It's FREEZER FRIENDS Time!

It’s time to start thinking of getting a freezer friends group together. My freezer is pretty empty right now and I can’t wait to start doubling and quadrupling my garden made tomato sauces, eggplant Parmesans and stuffed cabbages and who knows what else this first year of gardening will grant me. Anyone who lives in my area who would like to be put into a freezer friends group just email me with “Freezer Friends” in the subject line. I like to get the groups together by Sept 1st.

If you do not live in my area then consider starting your own group. It’s so rewarding to have meals ready to go in your freezer and it’s so fun to try new recipes.

For those of you who don’t know what the heck I’m talking about I'll describe how we do Freezer Friends in a nutshell. Each group consists of 4 or 5 friends (I've found that any more than that is just too much quantity to fit into the pots most people have). Each friend is responsible for making one meal a month and multiplying it by the number of friends in their group. The meals are to be divided into meals for each friend's family and frozen. The due date is generally the last day of the month when the friends arrange a time and place to exchange their meals. So really, you have an entire month to complete your assigned meal. You cook it and freeze it at your convenience sometime during the month as long as it is done by the exchange date.

The rules are simple:

1) BIGGEST MOST IMPORTANT RULE: make healthful meals made from scratch (NO canned soup as an ingredient or other such prefabricated processed things like processed cheese-like products) - If anyone ever has doubts I will always advise.

2) meals are due the last day of the month unless the group makes other arrangements

3) family size should be taken into consideration when proportioning out the meals and make enough for a whole meal for the family

4) email your group the meal you plan to make as soon as possible so that the group doesn't end up with 5 chillis in one month

5) try to provide a whole meal so if your dish is a pasta sauce, also provide a box of pasta

6) email or include a copy of your recipe with your meal and the thawing / reheating instructions

7) freeze meals that are freezable

I think I've covered it all.

Now I like to mix up the groups and there are usually 4-5 groups organized so we can mix up the groups throughout the winter so the schedule is this:
Group 1, September, October and November.

Break for December, no exchange.

Group 2, (new members in your group), January, February, March

Group 3, (new members again), April, May and if members agree to June they may exchange in June

It was a Poppy Turkey Night!

Oh how we love Poppy Turkey. Oh how we love to SAY, “Poppy Turkey.” Poppy Turkey Poppy Turkey Poppy Turkey. It’s just fun to say. I went to Aldi’s yesterday to stock up for a triple batch of Poppy Turkey when I ran into Sue. Sue said that she had made the Poppy Turkey and loved it. I have several friends who have turned their noses up at it because they think the ingredients sound strange. Sue was brave, as was Anne and Marilyn. Of course, they loved it! It’s yummy. It’s creamy. It’s good comfort food and it’s delicious. Be sure to make a triple + batch, (after you confirm that it IS yummy of course), because it freezes wonderfully.

I add peas and mushrooms as you can see by my notes. You can get away with 1 1/4 lb of turkey easily.

There is still plenty of winter left to enjoy the convenience of Frozen Meals!

In case no one actually reads the details of my monthly menus (is anyone really spending time doing that?), I will brag that for the first couple weeks of December I never cooked a meal and for about 10 meals in January I will provide my family with delicious whole food meals that I simply take out of the freezer and pop in the oven. Today I made six batches of shepherd’s pie for my next Freezer Friends exchange. One of the six we had for dinner. I have organized a second group of Freezer Friends and thankfully got my dear friend Jen to join today so that I won’t have to be cooking for two groups. Thanks Jen! After talking with her I got to thinking that most of the women in the new Freezer Friends group have not been in the habit of doubling or tripling or quadrupling meals they make to be frozen but they are interested in trying it. I haven’t seen any emails yet about what they will be making for their first January 29th due date so I thought that a list of freezer friendly meals might get some ideas generated. Here is a list of things that I have doubled/tripled/quadrupled for freezing or have received in a Freezer Friends exchange. There are so many more possibilities but this is a good sampling:

