What is a Freezer Cooking Day?
We are joining together for a fun group cooking day towards the end of June (my cooking day is scheduled for June 29th). I posted a few days ago with the official Freezer Cooking Day menu plan and tips for getting yourself organized.
On to the official ingredient list. I will do my best to highlight store deals that will match up with our ingredient list, but it’s not a bad idea to print out each recipe and the list of ingredients for yourself, so you can get yourself totally prepared.
MENU
- White Chicken Chili
- Chicken Spaghetti – I use boneless, skinless chicken breast instead of a whole fryer, just for simplicity
- Lawnmower Taco – I swapped out the tortilla chips for corn tortillas and added black beans
- Spicy Sausage Pasta – I have swapped out ground beef or pork for the kielbasa
- Oven Fries – Easy side dish
- Cheese Enchiladas – Delicious as is, but can add refried beans to bulk them up
Spaghetti sauce
Brown 1 pound hamburger with two chopped garlic cloves and 1/2 chopped onion. Drain before mixing. When almost brown, mix in one jar Prego (or other sauce of your choice), one 5 oz can tomato paste, one 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes and one 8 oz can tomato sauce. Let simmer for half an hour or so.
INGREDIENT LIST
All amounts listed are based on each recipe being doubled, except for the Cheese Enchiladas that are already doubled in the original recipe.
If you want a printable ingredient list to take to the store with you, I created a Google Doc here.
PANTRY ITEMS
(16) flour tortillas
(6) cups spaghetti
(2) boxes rotini pasta
(9) cans chicken broth (14.5 oz cans)
(4) cans cream of mushroom soup
(6) cans white beans
(2) cans black beans (optional for Lawnmower Taco)
(2) cans diced green chilies
(2) jars Prego spaghetti sauce
(2) cans tomato paste 5 oz
(2) cans Rotel (or other diced tomatoes)
(2) cans diced tomatoes 14.5 oz
(2) cans tomato sauce 8 oz
30 oz enchilada sauce or tomato sauce
Italian dressing
Tortilla chips or corn tortillas
Chicken bouillion
Taco seasoning
FRESH ITEMS
Green bell pepper
Approximately (5) onions
(2) carrots
Cilantro
Garlic
Potatoes
PERISHABLE ITEMS
Sour cream
(21) cups shredded cheese
(12) boneless skinless chicken breasts – Can still order through Zaycon at $1.64/lb
(6) lbs ground beef or turkey
HOUSEHOLD ITEMS
9″x13″ aluminum pans
Saran wrap
Aluminum foil
Gallon Ziploc freezer bags
There are some basic pantry ingredients I didn’t include, like spices and salt and pepper, so make sure to double check each recipe before you start. This is an approximate list, there may be items you want to swap out or exclude. I never tend to use as much onion or cheese as each recipe calls for, so my personal list may be slightly different from yours.
My friend Emilie is going to check a few prices at Costco for us tomorrow, to see if there is anything that would be worth grabbing there. Feel free to share if you have any ideas where we can pick up some of the items at a lower cost.
Next on my list is to put together a tentative schedule to (hopefully) keep us all organized.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Grocery Outlet…….
Costco has this 6 pack of pasta I think is like $7 but is is the best pasta the brand is Garofalo. My kids (and hubby) will not eat spaghetti noodles but I can make the same dish with these and I never have complaints! and its 3 different pastas so it changes up the same meal.
Stumbled upon your post….I highly recommend going to the Costco business center in Fife for the aluminum pans. It’s a bit of an investment to begin with but WAY cheaper to buy them in bulk plus they come with lids. Make sure to look up the hours before you go as they are not the same as the regular Costco hours.
Another thing from Costco Business Center is chopped onions. I have bought them before while doing a freezer cooking day and although I cannot remember the price, they were an excellent deal – plus made much less work for me.
There is a Costco business center in Lynnwood also.
Oh, and I think green peppers are .79 all the time at FM.
I’m so excited to do this along with you!!
Question: what is your plan for all the chicken you’ll get from Zaycon foods? I know some will be used on this cooking day, but the rest?
Thanks!!
(I just posted this in the wrong spot a minute ago, sorry
I did notice it was posted on the Carmex deal.
I generally just freeze mine in gallon Ziploc bags, one or two breasts in each bag. I know several people who prep them before, dice, slice, grill, slow cook and shred. It’s a decent amount of work initially, but then you have it all done! Frugal Living NW created a fantastic ebook last time this deal came around, all about how to prep and prepare your chicken and great recipes to go along with it.
I’m going to be posting about it soon, but here’s the link if you’re interested: http://tinyurl.com/6dw2n3v
Use promo code CHICKEN and the book is just $2.95!
O.K….I think I’m going to give this a try, Melody, because I have almost all of those ingredients already.
A couple dopey questions:
Are you going to have all the recipes, or should I go check out the links and write them down?
About how many do you think each will serve?
Every once in a while, I do a double batch of whatever I’m cooking and throw one in the freezer, but I’ve never managed to pull off a whole day, so this will be exciting for me. Thanks so much for doing this.
Hooray for joining up with our virtual cooking day!
It’s totally up to you on the recipes. I’m going to print them out for myself, so my friend and I that are cooking together can each have something different to reference and don’t have to be fighting over the computer. I think this will help me get more organized when I can see everything in one place. You could just have them bookmarked on your computer and switch back and forth on whichever day you choose to cook.
Each dish generally feeds my family of four (with two boys under 3) one full meal and enough for at least another meal of leftovers and some for my husband to take to work.
I’ve only done one full cooking day before, I’m usually more like you in that I just double or triple whatever I am cooking and throw the extra in the freezer.
Have you decided what day you are going to cook? I hope the majority of people can follow along on the 29th, but I know that’s hard because it is a week day.
Thanks so much, Melody!
I will try to do the 29th if I can figure out a playdate. Maybe I’ll get a friend on board, too. That sounds like the way to go.
Definitely more fun with a friend. Sometimes more chaotic, but more fun.