Freezer your leftover onions for those times you are cooking non freezer meals. When I buy onions, I buy a bag and dice most and chop the rest and freeze them in two bags for quick use.
1) Hilariously, as you were talking about accidentally using up your ingredients I actually said out loud, "Put a list of meals on the lids!" and seconds later you had the same idea. And 2) when you have excessive leftover diced onions, just freeze them. I grow onions every year in my garden and rather than store them in my pantry, I prep them ahead and freeze them. I don't do anything special, just put them directly into freezer bags. They break up really easily even if they freeze into a clump. It's so convenient to have already peeled and chopped onions ready to go, and I find that I'm more apt to use them when they're prepped ahead. I have diced and sliced in my freezer right now. Just make sure you double bag them to help keep the odor in check.
Great minds! And yes, we've totally gone home and frozen our onions and it works great. Or we plan for a few more meals within the week that could use them up. Either way it was nice to have the right amount!
Bahaha. It will probably get a rename if it makes it. lol But you make me chuckle! I had the Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole pretty early on and it was pretty good. It has a real name though. We'll have to wait and see about the "Weird Skillet Thing". hahaha
When I prep onion or garlic, or have left overs from chopping up for a recipe, I store it in glass jars in my fridge. Really cuts down on the smell and they stay crisp for several days.
My grandfather was born in north west Canada but I thought he closed the winter door when he left. You need to go check and close that door! Your winter escaped and came all the way to Florida!
Did you get snow?!! I’m in south Louisiana and we had RECORD snowfall! 10 inches! We had snow for 4days! Snowball fights, snow angels, and ⛄️ were made and had! It was WONDERFUL.
I’ve also served Moroccan chicken over mashed potato due to family preferences and it works (neither my husband or kids will have couscous and sometimes we’ve had a lot of rice in a given week so this breaks things up depending on what else we’ve had)
Do onion math like this…. One cup of chopped onions weighs about 5 ounces, or is roughly equivalent to one medium onion, so….if you need 12 cups of chopped onions that’s 12x5=60 ounces. You’ll have exactly what you need. I hope you have a scale. If you want to weigh “rough” you can say 5lb bag of onions is 80 ounces. Subtract a few ounces for ends and skins. That should give you 80-5(ends and skins guess)=75/5=15 cups
RE your new tip, I feel like writing the recipe names and how many copies you planned for each vegetable might help most, just because of how big some of your mega sessions have been in the past. You can cross of a recipe names and how as you go. You may have adjusted how many you do for each mega session because of the cooking classes though, so it might not be as essential, but it seems like a few extra minutes of prep when writing the shopping lists (that’s when 8 would write the post it’s at least) to make things easier through the 2 days of assembly is worth it
Big Mac Salad: a few years ago we tried (and failed) to go gluten free. One of the things I discovered/invented during that time was a cheeseburger salad. You top your lettuce, tomatoes, onions and pickles (any veggies you'd normally puy on a burger) with either a broken up cheeseburger patty, or you cook up some loose ground beef and throw the cheese straight into it and top the veggies with that. Then in a bowl you mix up any condiments you'd normally put on a burger. I do mayo, mustard & ketchup. This is your salad dressing. Even though we're back to eating bread again, there's just sometimes that I want a cheeseburger salad instead of a regular cheeseburger.
That sounds pretty awesome! It makes total sense. We make taco salads all the time. Why not a cheeseburger salad? I haven't tried my big mac salad but I noticed Sharla had thousand island dressing in her grocery bag when I was over there on Saturday so I know she's in the works to try it. I'll have to grab some on my next trip to the store.
So… the mushroom issue! That’s a good idea to make a system! When I plan big grocery shops, I keep track of how many recipes, and what recipes, I need specifically expensive ingredients for. I did this at Christmas with butter, cream cheese, heavy cream, etc. I hate doing a giant shopping trip and end up short something I planned out. :)
Even deciding how much to use is tricky - it's hard to estimate how many cups a package of mushrooms will yield. Another viewer mentioned weighing onions and carrots. I think weighing mushrooms would also be helpful. I think the Europeans have a good system because they weigh everything - especially in baking, and it makes everything more consistent. And labeling everything is going to be a big help! Great job at tracking. I do that at Christmas too, but on a much smaller scale, so I don't need to jot notes down or anything, but you're right - expensive ingredients need tracking! lol
LOL! I have a story about that song too! The young man (25) who has become like a son to us came into the garage one day and said, "Hello" in that tune. He heard it and thought it was a good song. (Now this was like 6 years ago when he was 18 or so) Now that's "our song" when something happens that it fits, one of us- my husband, me or him- will sing "Hello". It's an inside joke that I see that we need to let his girlfriend soon to be fiancée in on. :)
Not a freezer meal, but I do a cold tuna salad. It also has macaroni, mayo and peas. My mom had a hot tuna hot dish with egg noodles, but I can't remember the rest of the ingredients.