Chilis, stews and soups of almost any kind

Chicken Entrees:
Chicken tortilla soup
Chicken tex mex (rice and such)
Chicken Cacciatore
Chicken pot pie Chicken Divan
Mexican chicken lasagna
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Rosemary Rasberry Balsamic glazed Chicken
Creamy Chicken enchiladas
Chicken Burritos
Baked Pasta w/ chicken sausage & spinach
White Chicken Chili
Beef Entrees:
Shepherds pie (pot roast shredded or ground beef)
Taco pie (biscuit type topping)
Moroccan Beef
Burgers (turkey, mango chutney turkey, southwest beef, bbq pork, bacon wrapped, momwiches, etc.)
Beef enchiladas
Meatloaf (many variations)
Stuffed Cabbage
Stuffed peppers
Beef Veggie soup with many variations
Meatballs (turkey or beef)
Lasagne
Stuffed Shells
Misc:
Poppy Turkey -
Creamy Cajun shrimp pasta
Eggplant parmesan
Spinach pie – a lot of egg in a spring form pan w/ phyllo on top
3 bean chili
Calzones
Gumbos (many variations)
Pasta Sauce with meat or veggies
Pizza (homemade and ½ baked can be frozen and popped in the oven)

My latest goal is to start freezing crock pot meals. Two conveniences combined! Does life really get any easier?

Interested in Starting up a Freezer Friends Group?

I have had a couple people tell me that they would be interested in doing a Freezer Friends group. I am willing to participate in another group or at least put some people together to make up 5 Freezer Friends. If you are interested email me asap and I’ll see if I can bully . . . I mean get some additional people for a new group. If you are having a baby soon, (ahem, you know who I mean) or if you are so busy that you are struggling to get dinner together every night (YOU also know who I mean) or if you would just love to have some new meals ready to go in the freezer let me know asap so you can get started before the winter season is over.

Just to entice you, I have received 4 meals today and 1 is coming tomorrow:

Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Chicken Spaghetti Casserole
Soulful Stew
Rolled Chicken with Pasta


The sooner you contact me the better! And if you don’t think you have recipes that freeze well to offer I can help you with that.

Oh and if you don't live near me and would like to start a Freezer Friends group, just email this to everyone you know:

Hi Friends,

I would like you to join me in a Freezer Friends
group. Basically we need 5-6 people to start a Freezer Friends
group. As a member of the group all you have to do is multiply a meal that
freezes well that you are already cooking for your family by 5 (or the
number of members we get to join) and package the meals up in 5 individual meals
and freeze. At the end of each month (or a date that we agree on) we will
designate someone's house to meet at to exchange our meals. You cook and
freeze your meal at your convenience anytime during the month before the due
date and in the end you will receive several different and new meals for your
family to enjoy. If there are dietary concerns we can make sure that we
decide what we are cooking well in advance so that we can accomodate those
issues if possible. The winter season is the best time for a Freezer
Friends exchange so please reply to my email as soon as possible!

Can't wait to share my favorite recipes and try your favorites!

Freezer Friends Swap Today!

I’m so excited. Today is our first freezer friends swap of the season here at my house. We have added one person which makes our group 6. I have always thought that 5 was perfect because when you cook a meal you want to multiply it by 5 so that you are left with one meal for your own family and then 4 for the freezer friends. Multiplying meals by 5 was challenging enough so we will see how 6 goes. I am so excited to get five new recipes in the freezer. This time around I made Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta to which I was shocked that there were no objections. I can’t believe that out of 6 families there is no shellfish allergy, seafood dislikes or whatnot which makes me really excited because I think this dish is potentially one of my all-time favorites and it’s so fun to share something with others that you think is so delicious.

Here it is, Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta:
1 (8 oz) angel hair pasta or penne pasta
¼ cup butter
1 lb shrimp, peeled & deveined
1 clove garlic
½ t black pepper
1/8 C all-purpose flour
2 T Cajun seasoning
2 cups cream
¼ t salt
¼ cup parmesan cheese

Melt butter in large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute shrimp for 1 minute on each side. Stir in garlic, and cook for 1 minute. Remove shrimp with a slotted spoon; set aside. Stir in flour and Cajun seasoning. Cook, stirring for 5 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk, then cook until thickened. Add parmesan. Remove from heat, and season with salt. Return shrimip to sauce, and spoon over cooked pasta.
This recipe found its way to me through a freezer friends group of two years ago. Thank you Rachael!

