My First Adventure In Freezer Cooking: Part 1: The List

I finally finished my Frozen Cooking Dinner List and my corresponding shopping list! It's been on my "to do" list for days and I feel so much better now that it's done!

Since I'm not going to be feeling like grilling much these next few weeks I went searching for easy casseroles that I could make in advance and that were pretty much entire meals on their own. I've stocked up on freezer bags (the generic ones at Walmart are really inexpensive!) and tupperware and am eager to see how this is going to go. One of our friends is giving us a 24 square foot freezer she doesn't use that will be in the garage! Hopefully I'll have enough energy to take pictures on Monday.

Frozen Cooking Dinner List

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce (enough for 4 nights)
Veggie Spaghetti (enough for 2 nights)
Eggplant Lasagna (4 nights)
Pineapple Fried Rice (3 nights)
Bulgur Shila (3 nights)
Spanish Brown Rice (2 nights)
Country Living Potato Soup (4 nights)
Tamale Pie (2 nights)
Potatoes and Sausage Au Gratin (2 nights)
Chicken Tex Mex Bake (2 nights)
Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas (3 nights)
Simple Turkey Pot Pie (3 nights)
Unorthodox Shepherd’s Pie (3 nights)
Creamy Broccoli Soup (2 nights)
Split Pea Soup (3 nights)
Meat Loaf (3 nights)

(45 nights)

And here's the shopping list (which includes lunch foods and some snacks that we need to stock up on too):

Shopping List 7/ 2010

Meat and Poultry Section:
18 lbs of ground beef
11 lb chicken
At least 24 slices bacon
4 links smoked sausage

Fruits and Vegetables:
Lots of tomatoes
5 bell peppers
25 onions
Lots of garlic
4 medium eggplants
Mushrooms
Lots of green onions
Carrots
31 large russet potatoes
Celery
Avocado
Plums
Pears
Apples
Apricots
Bananas

Canned:
6 tomato sauces
5 large canned sliced olives
24 oz crushed pineapple with juice
2 15 oz can corn
4 14 oz creamed corn
7 10 oz cream of mushroom soup
2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
16 oz jar processed cheese sauce
4 oz mild red enchilada sauce
3 4 oz can diced green chiles
2 14 oz cans diced tomatoes
4 10 oz can cream of chicken soup
2 cans chicken stock
2 16 oz jar Mexican pasteurized process cheese sauce
6 12 oz cans evaporated milk
4 cans steak chile
Lipton Recipe Secrets Beefy Onion Soup Mix

Freezer Aisle:
Frozen baby peas
Frozen baby corn
4 10 oz pkgs. Frozen broccoli
16 oz package frozen mixed vegetables
2 Digorno Pizzas

Dairy Aisle:
Monterey Jack Cheese
5 packages cream cheese
2 12 oz tubes buttermilk biscuits
whole milk
3 packages extra firm tofu
6 cups sour cream
6 sticks of butter
1 stick unsalted butter
32 oz mozzarella cheese
Eggs

Grains and Dry Goods:
4 spaghetti noodles
Brown Rice
Bulgur
Corn chips
Flour tortillas
Flour
8 loafs of French Bread
Corn Bread Mix
Sandwich Rolls (3 packages)
Wheat Flat Bread (2 packages)
Triscuits

Spices:
bay leaf
chili powder
ground cumin
thyme
rosemary
paprika

And I've come to the realization that we eat a LOT of onions and garlic in our house! We go through almost a bag a week!