Freezer Meal Cooking with the FabFruGals
Freezer Meal cooking is a fabulous way to save MONEY and TIME!
The fab five get together every other month and put 15 of our favorite meals together. Assemble, bag and freeze. Then when it comes time to figure out what is for dinner we simply check out freezer cooking menu, choose something fab, pull it out of the freezer, let thaw and heat!
We wished we could have all of our readers over and show them how we do this, but we can’t. 
So we have put together everything you will need to do it at home with your fab friends!
Start by learning why we do freezer meal cooking!
How it works:
So now that you know how to start a freezer cooking group, and all about shopping for freezer meals, and how to assemble meals on cooking day, YOU ARE READY TO GET STARTED!
We have put together virtual freezer cooking including a menu, and a shopping list!
Amber’s Menu
AJ’ Menu
Kearna’s Menu
Monica’s Menu
- The Menu
- Shopping list (done for 4 families of 4)
- Prep Work Assignments (also for 4 families)
- Fridge List
- Final Cost (coming soon)
Freezer Cooking w/ the FabFruGALS: Getting ready for the BIG Day!
Are you ready to get your FAB on in the kitchen? Tomorrow is the day all of us FabFruGALS gather to do our freezer cooking! Just wanted to give you a few pointers before the big day:
1. If you are hosting, it helps to have cleared enough space for food prep, as well as a copy of each printed recipe. Also remember to thaw out any necessary foods the night before!
2. It is also helpful if the host has the totals for each of the members of the group already figured out. We have occasionally forgotten until after we had cooked for hours, and scrambling to add receipts & divide when you are dog tired is not advised!
It was a bit tricky to calculate what each member of our group owed because we used a lot of items we had in our individual stockpiles. In order to make it fair, we had each person place a value on the items they contributed to the group (ie. I threw in a couple of Ronzoni pastas I just paid tax on & valued them at $.25/2 boxes). Then we added the total from the items we purchased at the grocery store to the total we valued our stockpile items and divided by 6 (or the number of members in your group). We then gave credit based on the stockpile items contributed.
Let’s use Monica as an example. Monica contributed stockpile items from her own pantry totaling $20, so she would be given a $20 credit.
Total from grocery store receipts: $504.14
Total from valuation of stockpile items: $75.20
Grand total: $579.34
Divided by 6 members: $96.56 each
Less Monica’s credit for stockpile items: $20
Monica’s grand total for 16 freezer meals and 2 sides: $76.56!!
That is about $4 per meal!
$1 or less per serving. (Meals feed 4-6) Beats the fast food $1 menu!
Now do you get why we do this!!
3. There are a number of items all group members need to bring to the host’s house on cooking day. In addition to all of your prep work, bring LARGE mixing bowls, measuring cups, spatulas, wooden spoons, can openers, Sharpie markers, at least 1 LARGE cooler and your checkbook.
4. Four hours of hard work might leave you famished! Provide a light dinner/snack for all group members (we bought the DiGiornio pizza & breadstick combos with coupons @ Winco for $3.95!!).
5. HAVE FUN!
And there you have our last minute pointers. We still have video from our shopping trip we will post soon as promised, but it is currently being held hostage on Cathy’s phone! We are planning on taking a ton of pictures when we gather tomorrow, so you can see the process step by step!
Freezer Cooking w/ the FabFruGALS: Prep Work
Tomorrow is our big shopping day for our upcoming Freezer Meal Cooking day this Saturday (if you have no idea what I’m talking about, go HERE). You now have the menu and the shopping list, so the next step is to divide up the prep work in preparation for distribution after you have shopped (pictures & info on our trip coming tomorrow!).
While having all of the freezer meals in your freezer will save you a ton of money AND time, getting them there requires a bit of preparation. The actual day your freezer meal group meets to assemble all of your meals, you should set aside at least 4 hours to meet. In order to stay within that time frame, it is best to get some of the prep work out of the way before hand. Expect about 2 hours of prep work in the 2 days before you meet. Learn more about Prep Work HERE.
Tomorrow we will shop. Plan on 3-4 hours if at least 2 members from your group are shopping together (we have the host & the next host shop together). When the shopping is done & you have returned to the host’s house, separate the necessary grocery items each group member will need for their individual prep work and include a note card with their prep work instructions. Then call all of the members in your group & have them stop by to pick up their items/list. Keep in mind a majority of the food stays at the host’s house, so clear some space for it! Learn more about shopping HERE.
