Instead of the Dishes » Frugal Fawn, Grocery Shopping, Homemaking, Mommyhood, Product Reviews » Frozen Assets: A cookbook for the rest of us
Frozen Assets: A cookbook for the rest of us
I have a really bad habit of checking books out from the library and then keeping them forever, avoiding late fees by renewing them online over and over and over. Today I got one of those “Your library books will be overdue in three days” emails, and when I went online to renew, the system told me that I had renewed too many times. Drat it all. I suppose 5 months is a long time to have a library book.
So, after I dropped the kids at parents day out this morning, I made a trip to the book store to actually PURCHASE a book I’ve been hoarding. I know that I cannot be without this cookbook I’ve been using for the past several months. Frozen Assets, Lite and Easy: Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month by Deborah Taylor-Hough has been of huge assistance in helping me get supper on the table on a regular basis.
Frozen Assets is set up on the concept of spending one day cooking several meals and storing them so that you don’t have to cook again for the rest of the month. In addition to a wide selection of recipes, Taylor-Hough offers straight-forward information on preparing your kitchen for cooking day, and a supply list for stocking your kitchen and pantry. The recipes are arranged in mini-sessions. Each mini-session features four to six recipes and has its own shopping list, prep instructions, and main ingredient theme (chicken, pork, pasta, vegetarian, etc.). So, you can combine two or three mini-sessions and cook a month’s worth of meals, or you can just tackle one mini-session at a time. There are several reasons why this cookbook works for me.
- Even if I don’t have a whole afternoon to dedicate to cooking an entire mini-session, I can break the work up even further. One day I shop for ingredients. The next day I do all the prep work. Then, over the next few days, I put all the meals together. Putting meals together goes very quickly when all the prep work is done.
- Each recipe is sized to serve six, which makes it easy for me to prepare half the recipe for dinner that night and freeze the other half for later, OR I can double the recipe to use as a meal for my Supper Swap.
- The fact that instructions on how to package, freeze, thaw, and reheat each dish are included is very helpful to me as a non-cook who doesn’t know how to handle that sort of business.
- The recipes are all “lite”, meaning they are lower in fat and sodium, so I can feel good about feeding them to my family.
- By buying a large amount of the theme ingredient when it is on sale, I save money. When the freezer starts to get a little empty, I look at what is on sale to pick which mini-session I will cook next.
- My kids are a little young now, but when they are older, doing a mini-session with them will be a great way to share time with them while we all learn about cooking.
There is a non-light version of this cookbook as well with different recipes. You can buy both books at Barnes and Noble, but of course I recommend checking to see if your library has it so you can try it out for three or four months before you buy. ; )
Filed under: Frugal Fawn, Grocery Shopping, Homemaking, Mommyhood, Product Reviews · Tags: cookbook, easy recipes, freezing meals, Frozen Assets, Homemaking, lite recipes, monthly cooking
10 Responses to "Frozen Assets: A cookbook for the rest of us"
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Grab My Button!
hehe…glad I’m not the only one who renews over and over and over again. I always feel like I’m playing Russian Roulette when I hit the renew button to see if I’ve reached my max. Off to my library’s site to put a reserve in for this title.
Great post. Now that you’ve returned the book, I may have to check it out. My only issue is I have to get past my freezing phobia. Long ago I got it in my head that food taste weird after it’s been frozen.
What great ideas. So many people are so daunted by the idea of getting dinner on the table, that they end up buying more expensive processed food or AACK fast food. Cooking doesn’t have to be super involved, with a little planning you can whip up something fast and healthy. Or at least you can cut down on cooking time by planning ahead. My husband, the cook in the household, freezes broth, sauce and soup all the time.
Why not combine your frozen meals and your meal swap ideas into one cooking fiesta? Get a group of moms (and/or dads) together at one house and cook a bunch of meals together. This will most likely take the better part of a day, but if the kids are similar ages, then it also becomes a playdate, a mommy date, and a chance to have grown up conversations. Each person brings their best freezable recipe (2 of my favorie are enchiladas and lasagna) you can the assemble the dishes as a group, get more accomplished and rotate the houses in which they take place. Also, if one mom has a membership for Sams or Cosco, special ingredients can be bought in bulk and the cost split. Just an idea.
You know I love cookbooks. Just put a hold on it at the library!
Hi Fawn!
I enjoyed your feature in LR Family and found your blog. It is so wonderful; I am inspired!
I have done freezer cooking in spurts (not lately) and have found it really fun and useful. Some things do indeed taste funny after freezing, but if you use a cookbook they’ll usually steer you right.
If you picked up any “gourmet” meals that can be frozen, let me know for my blog, http://www.fancypantsfoodie.com.
Thanks!
Jessica, have you tried this out? It sounds like fun, I’m just wondering how I talk other folks into it.
Liz, if you think about it, most of the food that you eat when you eat out has been frozen (and shipped and then re-assembled into your meal). Like Christie says in her comment below, the key seems to be to package, store, and thaw properly.
Thanks for letting me know about this book! I’m going to see if my library has it, I’m VERY into freezer cooking now! (love your blog’s tagline, by they way. It’s perfect.)
Thanks Carrie! I love yours also! I’m a “throw them back” sort of gal too.