Freezer Cooking & Money Saving Tips!

I love to hold a “Baking Day” once a month in order to prepare meals for those crazy days you just can’t afford the time to cook a decent meal! Whether it’s a dance rehearsal or soccer practice, those late nights can take a toll… fast! Often times when we are in those situations, the easiest thing to do would be to stop at some local fast-food place and grab a bite to eat, oftentimes to be left broke or feeling like that money could have been best spent elsewhere.

Here are some tips that have helped me so far:


MAKE A LIST…SEVERAL!

* FIRST- Make a MENU of what meal(s) you would like to cook! I try to plan my meals around a few key items so that way I’m not spending a lot of money buying items that I’ll only use once or twice. For example, for one package of blueberries I can make blueberry pancakes to freeze and use the rest for muffins!

* SECOND- Make a LIST of the groceries that you’ll need for each recipe! Make note of which ingredients you’ll use in more than one recipe and tally up the amounts you’ll need.

* THIRD- Try to rely on ingredients that you use often (or at least that you’ll use up in one or two dishes) so that you make the most of your ingredients and reduce waste.


PICK A DATE & STICK TO IT!

*It may seem like no time is the right time, but if you don’t start, you’ll never finish!


READY, SET, GET PREPPING!

*Get started! You’ve made your lists, have your menu planned, and have the ingredients you need… Get cooking! If you have a large menu, you can even do prep work the day before! You can always chop veggies or combine dry mixes for muffins/pancakes/breads/etc, beforehand to lessen the load! It really helps save on cooking time! Just put them in their appropriate storage containers overnight and see how much faster it goes!

*Also, start early in the morning! The earlier you can get a jump start, the better… then you can pace yourself accordingly and have the whole day to do it!


GET COOKING, BUT DON’T STRESS... IT’S JUST FOOD!

*I must admit, on my Baking Days, things can be a little tense LOL! But don’t get caught up in the stress of cooking (no matter how big or small it is). Remember, it’s JUST FOOD! In the end, it doesn’t matter if you’ve made every dish on you menu plan! IT’S OK! You gave it the “college try”, lessons have been learned, and you’ll be better prepared for your next one!

Well I hope these tips help, and good luck on your next cooking endeavour!

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