Freezer Cooking with Ground Beef

Hello friends!

So, this week I found fresh Lean Ground Beef on sale at our local Co-op store for $2.99/lb - wahoo!  This is an amazing price considering Ground Beef has been hovering between $4.99 and $5.99/lb. So, of course, I grabbed a couple pounds (6.5 or so) and decided to do a mini freezer-cook!

What is freezer cooking?  Simply put - it is preparing some meals ahead of time to keep in the freezer for the future.  So, the night before you can just grab one, put in the fridge overnight to defrost and cook the next day!  Some meals are pre-cooked (just needing re-heating).  Others need full cooking (slow cooker or the oven). 

 I love when Do You Bake? comes out with their freezer meal kits (usually once every three months or so) and I also love making up my own versions.  More on freezer cooking to come in the next few weeks!

What did I make? 3 Meatloaves and 80 meatballs!  Yup!  I was busy.  I used 2 of my fave recipes from "The Big Cook" by Deanna Siemens and Lorelei Boschman - BBQ Meatloaf and Mighty Meatballs!  

You can use your own family favorite recipe or something simple like the following: 
(adjusting to your amount of ground beef)

- egg
- salt & pepper
- minced onion
- breadcrumbs (I like to use oatmeal :) )

Of course, I used my custom Do You Bake? French Onion Soup Mix, For the Love of Garlic and Chive & Onion Seasonings to prepare them (you can order them here if you are interested!).  I popped 2 of the meatloaves in the freezer for future meals & prepared one for supper - YUM!  So, in the time it took to make 1 meatloaf, I had 3. 

Same goes for the meatballs!  I made 3 trays of Might Meatballs for the freezer and bagged the remaining (without sauce) for other uses (Sweet & Sour Meatballs, Spaghetti & Meatballs,etc). 

So, for the $20. I spent on ground beef, I will get 8 meals! WOW!  Everything else I had on hand to prep (breadcrumbs, onions, seasonings, etc.).  That's $2.50/meal for the protein.  I don't think you can feed a family of 4 for less than that.  My girls are not huge meateaters, so it's perfectly portioned for us.  If you have older children or larger appetites, you may have to double the size (but still, 4 meals for $5/a piece, not bad either!).  

Simply prepare some mashed potatoes, steamed veggies or a side salad and you are good to go!  No excuse for takeout :)

Do you like to freezer cook (or big batch cook)?  Let me know your fave meal to freezer cook with in the comments section!

Until next time,

Jess