I like cooking, I don’t like dishes. This is probably my favorite reason for freezer meals – cook ONCE, clean up a big mess ONCE and have easy, healthy meals many times.
Last week Fred Meyer had a dynamite deal on ground Turkey breast so I stocked up. Instead of just freezing the turkey in it’s original packaging, I decided to make meals with it and then freeze it – to save time later. Yesterday I whipped up a HUGE vat of ground turkey spaghetti sauce, complete with fresh, organic, local basil and garlic, and canned tomatoes that I got on a rockin’ deal from Grocery Outlet.
Here’s what I threw into the pot:
Two (2) packages of ground Turkey Breast (20 ounce each) – $3.98
Two (2) white onions – $0.75
Two (2) pounds cremini mushrooms – $6
Eight (8) large cans of tomatoes – 79 cents each x 8 = $6.32
Scored these at Grocery Outlet for 79 cents a can!
Whole clove of garlic – About $1
About 6 fresh tomatoes from my neighbor – FREE
Organic fresh tomatoes from Olympia Local Foods – $2.45
Bulk oregano seasoning, season to taste – About $0.50 cents
1/3 pound FRESH organic basil – $4
I spent about $25 on all the ingredients and ended up with 18 pounds of spaghetti sauce – which I was able to make into 10 freezer packages – but most of them are large enough to include lunch for my husband the following day. So I’m estimating at least 15 meals from this round of freezer cooking!
This is an example of making a deal into a meal. I wasn’t necessarily planning on making spaghetti but the stars aligned with a great deal on turkey, fresh tomatoes and a great sale on canned tomatoes – so I was able to piece together a batch. It took me about 1.5 hours from start to finish – most of the time was spent cooking up turkey, chopping onions, tomatoes, mincing garlic, washing/chopping basil and then DISHES. But then I was done.
When it comes time to make dinner I have used freezer meals a couple ways:
- Cut edge off of freezer package and dump out sauce into a large saucepan. It will be like a large ice cube but will quickly be simmering.
- Take the sauce out the day before and let it defrost in your refrigerator, then heat up before serving. This is probably the preferred way, but not always possible if you didn’t plan ahead.
I think the key to making freezer meals a success is QUANTITY. If you’re going to do it – make sure it’s worth your while. I recommend investing in a nice big stock pot. Check thrift stores for a used one because otherwise they’ll cost you a pretty penny. Another option is Macy’s when they have big clearance sales – which is how we snagged ours up years ago.
Some could argue that you can get jarred spaghetti sauce for cheap or free using coupons. I agree, you probably can. But I love home-cooked, hearty sauce without preservatives and a fancy label. And at only $1.67 a meal, you can’t beat a homemade meal.
And the great things about sauces is they are flexible – I could use this in Eggplant Parmesan, lasagna, homemade pizza or of course good ole fashioned spaghetti. I scored FREE garden pasta awhile ago when it was 10 for $10 and I used $1 coupons – so we’re good to go.
I’m going to be working on some other freezer meals this fall and I plan to blog about it as I go!
And as always, I’d love to hear what you’re making!
Mindy says
Yes, please do continue to blog about it! I’m great at scoring deals, but turning them into meals is where I struggle. Have never done the freezer cooking thing, but would really like to. Your post is very inspiring. 🙂
Beth says
Sounds delicious! =) Grocery Outlet is also a great place to find cremini mushrooms at a great price. I find them for $1.99/lb and sometimes you can find the sliced ones in a 2-lb package for $1.99, as well!
Katie says
Since my CSA share has been bursting with fall veggies like corn, carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, dried beans, spinach, kale, onions and garlic, I’ve been loading the freezer with minestrone soup. I made ground turkey into Italian sausage by browning it with fennel seeds, salt, pepper, garlic and red chile flakes.
Heather says
Katie – That sounds AMAZING.
Lisa says
What a great idea! I made homemade ground turkey black bean(with some other ingredients too) burritos last night and froze them individually for lunches and last minute dinners.
Celia says
U R an inspiration!