Freezer Cooking: My thoughts

In the last month or so I have been contemplating on trying out freezer cooking. I first tried it with burritos and eggrolls. I think the hardest part of the first try was preparing and slow cooking pinto beans. But it turned out good. So I wanted to take it up a notch. I tried freeze cooking Scooters spaghetti this time. It wasn't a total failure, however, the kids didn't really like it. And I think I know why. I used whole wheat pasta and put as much veggies in there as possible. But it wasn't the best either, like how some people rave about it. I think it was dry when I reheated it.

Here's the thing. I am not a fan of canned veggies and thawed out cooked food. I don't mind leftover food though, just not frozen then thawed out. In my 10th year here in the canned-vegetable country, I have slowly embraced what I grew up not liking. You see, back home, my mother would think about a meal, a day or a few hours ahead. Then most of the ingredients were bought from a fresh market the day of or we head to our backyard and gather a few more fresh ingredients. And talking about fresh food, I miss both my grandmothers. Lola (Filipino for grandma) Eyay (nickname for Maria) loves to cook any soup with fresh green leaves straight from our garden. Lola Azon (short for Corazon) never failed to drop off our share of freshly harvested soft-shelled prawns, Bangus (milkfish), Tilapia, fresh crabs from our fish farm to name a few.  Peanuts were harvested from our family farm and we use to make our own peanut butter. And yes, fresh markets were open 365 days a year. Most produce sold were harvested the day of. So there goes my love for fresh food. Heck, I even eat kinilaw (raw tuna fish). 


Fast forward, a few days back. And yes, I use to hate slow cooking too. Absolutely hated it. 


Moving on, so yes, I tried freezer cooking, and yes I have tried slow cooking more than twice and I am still doing it. 


This week, I wanted to give freezer cooking another try so I can use up some items in my pantry.

1st day: 3 pans of lasagna, taco meat, Korean beef & beef pasta sauce

2nd day: taco meat was used for all these cheesy beef bean dip

I still have hesitations on giving freezer cooking another try. But I might. I don't know. The thing is, Joers travels a lot.... A. Lot. So his ETA every weeknight is always a guessing game. Most dinner means, it's just mommy and Twinkies. So meal portions = +/- 2 to 3 servings only. But the best part about all these is, I am getting better at meal planning and because I have all these food in my freezers, I don't have to worry about dinner for a while. 

Today

.... was the kids' last day in swimming class. Iza has moved up to starfish and Tor to Ray. I am happy that Tor has finally overcome his fear of the deep. I am thinking about getting Iza into swim academy.

.... was the first time I sat on a poolside chair all by myself. Thirty minutes may not seem that long, but it was to me.

... I converted one of Tor's shoe boxes to a DVD storage box. Remnant fabrics, staple wires and all-purpose spray adhesive. No sewing involved. Done in thirty minutes while the kids were playing Shaun the Sheep online.

... I did this: rainbow rice. Thanks to Pink and Green Mama for the inspiration through Pinterest.

... I remembered I needed to post this . I had this for a meal a few days ago. Everything on it, except for EVOO, came from my patio garden. Baby greens, tomato and homemade pesto.