Contributed by: FrankRyan owner of the website CookToSave.com

There are three popular methods of freezer cooking that can save a family money.  There are many benefits to freezer cooking.  Some benefits include preserving perishables and reducing waste, having ready-made meals in your freezer when you are tempted to order out, and maximizing time with the family by cooking less often.  Fully cooked meals can maintain their texture and taste in the freezer for up to three months.  Uncooked, ready to go meals, like marinated meat can be frozen without degradation for up to six months.  Different methods can optimize for busy schedules or tight budgets and any family can find benefits in one of the methods mentioned below.

Once a Month Cooking, also known as, OAMC is a way of making meals ahead of time and freezing them for later use.  There are several ways to adopt this system into your family.  The phrase once a month cooking was made famous by a book entitled Once-A-Month-Cooking by Lagerborg and Wilson.  Their book is worth a buy at Amazon for beginners, the information inside is valuable to anyone looking into getting involved in this type of cooking schedule.   OAMC, in its purest form, involves a family preparing 30 meals within one weekend each month, or mini-sessions where 14 meals are made in one day.  The benefits are having only one weekend of dirty pots to clean and a highly detailed dinner schedule.  For the family that eats take-out regularly or is rushed to find time for dinner, this is an excellent program.

Another method of freezer cooking is for seasoned deal seekers.  “Assembly Line” cooking, as seen on websites like www.cooktosave.com, takes perishable loss leaders from your local grocery store and assembles them into several meals in one day to be enjoyed or prepared for another day.  Assembly Line cooking turns your kitchen into a family assembly line.  Examples are finding over-ripe bananas at the store for less than $0.25 a pound and turning them into 30 chocolate covered frozen banana popsicles,  buying 20 pounds of pork loin at $1.67/lb and making breakfast sausage, burritos, kebobs, steaks, and Weiner schnitzel.    For the family that likes buying large quantities of loss leaders and getting the best price for their meals, this is their perfect match.

The third and easiest method of freezer cooking is called “Feed the Freezer”.  These ideas incorporate making double or triple the amount you usually make for dinner and putting the additional meals away in the freezer for a later date.  When planning to make lasagnas, stuffed shells, chili’s, or other easy to freeze casseroles, make two or three dinners instead of one and freeze the additional dinners.  Try searching any recipe site on the internet, like www.allrecipes.com for the keyword “OAMC”, to find recipes that are freezer friendly.   For the family that wants to make their food dollar stretch a little more than usual and have one of two meals in their freezer this is an easy adoptive plan.

However a family chooses to adopt a make ahead style of cooking, there are savings to be had.   An extra stand-alone freezer in your home can save $1,000 or more per year on a family food budget.

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Tags: Bulk Cooking, Bulk Shopping, Feed The Freezer, Freezer, Freezing, Frozen Food Month, March, Meal Planning, OAMC, Once A Month Cooking, Stockpile
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Make the most out of your freezer space with these space saving tips.

• Remove everything from your freezer and take stock of what you have in there.
• Toss anything that has gotten freezer burn or is past it’s expiration date. Remember the adage “When in doubt, throw it out”.
• Make a list of items you have that need to get used up soon and plan some meals for this week around those items.
• Consider consolidating some packages. For example I like to take items like Totino’s Pizza Rolls and dump all the boxes into a few freezer bags, cut out the cooking instructions from one box and place it inside the bag and put back in to the freezer. This saves quite a bit of space.
• Now is a good of time as any to go ahead and clean and defrost your freezer. If you have a freezer that needs to be defrosted place your frozen foods in a ice chest or two while you complete the defrosting. Follow your freezer manufactures instructions on defrosting.
• Put your foods back in the freezer, keeping in mind to put like items together. Use the shelves or bins inside your freezer to keep similar items together. For example put all frozen vegetables in one bin, all meats in another, etc.
• Containerize - Cardboard boxes, freezer containers and milk crates can be used to further organize your freezer. I personally use crates like these in different colors to organize my chest freezer.

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Tags: Food Storage, Freezer, Freezing, Frozen Food Month, March, Organization, Storage
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Did you know that the month of March is designated as “Frozen Food Month”? What this means for the frugal shopper is that this is a great time to be watching for deals and coupons on things like ice cream, pizza, frozen vegetables and other great items to fill your freezer.

