Well now, there’s just something so satisfying about seeing a bunch of prepared food in baggies, isn’t there? Or is it just me?
I knocked out everything on my list over the weekend. Would you care to take a look at my baggies of prepared food with me? (What, like I’m actually giving you a choice?)
Here are 20 Breakfast Burritos frozen, ready and waiting in the freezer for a busy morning…
I practiced FishMama’s baggie-air-sucking-out technique…very cool!
And here we have about 80 little Turkey Sausage Patties prepped and waiting to be cooked up for a breakfast or lunch…
And here is a baggie of Whole Wheat Tortillas, waiting in the fridge to be made into Melting Snowflakes or Tuna Wraps…
And here are a bunch of Mini Apple Pies in baggies ready to be baked for a special breakfast sometime…
And even though it wasn’t on the list, I had a chance to make a big batch of Whole Wheat Waffles to freeze (and pop in the toaster another day!). Oh look, I put them in a baggie and took a picture for you…
Thank you for nodding and smiling and saying “oh very nice, Laura” and trying to stay awake while looking at my all of my baggies of food.
I also made a batch of Homemade Peanut Butter and filled up a pint sized jar. Mmmmm! Um, here’s a picture in case you’d like to see it (and because I didn’t want the peanut butter to feel left out)…
I think my most favorite part of my food preparation weekend was mixing together six pounds of Turkey Sausage!! When I make this sausage, I have to get twelve herbs and spices out of my cupboard. That’s kind of a lot of effort. It was WONDERFUL to get out all of those ingredients one time, then make SIX batches of the sausage.
I saved out one batch of sausage to make the Breakfast Burritos, but made the rest (five pounds worth!) into little frozen sausage patties. I am SO excited to have these convenient little sausage patties in my freezer!
I just froze them on parchment paper lined cookie sheets,
then put them into two gallon sized freezer bags
(shown above, because you know you want to go look at the baggies again).
To cook them, I’ll thaw the desired number of patties on a plate overnight in the fridge, then cook them up at breakfast the next day!
Wow, who knew 80 little sausage patties and all the other above pictured baggies of food could make me feel such a sense of accomplishment.
If I feel this great after making food and putting it into baggies…just think how I will feel when I watch my children receive a high school diploma.
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You’ll find more great monthly cooking tips at Moms in Need of Mercy.
Oh, how lovely! Thanks for sharing this. I’m impressed and motivated.
You did awesome! i am inspired!
I wasn’t at all bored…I am right there with you. I get a kick out of it too!
Oh my! That peanut butter looks amazing! I’m going to have to try that.
You are awesome and so organized. I aspire to do this!! Thanks for showing us the fruits of your labor. Happy Freezer Days!!
YAY for bulk frozen foods! HI-5 for all your hard work! Even bigger YAY for those happy little faces each time they get to eat some of these yummies!! Love the pictures, btw
I am a few days behind on reading your blog so forgive me if you answered this already! How do you freeze all those cookie sheets in the freezer? do you just stack them? Do you do one at a time? I love your sausage recipe and have 4lbs of turkey in the freezer ready to be thawed and made into patties, I just didn’t’ know how to fo it!
OH and we DO love all the pics, that is what we live for!LOL
Shorty
I have a stand up deep freeze, so I can (if I work it right) slide a cookie sheet on top of whatever is on each shelf in the freezer. Not sure if that makes sense?
Good for you! I am sooooo needing to come over for breakfast (and maybe stay a week).
Oh yes, PLEASE come for a week (or two) worth of breakfasts!
My hubby is gonna than you for the sausage recipe. And the b-fast burritos recipe. :) I can’t wait to go meat shopping.
Love it! Freezer Day does not lend itself to great photos. Now, you did NOT use the straw for sausage patties, did you? ‘Cause I will hear about it for sure if you’re hospitalized. ;)
I did not mean to say that yours weren’t great photos! Just that it is tricky on Freezer Day. Hope that makes sense.
Yeah, I knew what you meant. :) It IS hard to take a good pic on Freezer Cooking Day! And no, I didn’t suck in raw meat. Even doing the burritos I was tasting it a little. ;)
Hi Laura,
do you get your peanuts from Azure for your peanut butter and how much do you buy?
blessings,
Cynthia
Yes, I get my peanuts from Azure…five pound bags. I store the bag in the freezer.