Oh thank you! I got it in a cute little shop called "When Pigs Fly" on Whyte Avenue in Edmonton. They usually have a pretty good selection of aprons and this one just spoke to me. I love it too.
The Fiesta Beef Casserole could be super tasty as a more layered casserole. Instead of putting the potatoes with the meat, put it on top, double the potatoes and ud double the cheese too 😊
We find it in the refrigerated section by the other packaged/prepared foods like lasagna, ribs, pot stickers and spring rolls. I know some costcos have slightly different layouts, so it might be worth asking.
Can you use frozen chicken or pork chops in your recipe? I have a bunch on hand and would like to use it up before starting with fresh. Thanks!! Just joined the club ❤
@ not swapping But like on the honey garlic chicken could I use frozen chicken breast - yall use fresh but I have frozen on hand. Like prefrozen chicken. Hope that makes sense!
Yes, you can use frozen and it totally still works because it will marinate in the sauce or seasonings as it thaws. The only thing to really be aware of when using frozen is that your bags won't lie as flat in the freezer.
I went through my freezer recently and used frozen meat to add marinades or sauces (plus some extras where needed) to turn it from frozen meat into a freezer meal. I was using some dump bag recipes because it’s hot here and I didn’t want to be in the kitchen for a full day defrosting, cooking, cooling, refreshing, but you could do it for sure. Anything that didn’t lend itself to this I still stuck a label on for what I thought I’d like to make with it so at least the decision making part of what to do with it had been done.
Can you share where the cutting board came from? I used to answer phones for a job and often caught myself singing that song when the person on the other end did not respond
What I would recommend is to try one of our free meal plans. Some of them even come with the option to cook along with us. It will give you the idea of if you like the taste of the meals with no cost. It's not quite the same because you can't pick your own meals, but it does include the shopping list, prep list, and printable labels so it really does give you a taste. Here's a Sheet Pan one you can try. freezermeals101.com/freezer-to-sheet-pan-cooking-class/ We also have a Slow Cooker one or a 5 ingredient one.
Hi Pam! We made a few meals in this video for one or two (both tortellini recipes) and talk a bit about how to make some of the others into single portions, but we have an entire playlist of videos of how to make meals for one or two. You'll find those here: th-cam.com/play/PL0HOtnw6h2BlRtMn8pJs7K0gk4uXsj1oD.html
Freezer your leftover onions for those times you are cooking non freezer meals. When I buy onions, I buy a bag and dice most and chop the rest and freeze them in two bags for quick use.
I’ve been looking forward to this for some time. Can’t wait to restack my freezer since the move
I hope you're getting settled in. You'll have to let us know how your next stacking session goes. ❤️
Great session, I’ll put some of these into our next meal prep too. Thanks for sharing your time with us
Thanks for watching!
1) Hilariously, as you were talking about accidentally using up your ingredients I actually said out loud, "Put a list of meals on the lids!" and seconds later you had the same idea.
And 2) when you have excessive leftover diced onions, just freeze them. I grow onions every year in my garden and rather than store them in my pantry, I prep them ahead and freeze them. I don't do anything special, just put them directly into freezer bags. They break up really easily even if they freeze into a clump. It's so convenient to have already peeled and chopped onions ready to go, and I find that I'm more apt to use them when they're prepped ahead. I have diced and sliced in my freezer right now. Just make sure you double bag them to help keep the odor in check.
Great minds!
And yes, we've totally gone home and frozen our onions and it works great. Or we plan for a few more meals within the week that could use them up. Either way it was nice to have the right amount!
I really hope that leftover chicken meal ends up being a hit worthy of the club, just because I want to see "Weird Skillet Thing" on a recipe list. 😂
Bahaha. It will probably get a rename if it makes it. lol But you make me chuckle! I had the Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole pretty early on and it was pretty good. It has a real name though. We'll have to wait and see about the "Weird Skillet Thing". hahaha
When I prep onion or garlic, or have left overs from chopping up for a recipe, I store it in glass jars in my fridge. Really cuts down on the smell and they stay crisp for several days.
Glass jars! Good idea!
My grandfather was born in north west Canada but I thought he closed the winter door when he left. You need to go check and close that door! Your winter escaped and came all the way to Florida!
