| There are many reasons to “freezer cook”. But I would have to say the biggest reason to try it is the time it will save you. Yes, you’ve probably heard that before but let’s take a look at really exactly how much time we are talking about.
#1 Time Savings
For instance, let’s take Baked Spaghetti. That’s a dish most of us have probably made at one time or another. How long does it take to make? Let’s consider all things involved. First you need to heat the water to cook your pasta in one pan. Let’s estimate this at about 5 minutes. Next, you’ll need to crumble and brown your ground beef in a skillet. Admittedly, you can start this while heating your water (we’re all so good at multitasking!) So let’s add just another 2-3 minutes to our time. Once both are done they need to be drained in a strainer. Now we’ll mix the pasta and ground beef with our sauce. Let’s just say we’re using a jar for this so little time there, let’s say one minute for opening the jar and mixing in. Now we’re going to pour it into our 9X13 pan and open a bag of shredded mozzarella and sprinkle on top, add another minute. That gives us a grand total of 9-10 minutes.
Now let’s calculate the clean-up time. We’ve got two pans, a strainer, a 9X13 plus utensils to clean. Typically, most of us wouldn’t wash those in the dishwasher so I’m going to give that 10 minutes to hand scrub (which is probably conservative!) Don’t forget we have to wipe off the counter and put all the dishes away.
I’m guessing we’re looking at 20-25 minutes on dinner prep not counting “cooking time”, just time that involves my direct attention. If you multiply that times 7days a week that’s a whopping 140-175 minutes a week which translates to about 2 ½ to 3 hours a week in the kitchen!
Now let’s compare that to cooking three batches of Baked Spaghetti at once. Does it take any longer to cook 3lb.’s of pasta as opposed to one? Well, there might be more water to heat so let’s say 2 minutes more. How about cooking 3lbs of ground beef as opposed to one? Again, adds possibly an extra 2-3 minutes. Now we allotted 2 minutes to the putting together so we’ll add 4 for the two extra batches. That’s 7 additional minutes. Clean-up will remain the same because we’re doing it all at once. The only clean up we’ll have is the 9X13 each time so we’ll add 4 minutes for that. That makes 31 minutes for 3 batches as opposed to the 20-25 for one. That means we’re only spending about 10 minutes a day or 1 hour and 10 minutes a week as opposed to 2 ½ or 3.
We could argue the times I’ve allotted or argue that it doesn’t hold true for all types of recipes but I think you get the point. In this illustration it will save you almost ½ the time! That’s why I think this is the #1 reason to freezer cook!
#2 Money Savings
There are two main reasons this is true, okay, we’ll maybe three. First of all because you’ll be making multiple dishes at once you can buy in bulk and take advantage of bigger saving by doing so. Secondly, because you will have food prepared in the freezer, ready to go you’ll be less likely to call for a pizza or get take out because you don’t have a plan for dinner. Third, because you are freezing you don’t have to eat your dishes all in one week so you can take advantage of lost leader sales (more on that later) and not have to eat the same meat every night for a week!
#3 Less stress
No more stress because you forgot an ingredient you need for that night’s dinner or you forgot to pick up something. It’s all in the freezer ready to go! Even if you forgot to pull something out, usually in ½ an hour with the help of your microwave you can pull it off!
#4 Ready to bless
How many times has someone you know unexpectedly had to be hospitalized or maybe a friend had a baby? Wouldn’t it be great on a moment’s notice to be able to bless them with dinner? With freezer cooking it’s easy!
#5 Healthier eating
When you are planning your meals ahead like this you typically are planning healthier meals. You’re also less likely to be eating out or grabbing take out as often which we all know is laden with extra fat and calories.
So, I hope you’re convinced to give it a try. Come back next time to find out how to get prepared to get started on a budget. It will be worth it, I promise!
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