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Day 4 of Our Challenge

Cooking Prep Tips

It’s time to get ready to cook!!! I’ve been doing freezer cooking once a month for a while and have made a few mistakes and learned a ton that has helped me now be able to get my cooking done in an hour or less!!! Not only does freezer cooking save me time in my day to day, but it saves me time in general with my prep. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have 4-6 hours on a weekend to cook meals! I like to get all my prep done in 2 hours max!

So let’s set you up for success when it’s time to actually cook.

I recommend finding 1-2 hours where you will uninterrupted. YES I am a mom of little kids like you might be. That time is NOT easy to find. BUT you can find it if you try. When I do my cooking, I get up early on a Sunday and do it in 1 hour before the kids are up. This allows me to be focused and efficient. I find it really tough to stay focused with a toddler running around so I just let my husband know that I plan to do this so if the little people get up early, I need him to be in charge. So let your stakeholders know when you’re cooking and what help you need. If you have older kiddos, get them involved! They can be the ones who add in spices or other ingredients and it’s a great way to start teaching them about cooking!
Set up your kitchen for success. Pull out ALL of the ingredients you need. EVERYTHING. I pull out all my spices, the bags from my shopping and pantry items that I bought, and anything from the fridge. I then make other stations around my counters where things are chunked together. Pull out your cutting board, gallon bags, and measuring cups. Have everything out on the counter ready for you.
When it comes to measuring, I have two sets of measuring spoons that I use. One I use for dry spices and one for wet ones (like oils and sauces). This way I don’t really have to rinse things off in between.
My biggest tips for the rest of the cooking is to do everything assembly line style! First up, the bags. Grab your 7 freezer bags and sharpie and label them with what the meal is and how long you cook it. That way, when you pull it out of your fridge it’s super easy. If there is anything else you need to know for the day of cooking (like adding water or other ingredients) write them on the bag.
I use a napkin holder to keep my bag upright until it has enough stuff in it to not fall over. I then add my ingredients in this order; vegetables, sauces and frozen things, and then spices. When that one recipe is done, I then go to the next one. I add all of the meat for ALL 7 recipes at the end. This way, I don’t have to switch cutting boards, worry about cross contamination, and have to wash my hands a million times!
When it comes to storing, I seal all my bags and lay them flat and CAREFULLY get out as much air as I can! I lay them flat on top of each other and put the thicker and heavier ones on the bottom. This way I can store them super simply in my freezer

Whew! Okay now that you’ve digested all those, you are READY to conquer your freezer meals! Tomorrow is cooking day (so my suggestion is to plan your fun Friday out to shop and cook if you can’t make it to the store today) and we’ll get started and become freezer cooking masters!

What questions do you still have about our cooking day??? What is one tip you didn’t think of before hand that you think will be helpful? What time are you cooking tomorrow??? Head to our Facebook group and let us know!

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Cookbooks & Tools to Make Freezer Cooking Easier

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Freezer Cooking Day 4

Day 4 of Our Challenge

Cooking Prep Tips

Cookbooks & Tools to Make Freezer Cooking Easier

More Reading & Resources

Day 4 of Our Challenge

Cooking Prep Tips

Cookbooks & Tools to Make Freezer Cooking Easier

More Reading & Resources

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