Day 2 of Freezer Prep Cooking

Good Afternoon all.  This afternoon, I decided to tackle adding the dry ingredients to all of my labeled freezer bags.  I do this for 2 reasons.
1) The day of the actual final preparation, my kitchen is so hectic, I would rather just dump the last big name ingredients into the bag and not have to worry about measuring teaspoons here, and half cups there. 
2) I can keep these stored for days or weeks until I want to add any of the wet ingredients, right in my pantry.  So if I find myself bored on a rainy day, and I have an hour or 2 to kill, I find myself making some bags for the next bulk cooking.

The trick to this part is organization.  I look at the ingredients on each bag and separate them into 2 piles.  The first pile is whatever recipes that have NO dry ingredients (meaning they would require freezing or refrigeration immediately). I tuck those bags away back into my pantry till I am ready to add the wet ingredients.  Once i have separated the piles I have what seems like a large stack of ziplock bags in front of me with a ridiculous task ahead.  Daunting... I know.





Once I finish that, I compile a list of the dry ingredients that I need to add to each of the bags.  I take that list into my pantry, and I do some shopping.  By the time I am done and ready to get started my set up looks a little like this.  I make sure that I have my entire set of measuring spoons, and cups right there on the table.  I also tend to dampen a cloth and have it on hand, that way when I have to reuse the same measuring spoon on a new spice, I wipe the spoon clean to prevent any mixing in my
spice jars.




Some people may think that it is faster to go through each recipe bag and dump the ingredients in as you go.  I prefer to go simply with one ingredient through all the bags.  So lets say that the onion powder is first up, I measure the 1/2 tsp in the first recipe and then I go over each bag till I have found every recipe that requires onion powder and I have added it to the bag.  That way once you are done, you can move the onion powder off the table and put it away, and give yourself more room to work.










As I go through each ingredient, I cross them out.  I do this so I know the ingredient has been added and I don't accidentally omit it, or put double the amount in (ask my husband about the time I tried to kill the family by tripling the chili powder in a Tortilla Soup recipe).

I keep going through the bags and cross off ingredients as I go.  I also use this time to double check my spice stock.  I tend to buy in bulk (that way I only have to do it once a year) from a wholesale dealer, and then place it into smaller more manageable containers for every day cooking.

Eventually when I have added all the dry ingredients, I seal up the bags and put them back in the pantry.  I sit back and marvel at how I managed to coat the dogs in onion powder and I am painfully aware of the garlic salt that was once on my hands and is now in my eyes. 

I take one last look at the ingredients that are not crossed out and make sure my grocery list matches what I need.  I take this time to celebrate in silent victory that the most tedious of the tasks (aside from writing all the ingredients on freezer bags) is done, and plan my shopping strategy for the next day.

Feel free to send in your photos loyal followers, I will post them on the Facebook page as they come in!