Feeding The Freezer

In an effort to try and save more money on food, I have been reading several blogs and articles recently. I am learning a lot of good tips, but one that I am really liking is freezer cooking. I watch many times and we dump leftovers out of the fridge because we are not very good at eating them. So, I’ve decided to try a new twist on cooking. When I make a dish that would normally give us a good amount of leftovers, I am going to split the dish in half and freeze part of it. I know this may not be a new concept to everyone, but I really like it. Sunday night we ate baked ziti. Normally, I would have made a 9 x 13 pan, but I split it between 2 8 x 8 pans. We had plenty to eat for dinner (and for me to bring for lunch 2 days) and I wrapped the aluminum pan up tightly and stuck it in our deep freezer. We were blessed to be given a large deep freezer, so I am excited to be utilizing it a little more. I should be able to freeze three meals this week from my menu plan, which will cut the next grocery bill dramatically! I also think this is a wonderful idea for me to use closer to December when our baby is due. I’m sure our church and family will provide some meals in the beginning, but that will end at some point, and it will be nice to have a fully stocked freezer to choose from! I found a wonderful article here at organizedhome.com that gives some great tips for once a month cooking. The once a month cooking is a future goal, but I believe I will start out small first so I do not get overwhelmed. There are also some places in larger cities that are actually set up for you to come in and create your own meals to freeze. I have some friends who have done this as a girls night, and I think it is a wonderful way to utilize your time! Not only do you get to spend some quality time with friends, but you are stocking your freezer with some wonderful meals! I am definitely going to try this one at some point. But, in the mean time, I will be feeding my freezer one meal at a time!

Frugal Followup

After my ambitious post on Friday to be more frugal, I thought I would start following up on how I was doing. I did plan out our menus for the week. I also went grocery shopping with some coupons in hand to try and get a lower price. I did spend more than I wanted to, but I had to buy lunch stuff for my husband who started back teaching today and likes to keep sandwich stuff at the school for his lunches. I also purchased some small storage containers to portion out some fresh fruit and veggies and leftovers for me to take to work. I have been eating out way too much for lunch, and that tends to put a dent in the budget as well. It was nice this morning to just open the fridge and have everything portioned out and ready for me to just grab and go! It took some extra time yesterday to get it ready, but I’m prepared for the entire week and have no excuse to not take my own food from home! I did look into purchasing a drying rack for my clothes, but didn’t. It looked way too small to handle a full load of clothes out of the washer. So, I started looking at clotheslines. I really do not want a big permanent contraption in my yard, so I’m still looking for the best option in that area. As Dave Ramsey says, “Baby Steps”! We will get there, and I’ll keep updating along the way!!