9 Oct ~ 14:30 - Just taking a break. Currently have 15 entrees finished. Feet and back are aching but must continue.
9 Oct ~ 22:30 - Must.Stop.Working. Currently have 47 entrees completed. I have 5 more recipes I'd like to do tomorrow.
10 Oct ~ 13:00 - Not feeling well at all. Hubby came home early and put me to bed. Only got to two of the 5 recipes I wanted to do today. Currently have 58 entrees completed.
11 Oct ~ 11:00 - Feeling better today despite the stone having not passed. I still have three recipes I need to get to today but the one I just finished made twice what I was expecting (new recipe). So, I now have 68 entrees completed. Praying everything will fit in my freezers. It's gonna be close I think. My can openner broke so I'll be punching my cans open....not fun.
11 Oct ~ 14:10 - Another recipe finished (not sure I'll be doing that one again) and one recipe in the oven finishing up. Once those are frozen I'll have 73 dinner entrees, 4 kids' lunch entrees and 20 muffins (kids plan to have muffins after quiet time). I still need to make pie crusts. Everytime I do them I think, “boy, it would sure be nice to have a professional mixer“. I would like to get those done today. Taking a break to finally eat my lunch (kids ate two hours ago when DS fixed sandwiches). My side is hurting, kidney stone is moving again. Hopefully it will move on out.
11 Oct ~ 18:50 - Alrighty, I think I'm “done“ for now. The final count is 74 dinner entrees, 4 kid lunch entrees and 32 pie crusts (the muffins aren't going to make it into the freezer before they're eaten). Several of those dinner entrees will last us more than one meal as well - factoring that in, the final count is closer to 83. This is the most I've ever done in one session. Of course, including planning and shopping it's taken 5 days. I think this has been one of the worst sessions in the realm of “everything that could go wrong did.“ I don't know if it had to do with doing so much at once or what but if one more thing in this condo breaks I may scream. Here's a list of the recipes from this session:
Country Chicken Pot Pie
Soup'erior Meatloaf
Lazy Day Lasagna
Jerk Pork Chops
Quiche in a Bag
Cheeseburger Quiche
Cheddar and Broccoli Soup
Chicken in a marinade
Grilled Chicken Parmesan
Beefy Veggie Soup
Marinade for Pork
Taco Chili
Chicken Tetrazzini
Tara's Favorite Muffins (blueberry & raisin)
Freezer Pie Crust (made w/ wheat flour)
I plan to add a freezer dessert (done in bulk of course) each week for several weeks in a row. This will give us a variety of desserts without having to do it all at once. Factoring in the cost of some staples I was out of, as well as storage items and some new “tools“....even with that counted in the total, each entree cost me just under $6. Even if my family ate off the dollar menu at McDonalds we'd pay twice that and it wouldn't be nearly as good for us.
Note to self: You need 3 plastic bowls with lids for storing chopped/diced veggies. Think about going with a different brand of freezer bag next time and always get more than you think you need - haven't we learned that by now? Evidently not. Look into recipe software. You need a new can opener. Oh and, unless this turns out to be well worth it, don't do as much in one session again....at least don't do more, freezer is FULL.
Visit 30 Day Gourmet for more ideas and information on freezer cooking.
One entree serves a minimum of six.