I hate casseroles. They’re just gross. When I think of casseroles, all I can think about is how a day’s worth of calories is packed into a starchy, fatty, brown cube that can be consumed in three bites. I love efficiency, but come on now. They also remind me of my 80s childhood mealtimes—something to be fondly remembered but never revisited. (Nothing personal, Mom! It was the times, not you.) Casseroles are the reason that I have largely avoided freezer meals. Every time I decide that I should get organized and explore freezer cooking, I abandon the enterprise when I realize that everyone who does it eats casseroles.
However, recalling more recent memories of how the family cruised into the end of last semester on fumes and fast food, I thought that I should reconsider. Not casseroles, of course. Just freezers. With casseroles being out and vegetables not being the most freezer-friendly foods, the most obvious option for making my life easier was to freeze massive amounts of meat. Over the summer I experimented with a few things, so when I placed my grocery order at the first of the month, I bought seven pounds of ground beef, a value pack of chicken breasts (about 6 breasts), a value pack of chicken legs, a pack of hotdogs (yay Labor Day!), and a pack of bacon. I also bought two Aldi pizza that I freeze, one for every Friday night. We rounded out our Labor Day feast with some great venison burgers with meat that a friend gave us.
It’s worked out beautifully so far. I’ve been cooking less often and saving scads of time and dirty dishes. We’ve all been full, and very little except some Labor Day hotdogs has gone to waste. Now we have multiple meals in the freezer to pull out on busy days, like the three evenings a week I get home around dinner time. So what did I make with all of this meat?
Chicken
Frankie marinated and grilled the chicken breasts and legs on Labor Day. We ate some for leftovers the next few days, and I put some in my salads for lunch. I chopped about half of the remainder and added it a variation on my favorite corn chowder recipe. The corn for the chowder was bought in the last wave of summery goodness at the farmers market and frozen. The grilled flavor from the chicken was a fantastic addition to the chowder, so we will probably keep grilling with this particular marinade, even throughout the winter. We ate most of that and froze maybe two bowls’ worth. Then I chopped the remaining breast and a half and froze it. I will probably use it in a stir-fry or something similar—maybe warm it in a pan with olive oil, artichokes, lemon zest, and white wine and serve it with rice and plain Greek yogurt. I have some frozen onions that I can thaw and add.
Ground Beef
Sunday lunches are always a challenge for us with Frankie being a pastor. The whole family gets home from church late after the entire congregation has cleared out. Sometimes Frankie hangs back longer to meet with someone and we beat him home. Most weeks we all get home around lunch time good and hungry. The absolute last thing that I want to do after church is cook with a bunch of tired, hungry, antsy children under foot. The slow cooker is OK, but it requires me getting something going around six in the morning (I’ve been tired lately, so not the best option). A freeze meal seemed like a better solution. Shepherd’s pie sounded like a good, hearty meal that could be frozen but not quite a casserole. I made two, with a pound and a half of beef each. We reheated one today, and I whipped up a super fast gravy because the mashed potatoes do dry out a little bit when frozen and rebaked. This one is a keeper. The only change I might make next time is to spread it over four smaller casseroles so that we’re not eating leftovers for several days.
With the remaining four pounds I made a double batch of an already-large chili recipe. It made an absolute ton of food. Frankie and I ate several meals from it before I froze two gallons. Two gallons. This will be a great food to pull out for company or when my family visits for Bear’s birthday. The chili was too spicy for the kids’ taste (beware when eyeballing cayenne pepper), so I will have to plan a separate dinner for them when I thaw this. Unfortunately, that’s not an usual occurrence in our house. They will probably be happy with some cornbread, fruit, and cheese. Bug is a starchivore anyway, so the extra cayenne won’t result in any starving children. This particular recipe was nice and soupy and will soak into cornbread well.
Other Leftovers
This is going to sound stupid after I just talked about all of the food that I froze, but when I looked at what was left of the grocery budget until payday, I panicked. Then I remembered all of the stuff that I had in the freezer. Duh. Even with only $65 or so for the next week, we’re set! After school tomorrow I plan to hit Aldi for a refill on the kids’ lunch stuff—bread, string cheese, fruit, cheese crackers, apple juice, and maybe some meat for my salads if there’s any money left. If not, I’ll just pull something from the freezer. Tomorrow I’ll be making the easiest ever ham and bean soup in the slow cooker with a frozen ham bone (stay tuned for the recipe). One night will be out for pizza for the kids at a church thing (from the “fun money” budget category, not groceries), and dinner out for my birthday.
A week from Monday starts a new pay period, but I doubt that I’ll need to buy, cook, and freeze quite as much meat. Maybe I’ll aim to use half of the freezer stash during the second pay period and cook a bunch of meat during October’s first pay period. We’ll see. It depends on the sales and my schedule. I’m not going to sweat it until next week, but I can rest easy knowing that I have a freezer full of flexibility.
