Freeze-A-Thon Part II - Preparation

Preparation Step 1: Chop, chop, chopping

A day or two before your Freeze-A-Thon you need to prep your food. That means grating all of your cheese, chopping all of your vegetables, cutting down and chopping up any rotisserie chickens you bought for recipes using pre-cooked chicken (or cooking, cooling and chopping raw chicken for the same recipes). Fill your fridge with bowls filled with these items and you'll be ready to roll on the big day.


Preparation Step 2: Making a game plan

I like to make a game plan on just how I am going to put these recipes together and in what order. This is especially necessary if you have limited counter space. I generally group proteins together, it's easier and it helps prevent germs. So let's look at the sample menu I am working on...

These are already divided by protein, but you should sub-divide each category by meals prepared with raw proteins and cooked proteins. This will not only keep order, but will reduce risk of bacteria transfer.

So my game plan would look like this...

1. Meatloaf (raw beef)
2. Hamburger Patties (raw beef)
3. Beef Tamale Pie (cooked beef)
4. Shepherd's Pie (cooked beef)
5. Beef Quesadillas (cooked beef)

Thoroughly clean work area

6. Creamy Italian Chicken (raw chicken)
7. Thanksgiving Casserole (raw chicken)
8. Crisp Chicken Burritos (cooked chicken)
9. Chicken Parmesan (cooked chicken)
10.Chicken Quesadillas (cooked chicken)

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ALL posts in this series..
Freeze-A-Thon Part I - Organization
Freeze-A-Thon Part II - Preparation
Freeze-A-Thon Part III - Execution
Freeze-A-Thon Part IV - Utilizing Your Frozen Foods