Based on our menu & shopping list, here is the prep work I have assigned (we usually try to keep the host’s prep work light because they do all of the organizational work!).
Prep Work:
Amber (me!): Shred 6 cups carrots. Chop 3 cups onions. Brown 6 lbs ground sausage. Add carrots & onions to sausage for last few minutes of cooking.
Monica: Make Meatloaf Minis. Seems like the easiest prep work, but it is EXTREMELY time consuming & will turn out to be the hardest (sorry Mon!)
Cathy: Cook & shred or chop 24 chicken breasts (I either slow cook my chicken in the crock-pot or boil it & then shred it using a hand mixer!). Brown 6 lbs hamburger meat with 3T minced garlic.
AJ: Cook & shred 24 chicken breasts. Brown 6 lbs hamburger meat with taco seasoning.
Kearna: Chop chicken, steak, peppers & onions into large chunks for shish-kabobs & bag separately. Julienne 6 green peppers. Chop 2 red onions. Slice 12 bunches of green onions.
And there you have your list of prep work. If you choose to buy block cheese, you will have to have a group member shred cheese as a prep item. Also, we buy Hormel bacon bits in bulk, but if you choose to cook the bacon & chop for bacon bits, that would be a prep item as well. Also keep in mind that you will need to send Ziploc bags with each member so they have something to bring their prepped items back in!
Now you are all ready to shop. Get your coupon binders ready & let’s hit the store!
Freezer Cooking w/ the FabFruGALS: The Shopping List
Remember how we told you about the Fab FruGAL Freezer cooking night coming up on April 24th (that is THIS Saturday!). Here is the first post where we tell you how you can get started, and what part of the process we are going to do for you! Here is the list of all the recipes we’re doing. Remember that we are doing 15 meals… and we will use these over the next 6-8 weeks. You will still do your regular cooking… these freezer meals are for those nights when life is too busy and the “old you” would have gone and picked up hamburgers. NOW you can pop one of your freezer meals out of the freezer and cook it instead! This is just another way we are cutting our grocery budget and saving money by not eating out.
The shopping list is complete! It might look a bit overwhelming, but that’s why we do it with a buddy!
Be sure to email the list to your groupies so you can coordinate what stockpile items you each already have on hand.
The excel file of the FabFruGALS shopping list is here. Here is the HTML version (If you don’t have excel). And if you really want it on pdf (although you won’t be able to edit it), you’ll find it here.
The Final FabFruGAL Recipes
Here are the final 6 recipes we will be using for our FabFruGAL Freezer Cooking. I will have the shopping list posted tomorrow!
Freezer Cooking w/ the FabFruGALS: The Menu
Yesterday, Monica gave you the scoop on our Fabuless Cooking Group. The 24th is rapidly approaching, so we need a menu! Because we have done freezer meal groups in the past, choosing a menu was easy for us. We pulled from favorite recipes we have previously used. But if you are just starting out, it’s best to request favorite recipes from all of the members of your group (or feel free to use any of the recipes found HERE), and then everyone can give input/suggestions/vetoes!
Here is the menu we will be using. Most of the recipes can be found on the site, and the 6 that are not up yet will be added in the next 2 days.
3. Chicken/beef/shrimp shish kabobs
5. Salmon cakes
10. Pizza calzones
11. Navajo tacos
12. Sausage hash
15. Pasta carbonara
Next up is making your shopping list. This is one of the most time consuming parts of the freezer cooking experience. So if you are following along, we will be doing all the hard work for you! Stay tuned….
Freezer Cooking With The FabFruGALS!
Have you seen our Freezer Meal Cooking Series?
It is really fab! We give you all the details about freezer cooking including starting a group!
- Why Freezer Meal Cooking
- How to Start a Freezer Cooking Group
- How to Shop for Freezer Cooking
- How to Assemble Freezer Meals
- Our Fabulous Recipes
We have decided to bring you along for our freezer cooking adventures. We will be having our next freezer cooking day on Saturday April 24th! If you want to get a group together this week you can join us for Fabuless Freezer Cooking! We have a group of FIVE! So get together your fab five and you will be able to follow us EXACTLY! Make sure you read the freezer cooking series above and then have your fav five read it too so you are all ready for cooking day!
HOW?
We are going to do all the PREP WORK for you!
- Make the Menu
- Provide the Recipes
- Make the Shopping List (This part is a ton of work!)
- Assign the PREP WORK
- Plus tips and photos along the way!
Sorry we can not be there to hold your hand at the store.
Mark April 24th on your calander and check back later this week for the menu and recipes!
