Cook Day

When we were preparing for the birth of Adalyn, I had a mega cook day.  My mom and I prepared a bunch of meals for the freezer.  Then later on I tried the 30-meals-in-a-day mega cook day.  That was fun...long hours, but a time-saver during the week for SURE!!!
2 Fridays ago, I had a mega cook day.  Then Saturday I finished it. By the end of 8 hours, I had 16 meals ready to go in the freezer.  Ahh, accomplishment.  I then talked to my sister-in-law who said you can freeze lasagna noodles uncooked by adding water to the sauce.  That would have saved me 2 hours in the prep!!!  I can't wait to try that next time. 

These are individual helpings of sloppy joes.  For the times when the girls just want cereal for lunch or pb&js and Louis and I want something heavier.  I got the idea from a Quick Cooking Magazine a few years back.  You line a muffin pan with wax paper or plastic wrap.  Then use 1/2 measuring cup of prepared sloppy joe filling to fill each section of the muffin pan.  Freeze for 30 minutes.  Then plop out the servings and put them in freezer bags or containers.  When you want to eat them, defrost them in the microwave in a bowl, then heat.

These are hot dog buns-turned garlic bread.  Cheap!  I like to make our garlic bread like this and fry them buttered side down in a skillet.  So I thought I'd try making them ahead and freezing them like you can buy in the store. 

Our other meals included 4 pans of lasagna, many bowls of chili, vegetable soup, prepared taco fillings, prepared enchilada fillings, fried sausage to go in gravy, and several servings of spaghetti sauce.  It's taken me 12 years to be able to make buttermilk biscuits from scratch and I really want to try to do freezer biscuits but haven't tried out a recipe yet.  There are so many with varying ingredients. If you have a tried and true, by all means, please share!!