So glad you froze the sausage patties BEFORE putting them in the bag. I saw the bag (which btw looks like they aren’t frozen lol) and I’m thinking, uh oh, she’s going to have FUN thawing clumps of sausage patties. lol
I was going to suggest, individually putting wax paper in betw the sausage patties. (hmmm is wax paper a no-no?, chemicals or something?) But I scrolled down and saw that you froze them on cookie sheets. :-) Which is probably LESS time consuming then the wax paper deal lol. I’ll have to try the cookie sheet trick!
I actually use unbleached parchment paper lined cookie sheets. :)
I truly appreciated your pictures! Congrats on your AMAZING accomplishment of prepping so much food!
Laura – I enjoyed reading about your freezer cooking! Just one question: Do you get your 2-gallon Ziplock bags locally, and if so, where? I teach the freezer cooking class for Community Ed and would love to be able to share that with my class participants.
Oh, they’re just one gallon bags. Sorry if I wrote that incorrectly. When I said 2 gallon bags, I meant 2 one gallon sized bags. I am also so sorry to say that it’s been so long since I got these (I ordered a case once a few years ago, but I reuse them, so still have several boxes)…I don’t remember where I got them!! :)
I know where to find 2 gallon ziplock bags! http://www.ReStockIt.com has 2 gallon freezer bags sold by the case.
If you don’t need 2 gallon freezer bags but just 2 gallon ziplock bags http://www.drugstore.com carries them for a very reasonable price. I use these to freeze my homemade bread and have never had a problem.
Your Turkey Sausage looks great! I need to try that. Thanks for sharing your freezer plan. I am inspired! :)
Have a blessed day!
Thanks for the info. I’ll add those web sites to my handouts. :o)
Could you tell me how you cook your breakfast burritos after freezing? I have tried and tried to make goo burritos but when we take them out of the freezer and cook them the tortilas get really tough. My daughter LOVES these for breakfast but we’ve had such a hard time with them we’re about to give up.
More specifics are on my Breakfast Burrito post: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/healthy-homemade-breakfast-burritos but the short story is that we warm them in the oven. We like it that the tortillas get a little crispy. If you don’t like them crispy, you could put them in a covered dish in the oven to heat them.
Great job! I was wondering about your tortillas? I want to try my hand at them but wondered if they freeze well? My hope is to make quite a few of them and use them for lunches and what not. What’s your thoughts?
Oh yeah, the tortillas freeze wonderfully!
I feel very happy for you and very envious of all you accomplished!!
Wow, you are officially my hero! You inspire me all the time, but this post makes me want to lock myself in my kitchen for 2 days and not come out until I have beautiful full baggies just like yours!! Thanks for the post and the inspiration!
ps. made your vanilla wafers the other day. family loved them!
Thanks, Laura! :) Your tortillas look great, by the way. Mine never turn out that nicely.
Hey, you’ll have to stop over later this week (I think I’m running it on Friday) to read about the Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys cookbook. The publisher is giving away a copy, so it could be yours! :) You’d love it!
We’re having great weather…I’m sure it’s headed your way! :)
Blessings, Cheryl
Thanks for sharing Laura. I too did a freezer cooking day this month and I am LOVING having ready to go meals in the freezer. My kiddos LOVED your recipe for corn dog muffins – what a great idea and SO EASY! Not sure if you have Aldi stores in your area, but I found 2 gallon freezer bags there last week for $1.29 (for 20 I think). These are the perfect size to stick a 9×13 casserole in! Thanks again for your great meal ideas!
Do you use a tortilla press? If so, what brand? Thanks again, Tracy
No, I just use a rolling pin.
This is so inspiring–love the pics, too. BTW, you will feel sooooo proud when your kids graduate–especially if you homeschooled them to that point (of course, some of that will be a feeling of relief! :))!
You so crack me up – yes, I did look at your baggies, twice. I wish I had nice fat full baggies like that in my freezer, but mine are mostly still in the box in the pantry. Not like that’s a bad thing, I think baggies are one of the wonders of the modern world, even when they are empty. I even have a new carton of them, from Costco, upstairs in my storage closet.