Freezer Real Estate

Having substantial freezer real estate must be the number one ultimate convenience that makes my family life easier and saves our household the most money. Before I had an extra freezer in the basement I read up on the savings and preparedness a freezer can bring to one’s life so I put out word to everyone I knew that I was looking to buy a second hand freezer. Of course I didn’t want a very old one or it would suck the savings out of my electrical outlet. I am not a patient person but when I got serious about budgeting I knew that if I was patient I would come across a freezer for the right price. After 9 months of waiting I just happened to be at the right place at the right time and I snagged a 3 year old upright at a tag sale for $50! It has more than paid for itself just in the bread outlet loaves I have socked away in it over the last year and a half.

So, as ridiculous as it may seem to a non-freezer person I have three freezers now. I have a freezer attached to my fridge in my kitchen as most people do, I also have a side-by-side fridge & freezer in the basement that was in our kitchen when we bought our house and to keep it company I now have my $50 upright freezer down there also. With all the freezing I do it really is necessary for me to keep a freezer inventory list (yes I know I’m a dork but it makes me happy). Every three months I empty out each freezer, wipe out the freezers and quickly jot everything down as I put the items back. Some rearranging is always necessary of course but the job gets done rather quickly. Even after I sit down at my computer to update my word document I doubt I spend more than 20 minutes from start to finish if I hustle. The joy my freezer inventory brings me never ceases. I keep it on the back of one of my kitchen cupboards and I cross off things as I use them and I write in items on the blank spaces as I add to the freezers. When I sit down to make my monthly menus I make sure to incorporate the meats and dinners that I already have and save frozen dinners for the times they will be needed the most.

One of my favorite things to do that my freezer inventory list allows me to do is easily provide a meal to my mom friends who have just had a new baby. Friends who know me well know about my inventory so I think they enjoy it when either
before their due date or immediately after having the baby I rattle off all the meals that are already made in my freezer and they get to pick what sounds good to them. This also allows me to be the first one in someone’s house with a hot meal ready to go. I never thought I would be one of those “newborn baby sniffers” but being able to provide a meal to friends with a 2 day old kind of sucked me in.

So here is my latest inventory. I generally keep meats in my side-by-side freezer, meals and bread in the upright, breakfast items and fruits/veggies in the upstairs kitchen freezer.

Freezer Friends

Over the last two fall & winter seasons I have participated in a group I called "Freezer Friends." For anyone looking to get started in freezing meals this might be something to try.

The first season I participated with my long-time playgroup friends and the second season I got a whole new group of women together. There were five women in each group and we each "owed" the other four women a frozen meal at the end of each month accompanied with thawing and cooking instructions and the recipe of course. One gal was very clever and saved up all of her meals for after her baby was born. She is a terrific planner and I know she had many of her own doubled/tripled meals frozen for that purpose too. I wonder how old that baby was before she started cooking again.

It was easiest to have a meeting place and time set for the "due date" so that everyone could exchange meals but if someone couldn't make the meeting then they just made arrangements to drop off their meal and pick up their meals from the person's home that held the meeting.

Any allergies or severe food dislikes need to be shared before-hand for a good Freezer Friends group to work. It is best to email everyone what you plan to make so that anyone that needs to be accommodated for allergies or the like can be or can decide to opt out of meal. This season the second group I participated with is itching to do it again and they have picked up another group member so I suppose we'll give it another round. I just asked that no one repeat a meal. It is so awesome not just to have the meals prepared and ready to go, but to have a different meal that maybe you would not have otherwise made yourself is so fun and surprisingly delicious. You have a new recipe to add to your regular meal plan for years to come. Everyone seems to save their best freezer friendly meals for Freezer Friends so I have yet to be disappointed.