friday, July 15, 2011

Once a Month Slow Cooker Freezer Cooking from the Stockpile: Part II

Photo Credit: Southern Living


In case you missed it, go here to read about my plan for a major freezer cooking extravaganza. 
To review, these are the basic ingredients in my pantry I'd like to work with:
  •  Eden Organics Garbanzo beans (bought on special at Amazon)
  • Cream of Chicken Soup ( $.50/can at Target a few months ago)
  • Barbecue Sauce (FREE at Target)
  • Salad Dressing/Marinade ($.39 each at Target and FREE at Tops)
  • Chicken Breast (in Freezer - bought at Palmer's for $1.49/lb)
  • Ground Beef (about 5 lbs in freezer -- Wegmans' Club Pack $1.99/lb)
  • Shredded Cheddar & Mozzarella Cheese (bought in bulk at Wegmans)
  • 10 lbs of Frozen Spinach from BJ's Warehouse.
  • About 10 boxes of pasta from various stores
  • 10 lbs of White Rice from PriceRite
  • Several Boxes of Swanson Chicken Broth (No MSG!)
  • Hot Dogs (about 10 packages in the freezer -- mostly Free!)
Now, I need to come up with a menu plan.  For a project of this magnitude, I need to be uber-organized! My goal is to make 20 meals or meal components (for example, marinated, cooked chicken to pair with fresh green salad) in one day. Yes, one short day. With my two kids home. And the dog. And my husband (and no, that is not the order of how likely they are to interrupt.)

First, the meat (if you will) of my plan: Menu Ideas
  • Grilled Chicken marinated in Italian Dressing -- Tripled
  • Ground Beef browned & cooked with Homemade Taco Seasoning (Make Tacos with fresh veggies from CSA box)-- Tripled
  • Chicken & Stuffing Casserole -- Doubled
  • Chicken & Rice Casserole -- Doubled
  • Applesauce/Flaxseed Pancakes (we like Breakfast for Dinner!)-- Doubled
  • Crock Pot Lasagna -- Doubled
  • Brown Sugar Chicken -- Doubled
  • Meatballs  -- making 16, enough for 2 meals)
  • Pasta Sauce -- Double batch
  • Greens & Beans -- doubled
  • Sneaky Mac n Cheesy -- doubled
I realize that this is more than enough for 20 meals.  While most rational people would probably take a more modest approach to their first marathon freezer cooking effort, I am actually taking the opposite approach:  I'm going with the throw-everything-to-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks method.

This Sunday (which, of course, is supposed to be 90 degrees) is the day I've planned to begin my experiment. I'll be posting my plan of attack and a recap in the next few days, so stay tuned for the madness!

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