Saturday, July 16, 2011

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

Alright, I've decided to go through with this crazy idea of cooking and freezer an entire month's meals; I've planned out my menu; now I just need to figure out HOW exactly I am going to pull this off.  Tomorrow (Sunday) is the big day.


Here's my plan:


1. The night before: Make Slow Cooker Lasagna and Brown Sugar Chicken. Put both in slow cooker (I  have 2) and go to bed.  Defrost cheese, spinach, chicken, and ground beef.
2. Hour One, the day of: Take out Lasagna and let it cool in an aluminum pan. Set Aside. Take out Brown Sugar Chicken and let cool in another pan. Clean out crock pots and put away. Take out the chicken for the grilled chicken from the fridge and start marinating in barbecue sauce and italian dressing ( but not both in the same bag!). Cook the rice.
3. Hour Two: Line up 4 aluminum or glass casserole dishes. Assemble the chicken & rice casseroles and chicken and stuffing casseroles. Package, label, and put in the freezer.
4. Hour Three: Take out the ground beef. Start browning about 3 lbs with the homemade taco seasoning.  While that is working, start mixing up and shaping the meatballs (I use my Italian grandma's recipe).  Line up the meatballs on a sheet of wax paper. When taco meat is browned, take off heat and set aside. Saute the mealballs in oil and set aside to cool.
5. Hour Four: Package, label, and freeze the meatballs and taco meat.  Start making the greens & beans. While that is cooking, whip up the pancake mix. When the greens and beans are finished, make the pancakes, working in small batches. Let everything cool, then package, label, and freeze.
6: Hour Five: We're on the home stretch! Making sure all the food is put away (we have a dog who likes to cruise counters), bring all the chicken to be grilled outside and relax for a few minutes while the chicken grills. I'd definitely recommend a cold beer or wine at this point, but not too much -- you don't want to burn the chicken. When the chicken is done, let cool, package, label, and freeze. 


Whew. 
That's the plan anyway. I'll post details, before and after kitchen pictures, and anecdotes of the experience soon.  If I'm still alive, that is. 

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3 Comments:

At July 16, 2011 at 7:26 PM , Blogger lisa g. said...

I'm soooo looking forward to hearing about your experience!! I tend to double many of the recipes I make so I have something to freeze for a later meal, but I have never attempted anything as ambitious as what you're doing!! I hope you have lots of fans, or ac....it's going to be a scorcher! (your wine/beer idea is a good one too!)

 
At July 16, 2011 at 8:12 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

If you get half of this done you should still be proud. I'm excited to read how it all turns out. Good luck!

 
At July 16, 2011 at 9:10 PM , Blogger Sarah said...

Thanks for the votes of support! I just went to my basement pantry to "shop" for what I'll need tomorrow and get everything set up. Yes, we do have AC, thank goodness, but I won't need to put anything in the oven. . . . I think!

 

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