Also be on the look out for deals offered by some grocery stores that will be running specials on freezers themselves with the purchase of certain amounts of frozen foods.

For more information on sales cycles check out Hotcouponworld’s Sales Cycles thread in our forums.

For more information on what items you can or cannot freeze check out Hotcouponworld’s Storage Guides: How to Buy, Store & Use Anything forum.

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Tags: Food Storage, Freezer, Freezing, Frozen Food Month, March, Sales Cycles, Stockpile, Storage
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Last week I gave you some ideas to help you keep your finances healthy through the New Year, and this week I’ve got some tips to keep your body humming along too.

A full 30% of Americans resolve to lose weight in the New Year.  If keeping that resolution were easy, we wouldn’t be at the top of the list in worldwide obesity.   Let’s throw out those worn out excuses, and find some inexpensive options to help you keep your resolve this year.

I don’t have the money for healthy food.   Yep, I know things are tight.  And I do know that organic, fresh food can sometimes seem out of reach.  But there some economic alternatives for the frugal consumer.

* Check your local farmer’s market.  Not only do you find local harvest there, but they oftentimes have a bumps and bruises section in the market where they keep items that are still consumable, but just not as attractive as the other produce.  It might be the apple with a slight bruise or the funny-looking bell pepper, but these items are super deals that allow you to eat frugally and well.

* Be willing to work a little with your produce.  Buying your items in the hull or with the peels still on (in the case of carrots) will cost you a little time, but you’ll save big bucks at the checkout.  Already prepped produce is a super time-saver, but by putting in a little elbow grease and time yourself, you’ll save money.

* Eat what’s in season.  Apples are great right now.  Oranges too.  All kinds of greens can be found for reasonable prices.  Winter squash won’t bust your budget either.  And don’t be afraid to try something new.  There are some great recipes on hotcouponworld.com for preparing your new find, and if you don’t see something that whets your appetite, ask away!  With close to 110,000 members, Hotcouponworld folks are happy to help you prepare those new veggies and fruits.

Ok, so we’ve got the fruits and veggies, but what about meat?  No way can I afford $5/lb for meat! Here is where investing a little time in you comes in again.  You are worth it!  Put your frugal hat on, and get cracking, checking sale ads.  If you don’t get the newspaper or your ads aren’t delivered in your mailbox before the sales start, don’t worry.  You can access store ads and good deal alerts on hotcouponworld.com!

* Boneless skinless chicken is a great meat to eat on your diet.  It’s so versatile, you can prepare it a ton of different ways.  This time of year, savvy stores will run buy one, get one specials to get you in the store.  But here’s where we take it a step further – and these tips apply to all fresh meat products you’ll need.

* Find out what brands of meat your store carries.  These companies may put out coupons for their products!  Check out the Hotcouponworld Coupon Database.  Enter the brand that you’re looking for to see what coupons are available.  Combine your coupons with a buy-one-get-one sale, and you’ve got a super meal at a rock-bottom price.  When you find the deal, stock up!

* Check to see when your store marks down meats.  These meats are still good for consumption, but they are nearing their ‘sell-by’ date.  Meat IS still good after that date, but you must eat it immediately or freeze for later use.  It’s not uncommon to see packages of meat marked down by $2 or more, making them a super deal!

Hey, these are good ideas! Is there a way to cut prices on bread too?  Absolutely.  There are coupons out most of the time for whole grain sliced bread, so check the coupon database at hotcouponworld.com for your favorite brands.  If you’re an artisan bread fan, check your local bakeries and the bakeries in the grocery for marked down items.  Again, these are still good for consumption; they may have been a leftover package from the day before, or perhaps they were in the oven a bit too long.  But they’ll normally be anywhere from 50-75% off the regular price.  When you find something you like, stock up on it.  Bread freezes wonderfully.

Like I said before, I know times are tough for many of you right now.  But that’s no excuse not to treat your body and your family right, feeding them with good healthy food to nourish them, body and soul.  On a limited budget, and with a little effort and forethought, you can afford those healthy foods that will help you and your family to keep those weight loss resolutions.   Get shopping, and good luck!

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Tags: Bread, Chicken, Coupon Database, Farmers Market, Freezing, Fruit, Meat, Produce, Vegetable, Weight Loss
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