I heard! We’ll have to shut the door tighter next time so the winter doesn’t escape!
Did you get snow?!! I’m in south Louisiana and we had RECORD snowfall! 10 inches! We had snow for 4days! Snowball fights, snow angels, and ⛄️ were made and had! It was WONDERFUL.
Facts 😂😂😂😂
@@KerBer76 yup, but you got much more. We got about 3 inches and then it rained and made a solid ice sheet. It beautiful and stove for 2 days.
@ ❤️
I’ve also served Moroccan chicken over mashed potato due to family preferences and it works (neither my husband or kids will have couscous and sometimes we’ve had a lot of rice in a given week so this breaks things up depending on what else we’ve had)
I bet that would be good. Christie sometimes makes lemon potatoes and those would probably be a nice option with the Moroccan Chicken too.
Hi that thumbs up before the first minute. Knew it would be great!
Do onion math like this…. One cup of chopped onions weighs about 5 ounces, or is roughly equivalent to one medium onion, so….if you need 12 cups of chopped onions that’s 12x5=60 ounces. You’ll have exactly what you need. I hope you have a scale.
If you want to weigh “rough” you can say 5lb bag of onions is 80 ounces. Subtract a few ounces for ends and skins. That should give you 80-5(ends and skins guess)=75/5=15 cups
Kat, I think I love you! This make so much sense. Why had I not thought to weigh them before?!?! Thank you!
@@FreezerMeals101Hey! You can’t think of EVERYTHING!!! (A cup of raw carrots weighs approximately 3 ounces -about 2 med carrots)😉
@@FreezerMeals101❤❤❤
Soooo smart! How about celery? Haha.
As always, a very enjoyable session.
Thanks for watching Shell! Miss you!! ❤️
The cutting board is perfect!!!!
I've been going through a Lional Ritchie phase since then. haha! I regularly get his song stuck in my head. And the cutting board is totally perfect!
Product ready to go easy to find is a great idea.
Yes! It's great to have it all done. :)
RE your new tip, I feel like writing the recipe names and how many copies you planned for each vegetable might help most, just because of how big some of your mega sessions have been in the past. You can cross of a recipe names and how as you go. You may have adjusted how many you do for each mega session because of the cooking classes though, so it might not be as essential, but it seems like a few extra minutes of prep when writing the shopping lists (that’s when 8 would write the post it’s at least) to make things easier through the 2 days of assembly is worth it
I agree. I could totally type up and cut out little "vegetable trackers" when I'm making the labels. Thank you!
Big Mac Salad: a few years ago we tried (and failed) to go gluten free. One of the things I discovered/invented during that time was a cheeseburger salad. You top your lettuce, tomatoes, onions and pickles (any veggies you'd normally puy on a burger) with either a broken up cheeseburger patty, or you cook up some loose ground beef and throw the cheese straight into it and top the veggies with that. Then in a bowl you mix up any condiments you'd normally put on a burger. I do mayo, mustard & ketchup. This is your salad dressing. Even though we're back to eating bread again, there's just sometimes that I want a cheeseburger salad instead of a regular cheeseburger.
That sounds pretty awesome! It makes total sense. We make taco salads all the time. Why not a cheeseburger salad? I haven't tried my big mac salad but I noticed Sharla had thousand island dressing in her grocery bag when I was over there on Saturday so I know she's in the works to try it. I'll have to grab some on my next trip to the store.
1:18:40 Sharla slowly opening and closing drawers to not make any noise behind Christie. 😂 the look on her face.
😂😂
Two hours of cooking? I'm going to be soooo hungry by lunchtime!
You're allowed to pause to go grab a bite! lol Just bring your lunch back to hang out with us again. ❤️
So… the mushroom issue! That’s a good idea to make a system!
When I plan big grocery shops, I keep track of how many recipes, and what recipes, I need specifically expensive ingredients for.
I did this at Christmas with butter, cream cheese, heavy cream, etc. I hate doing a giant shopping trip and end up short something I planned out. :)
Even deciding how much to use is tricky - it's hard to estimate how many cups a package of mushrooms will yield. Another viewer mentioned weighing onions and carrots. I think weighing mushrooms would also be helpful. I think the Europeans have a good system because they weigh everything - especially in baking, and it makes everything more consistent.
And labeling everything is going to be a big help! Great job at tracking. I do that at Christmas too, but on a much smaller scale, so I don't need to jot notes down or anything, but you're right - expensive ingredients need tracking! lol
Buy mushrooms and dehydrate them then powder them....... that's what i do.
You girls are a hoot!
We DO have fun! It makes the work go by so much faster.
