We had completely eaten our stash of frozen foods, so it feels good to have some healthy convenience foods back in the freezer again! I didn’t get everything made that was on my list, but shucks…I NEVER get everything done that is on my list.
Can I tell you my biggest tip for making healthy convenience foods for your pantry and freezer? Don’t make freezer cooking difficult. Just make extra food here and there as you are cooking and working in your kitchen.
I have found that marathon freezer cooking doesn’t work for me. It wears me out and makes me feel behind in other areas. Instead, when I need to make Whole Wheat Tortillas, I’ll make a double or triple batch and freeze some for later. If I take the time once in a while to make a big bowl of Turkey Sausage and prep it for the freezer, then I’ve got Turkey Sausage ready for the next several weeks. If I am making one casserole, I’ll make three and freeze two. Cooking ahead really doesn’t have to be complicated. I am always SO thankful for the healthy “go-to” foods in my freezer!
Here are the extra foods that I’ve worked on during the past several days:
Applesauce Bread (x3)
Whole Wheat Waffles (x2)
We ate one batch for breakfast and I froze the rest.
Whole Wheat Tortillas (x2)
Yeah, these are almost gone already. :)
Turkey Sausage (x6)
I froze sausage patties on parchment paper lined cookie sheets,
popped them off and put them into freezer bags for fast breakfasts and lunches.
Taco Seasoning, right there in my pantry next to a jar of Ranch Dressing Mix and Italian Dressing Mix.
These mixes each take about five minutes to prepare, taste delicious, are SO much healthier and save a lot of money!!
Chicken Fried Steak Strips (x3)
Just like the turkey sausage, I prepped these, froze them on parchment paper lined cookie sheets
and put them into freezer bags for a quick lunch or dinner.
I am happy to report that the homemade, healthy poptarts I experimented with WORKED this time!!
I am sad to report that we ate them all already.
I am happy to report that I have the recipe written down and will type it out and share the EASY way to make these during the next week or two!!
Here are the items on my list that I just didn’t get around to making yet. Hopefully I will in the next few days…
Do you have anything yummy in your freezer, ready to pull out and fix quickly?
WOW! I am in awe :)
I really need to learn how to make poptarts; they are hubby’s “guilty pleasure” every day with his lunch. Also, making my own seasonings would be fabulous!
You’ve inspired me to keep learning; thanks!
I am freezing Applesauce Bread Muffins this week. I also have a big bag of 30 Turkey Sausage Patties that I prepared using free-range ground turkey meat from Azure Standard and using your recipe. They are SO good! Thank you for the recipe. However, I noticed that the patties look raw in your picture, do you freeze them raw? I cooked mine first, is it better to freeze them raw?
You can do it either way. I like to freeze mine raw so that they are fresh when I cook them, but cooking them first would save time later!
I just made 2 lbs of it from the Azure ground turkey, but I too cooked them first only because I remember hearing somewhere you shoudln’t refreeze meats. Have you heard this?
I had always heard this, then about a year ago, my friend told me that it really is okay to refreeze it…one time. Like you wouldn’t want to thaw, freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw, fre…
AND especially since we’re working with free range meat here, it’s much safer. Here’s a post I wrote about the subject: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/flash-freezing-chicken-fried-steak-strips Within that post is a link to a site that tells about the safety.
I have cooked quite a few things from your suggestions (pizza pockets, popcorn chicken, pancake sausage muffins, sausage . . ) and it has been so great to just take them out of the freezer already cooked!! I was going to make some different soups and try to freeze them. My 17-month-old loves lentil soup and it would be great to make a huge pot and have some for later. Do you think it would be ok to freeze?
hey Gina I make a freeze all sorts of soup all the time and they taste just as good defrosted as fresh :)
Laura thanks I was just thinking I needed to fill my freezer up again :)
make AND freeze ;)
I have frozen lentil stew and it tasted great when I reheated it :)
I think I have chocolate on my brain. When I first scrolled down, the applesauce bread looked like chocolate!
Question for you. Is the applesauce you use sweetened already? I’m just trying to figure out if I need less sugar and honey. Or doesn’t it matter?
No, the applesauce I used is unsweetened. Not sure if it matters or not. I’ve only ever used unsweetened. Chocolate bread sounds good too!
My freezer stash is down to almost nothing. I work full-time as a teacher and volunteer with my 2 son’s activities. Things are busy around here, but I read your blog each day while I’m eating my lunch. My youngest son is recovering from pneumonia and tomorrow is my day to stay home with him. I plan to get some foods prepped for the freezer as well. I think I’ll try a pizza stromboli.
I made your Warm Vanilla Soother for my son this afternoon during one of his coughing spells and he liked it. It was a good way to get some nutrition in him!
Marathon cooking wears me out too. Usually I don’t have a large block of time to dedicate anyway. Making double recipes for our supper doesn’t make too much more mess or take extra time. Tonight: Sloppy Joes x 4. So easy to freeze in freezer bags for another night. I also freeze the buns so I don’t have to remember to buy/make them later. I should try your corn bread muffins with the sloppy joe mix on them:)
Yum! Can I come live at your house? =)
Laura, what type of waffle iron do you have? Those look awesome, crispy on the outside. Mine are good but never quite as good as a belgian waffle. Mmm.
It’s called a Dazey Short Order Chef…we got it as a wedding gift 16 years ago!!
I made applesauce bread tonight to go with chicken soup. It was great, my kids ate it all up. Thanks!
I recently made some sweet potato streusel muffins, pizza pockets, apple pie pockets, and am partly through with a triple batch of tortillas….this is yummy food and it’s going fast…even for a single gal ;)
Just beef stew… not that exciting for a vegetarian.
Poptart recipe, please! My kids would be jumping for joy!
Can’t wait to see the poptart recipe – they look beautiful!
All your cooking always looks so nice!
I’ve experimented with cooking ahead a couple of times over the years, but never really got it working. Now I think I found the method that works for me, it’s a little different that what you generally meet.
My main purpose was to cut down time spent in the kitchen cooking dinner during the week, as dinner time is a baaaad time in our house (think: tired kids running wild, tired hubby home from work in need of PEACE and tired mummy getting less patient and enjoyable to be with LOL)
So what I do know, is I plan the menu for the week, then cook almost all 7 meals on Saturday or Sunday, then keep them in the fridge or freezer handy for pulling out and just needing to be re-heated each evening. I don’t know if I’ll continue with this, but for the moment it’s working brilliantly. Creates so much less dishwashing as well (we don’t have a machine). Thanks for the inspiration in cooking ahead.
Thanks for this post! Though I do some of this approach, it has never occurred to me to make it my “system”. I always thought I had to do marathon sessions of freezer cooking, which exhausts everyone.
I have used your WW graham cracker and brownie recipes and just mixed the dry ingredients and placed in freezer until ready to use. This makes life easy for a quick treat that you know is healthy! All you have to do is add the wet ingredients and it’s as fast as a store-bought mix….but much better!