One of my monthly goals for September is to establish a weekly freezer cooking time — a short cooking time slot however.  Only an hour to cook, pack away food, and bring the kitchen into relative order again.

Challenging?  A little. But tremendously helpful in this current season of life.

Last week held two freezer cooking express sessions, and then I took advantage of the holiday weekend to whip a little extra food.  All in all, I had three separate times to work with!

So, let’s see how I did:

First, a confession ~ this round could have been more productive had I not been chatting away on the phone with my sister.  I was completely distracted and paused several times to focus on the conversation.

Had it been serious, this would be noble.  But really, we were talking random.  Fun random though…this counts right?

I packed away:

• 5 – 32oz containers of hamburger vegetable soup
• 2 meals worth of cooked chicken breasts (Not pictured; and I had intended to shred them, but forgot!)

Not too bad now that I think of it.

In the next two sessions of one hour blocks more was done!  It’s a race against the clock, so I definitely pushed myself to stay on schedule and accomplish much as well.

Here’s what made it to the freezer:

• 3 dozen pumpkin muffins
• 2 dozen blueberry muffins
• 13 salmon cakes (I flash froze these on a sheet & then wrapped and placed in a bag)
• 2 dinners of barbecue meatloaf (one not pictured; and I cook it starting frozen for 2 hrs)

I thought it would also be fun to highlight a favorite kitchen tool used, if any.  Since the point is to maximize time spent, I’m looking for fast & functional.

Due to the chopping necessary for salmon cakes and soup, I found my Pampered Chef chopper as the best assistant.  Mine is old and falling apart (as in I’m the only one who can make it work!), but still so handy.

 

All in all, it was a great week of good food stocked up.  Be back next week with another freezer cooking express update!