LOL! I have a story about that song too! The young man (25) who has become like a son to us came into the garage one day and said, "Hello" in that tune. He heard it and thought it was a good song. (Now this was like 6 years ago when he was 18 or so) Now that's "our song" when something happens that it fits, one of us- my husband, me or him- will sing "Hello". It's an inside joke that I see that we need to let his girlfriend soon to be fiancée in on. :)
Aw! I love it when songs start to have special meaning like that. ❤️
Not a freezer meal, but I do a cold tuna salad. It also has macaroni, mayo and peas. My mom had a hot tuna hot dish with egg noodles, but I can't remember the rest of the ingredients.
That sounds pretty good. We have tuna casserole with egg noodles and it freezes really well. :)
Kristi: thats a stunning apron on day two!
Oh thank you! I got it in a cute little shop called "When Pigs Fly" on Whyte Avenue in Edmonton. They usually have a pretty good selection of aprons and this one just spoke to me. I love it too.
Yay!
Was that hubby in the hallway wanting to know when dinner would be ready?😂😂😂😂
😂 He warmed himself up some leftovers! During mega sessions, we’re too busy making future food to cook today food! 😂
@FreezerMeals101 😁😁
The Fiesta Beef Casserole could be super tasty as a more layered casserole. Instead of putting the potatoes with the meat, put it on top, double the potatoes and ud double the cheese too 😊
I like where you're going with that! It's worth a try next time!
Where in Costco do you find the tortellini? I never see it at mine
We find it in the refrigerated section by the other packaged/prepared foods like lasagna, ribs, pot stickers and spring rolls. I know some costcos have slightly different layouts, so it might be worth asking.
Is the Butter Chicken meal in the club? I can't find it and it sounds delish!
No. It's an experiment. We'll be trying it and if it passes the test, it will make the cut and be in the Club.
@@FreezerMeals101great! I’ll keep my out for possible future sharing of it.🤞
Can you use frozen chicken or pork chops in your recipe? I have a bunch on hand and would like to use it up before starting with fresh. Thanks!! Just joined the club ❤
Hi Amanda! Welcome to the Club! Which recipe are you wondering about swapping out for chicken or pork chops?
@ not swapping
But like on the honey garlic chicken could I use frozen chicken breast - yall use fresh but I have frozen on hand. Like prefrozen chicken. Hope that makes sense!
Yes, you can use frozen and it totally still works because it will marinate in the sauce or seasonings as it thaws. The only thing to really be aware of when using frozen is that your bags won't lie as flat in the freezer.
I went through my freezer recently and used frozen meat to add marinades or sauces (plus some extras where needed) to turn it from frozen meat into a freezer meal. I was using some dump bag recipes because it’s hot here and I didn’t want to be in the kitchen for a full day defrosting, cooking, cooling, refreshing, but you could do it for sure.
Anything that didn’t lend itself to this I still stuck a label on for what I thought I’d like to make with it so at least the decision making part of what to do with it had been done.
I make "big mac burger bowls" alot!
So smart. I love it!
@FreezerMeals101 it's basically the same thing! If i have lettuce... I add it... if i dont... I won't! Lol 😆
Can you share where the cutting board came from? I used to answer phones for a job and often caught myself singing that song when the person on the other end did not respond
It's from Canadian Tire, which is more of a hardware store, but has a household section with good quality and good prices.
@ sorry - my bad - I meant the Lionel Ritchie board.
That actually makes a lot more sense! It's from here: www.woodntitbeniceif.com/
@@FreezerMeals101 thank you so much !
Is there a way to try this one time and see if we like before buying? I am on unemployment or would totally spend the money.
What I would recommend is to try one of our free meal plans. Some of them even come with the option to cook along with us. It will give you the idea of if you like the taste of the meals with no cost. It's not quite the same because you can't pick your own meals, but it does include the shopping list, prep list, and printable labels so it really does give you a taste. Here's a Sheet Pan one you can try. freezermeals101.com/freezer-to-sheet-pan-cooking-class/ We also have a Slow Cooker one or a 5 ingredient one.
Can I sub ravioli for tortellini? My autistic child loves ravioli and won't eat tortellini
Yes absolutely!
What about for singles or 2 people?
They have done sessions for 1-2 people before, if you go back through their previous uploads
Hi Pam! We made a few meals in this video for one or two (both tortellini recipes) and talk a bit about how to make some of the others into single portions, but we have an entire playlist of videos of how to make meals for one or two. You'll find those here: th-cam.com/play/PL0HOtnw6h2BlRtMn8pJs7K0gk4uXsj1oD.html