Get Cooking: Sample Freezer Cooking Game Plan

Game plan in hand, you're ready to shop and cook. Try the following sample game plan for your freezer cooking session:

Shopping Day:

• Shop for all needed food items OR have groceries delivered!
• Process, package and freeze any straight-to-freezer items such as Hamburgers or pork cubes for Pork Fried Rice.
• Cook any large roasts or ham that afternoon, serving that entree for dinner (Ham Dinner Slices, Roast Beef and Gravy, Roast Pork and Gravy); after dinner, process leftovers (French Dip Sandwiches, Barbecue Pork) or slice and cube roast meats.
• Alternately, if you're not cooking large roasts, make Basic Recipes such as Marinara Sauce, serve one portion for dinner and reserve remainder for use on Cooking Day.

Cooking Day:

• Package and freeze any "overnight" entrees (Barbecue Pork); wash pot or crock pot and prepare for use.
• Perform all chopping, slicing, crushing and grating tasks, using your "common ingredients" card as a guide.
• Start bread dough (Pizza Dough) using automatic bread machine or food processor.
• Start with a "simmer" group: Marinara Sauce, Chili. Begin with one recipe, processing ALL required common ingredients as you go. For example, when sautéing onions for Marinara Sauce, sauté ALL onions required for the whole plan; browning ground beef for Chili, brown ALL ground beef needed.
• Assemble "simmer" recipes one at a time, and set aside extra amounts of common ingredients.
• Move to next recipe "group" and assemble entrees one at a time; for example, prepare marinades, package and freeze all Sirloin Tip Steak recipes (Grilled Marinated Steak, Fajitas, Steak in Pitas (Mock Gyros)). Bundle with appropriate "extras" when required.
• Move from group to group, assembling Chicken entrees, Ham entrees, Pasta entrees or Miscellaneous entrees in turn.
• Clean up--and go out to dinner. You've earned it!