A well-stocked freezer

I'm not dead.  I promise.  I just took an unscheduled hiatus from posting due to:

1. 1. A teething baby (finally, at 11 months she's getting some teeth!  And teething is here with a vengeance...)
2. 2. Lots of early mornings (reference teething baby above)
3. 3. Crafting and preparing for a special little girl's first birthday party
4. 4. Lack of motivation and inspiration
5. 5. Laziness.  Yep.  I won't lie.  It takes effort to blog and frankly after my long days of mothering and all that it entails and my evenings of working from home, I just want to sit back and chill and watch some Seinfeld.  Can you blame me?

Anyhow, for a busy girl, a well-stocked freezer can really relieve some stress.  I'm not one of those "once a month" freezer-stocking cooks because I am not crazy about casseroles, but I do enjoy having a few items on hand.  As an added benefit to a well-stocked freezer, manufacturers say that freezers run most efficiently if filled to about 3/4 of their capacity.  Below are some of the ways that my freezer has become my friend!

• Every time I make lasagna, I make two (or three).  Any basic lasagna recipe can be frozen and stored for a night that mom doesn't want to cook!  Just prepare the lasagna according to your recipe and when you get to the "bake" part, ignore that instruction and cover it with plastic wrap and foil and pop it in the freezer.  It's not much more effort to make an extra lasagna if you're already making one.  I usually pop mine in the oven while it's still frozen and add an hour to the suggested cook time--it works like a charm.  Make a salad and dinner's done!  (Remember to remove the plastic wrap before baking!)

• When whole chickens go on sale, I purchase several and roast them all at one time.  This saves energy used to heat the oven when you do it all at once.  Once your chickens are cooked and cooled, pick the meat and chop it and bag it into portions to be used later (I usually place about 2 cups in a Ziploc bag, label it, and lay it flat in the freezer).  This is great to have on hand if you like to make casseroles, soups, quesadillas, burritos, etc.

• Don't throw those chicken bones away from your roasted chickens!  Make some chicken stock and freeze it in quart sized portions.  If you like to use small amounts for pan sauces and gravies, then place some of your delicious homemade stock in ice cube trays and freeze, then pop those guys into a plastic bag once they've frozen.  Perfect!

• Soups!  I LOVE soups and thanks to my husband getting me the perfect Christmas gift--a HUGE stock pot--I am able to make large batches of soup.  I portion the cooled soup into 2 servings per gallon-sized freezer bag, label, lay flat and freeze.  (The best way to see what your portion size is is to fill one of the bowls you typically use for soup at home to the desired level, and then pour each serving into the bag.  That works better for me than measuring a perfect 32 oz. or the like.)  When you lay the bags flat, they freeze rapidly, store very easily, and thaw quickly.  Most Sundays after church we come home and have soup for lunch.  I simply take a flat bag out on Saturday night and thaw in the fridge.  If you forget to do that, which NEVER happens to me (cough,cough), you can let the soup rest in a casserole dish full of water for a few minutes, until you can get it out of the bag and onto the stove successfully.

• Baby food.  I have made all of Elliott's baby food thus far--basically all sorts of purees and blended veggies, and then I pop them in ice cube trays, flash freeze, and place into larger bags.  Frugal, very little effort, delicious, and healthy since we avoid the food additives and preservatives found in commercial jarred foods.

• Quiche.  We eat quiche frequently, and contrary to popular belief, quiche can be a manly food!  Once you prepare a quiche (including the baking), you can freeze it for another meal.  Just thaw overnight in the fridge and pop in the oven for 30 minutes on 350 to heat it through.

There are other foods, too, but I need to save some material for later, right?  And I'll share some recipes for my favorite soups and quiche! 

Any other suggestions for making the most of your freezer?  Leave a comment!