Cook Only Once A Month - Feed Your Freezer

If you find yourself without the time and/or energy to cook every night, you might want to try preparing meals to go straight in the freezer. Then meal time becomes as simple as reheat and eat.

Once A Month Cooking is possible, there are just a few things to keep in mind. Whether you're cooking extra to store in your freezer for another day, or cooking up straight-to-freezer meals to last the week; OrganizedHome have a great collection of do's and don't.

Here's just the tips for Soup:

• Store the components, not the soup. Too often, frozen soups don't satisfy. Overcooked vegetables, gritty stock and stringy meat are a table turn-off. Instead of freezing completed soups, freeze components: a container of chicken broth, freezer bag of just-cooked chicken in single meal portions. To assemble, sauté onions, celery and carrots in a skillet, and add the freezer broth. Stir in leftover cooked rice. Add the meat, heat-and serve a soup that stands the test of time.

• Just say “No!” to potatoes. Whether in soup, stew or casserole, frozen potatoes don't cut the mustard. Package freezer stew before adding potato. When you reheat, stir in cold, cubed, peeled baked potato from last night's dinner. Freezer friendly potato substitutes include barley and slightly undercooked pasta.

• Store now, thicken later. Yes, you can freeze thickened stews, but do you want to? Cornstarch and flour-based gravies can separate after freezing, and never seem to have quite the right texture. Better, freeze the meal first and add thickening after thawing.

Sneak Up on Freezer Cooking - [OrganizedHome]

Also check out their Freezer Cooking Guide which includes a sample game plan to cooking only once a month.

Feed the Freezer! Complete Freezer Cooking Guide - [OrganizedHome]