Looking for a partner in stocking my freezer

applesbananas ↓

Sun, Aug 25 2019, 11:54 am

Need extra motivation. Yom tov season is so hectic by me work-wise. Not looking to add extra stress. Want to cook or bake and freeze at least once a week and again when im making shabbos.
So far: 10 lbs of challah last week
On erev shab made an extra kugel and cobbler
Hoping to make 2 loaves of honey cake today
Maybe carrot muffins when cooking for shab this week ...

DREAMING

Sun, Aug 25 2019, 12:00 pm

You are really on a roll!
I have one main in my freezer. I cooked it a while ago but only used half so the rest is waiting for you tov

nicole81 ↓

Sun, Aug 25 2019, 2:28 pm

Ok well you just motivated me to make a bunch of honey cake today!

What about soup? Super easy to put up and let cook for hours on Sunday and then freeze. Kneidlach as well.

thunderstorm ↓

Sun, Aug 25 2019, 2:42 pm

You’re putting me in the mood. I didn’t start anything yet . But I want to empty out my freezers first to make room. I have a few packs of franks and some flaky dough squares , so I’ll make a 9x13 of Franks and Blanks to start.
Then I’ll start with soups :
At least 45 qts of chicken soup
Butternut squash soup
Vegetable soup
Zuchinni soup
Pea soup

Rappel

Sun, Aug 25 2019, 2:43 pm

applesbananas wrote:

How big is your freezer? Surprised

srbmom ↓

Sun, Aug 25 2019, 2:48 pm

I was off a few weeks in the summer and back at work now, so I stocked up a ton and now slowed down.
Made already --
30 challahs
Potato kugel
Lukshen kugel
Apple kugel
Cranberry kugel
Pastrami orzo
Fancy rice
Veg soup
Split pea soup
Strawberry soup
Minute steaks
London broil
Pastrami pizza
And about 5 cakes
I hope to get a few more desserts and at least another 10 challahs done in the next few weeks, plus some chicken dishes.
I find it so hard when yom tov falls out like this year, literally every other day feels like it's shabbos or yom tov - no prep days and tons of meals needed

↑ applesbananas ↓

Sun, Aug 25 2019, 2:53 pm

Wow srbmom! Good for u! Hope I get there soon! Thx for the soup and matzah ball idea. I think ill make matzah balls and freeze them in a pan and this way I can add them to my soups as needed !

↑ nicole81 ↓

Sun, Aug 25 2019, 3:15 pm

applesbananas wrote:

Wow srbmom! Good for u! Hope I get there soon! Thx for the soup and matzah ball idea. I think ill make matzah balls and freeze them in a pan and this way I can add them to my soups as needed !

I do this with almost everything. I freeze chicken pieces, individual appetizers, muffins, challah, meatballs, etc flat on a large tray and then transfer to freezer bags. It cuts down on waste significantly and give us flexibility with meals.

Alternative

Sun, Aug 25 2019, 3:20 pm

How many people are you guys cooking for? 5 soups?30 challot?
Even when I host extended family for the whole yom tov, and we are about 16 (about 12 of them teens or adults), I never reach anywhere near those quantities.

↑ thunderstorm ↓

Sun, Aug 25 2019, 3:27 pm

Alternative wrote:

If you are counting in Rosh HAshana , shabbosim, Erev Yom Kippur, Succos, Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah...that’s not a lot at all. This is freezing as much as possible in advance.

↑ srbmom ↓

Sun, Aug 25 2019, 3:58 pm

4 meals rosh hashana
8 meals on succos
Plus the shabbosim in between and erev yom kippur, if I make 2 challahs per meal it actually comes out to about 35 that I need. I'm also trying to have extra for the shabbos before Rosh hashana and the shabbos after succos so I don't need to worry about it closer.

33055 ↓

Sun, Aug 25 2019, 4:17 pm

srbmom wrote:

Where do you put this? How many freezers do you have?

↑ srbmom ↓

Sun, Aug 25 2019, 4:21 pm

Quote:

Where do you put this? How many freezers do you have?

I have my regular fridge/freezer combo that I keep everyday food in.
Have a 17cu ft stand alone freezer that is holding all this frozen food, and not much else.
I also have an old side by side fridge/freezer that I keep off the whole yr in my garage, but I'll turn on for about a month closer to yom tov

↑ 33055

Sun, Aug 25 2019, 5:02 pm

srbmom wrote:

Quote:

Where do you put this? How many freezers do you have?

Wow! How many are you cooking for? I am exhausted just trying to figure out where you were storing 40 challahs. And your kugels, how many trays of each?

hello 1 ↓

Sun, Aug 25 2019, 5:23 pm

srbmom wrote:

Pastrami pizzas freeze well?
I make them in the mazors mini pizza rounds?

↑ srbmom ↓

Sun, Aug 25 2019, 6:10 pm

Quote:

Pastrami pizzas freeze well?
I make them in the mazors mini pizza rounds?

I make them on flatbread. I reheat uncovered. Can't say it's the same as fresh, but we still enjoy it.

I think it all sounds like more than it is. Aside for the challah that takes up a shelf and a half everything else is equivalent of one 9x13 pan each (sometimes I divide it into smaller tins to freeze). So if I can stack 5 pans on top of each other and 3 side by side, that's 15 on a shelf.
The soups I freeze flat in ziploc bags.

↑ srbmom ↓

Sun, Aug 25 2019, 6:13 pm

Quote:

You are making me jealous of how organized you are. Can't Believe It

I am neurotically organized - but I can't ever decide if that's a good thing. Instead of stressing about food for the week before yom tov like a lot of people, I stress about it for 3 months before. I will say once yom tov itself comes I'm pretty relaxed. I never cook a thing on yom tov, everything is finished by erev.

↑ thunderstorm ↓

Sun, Aug 25 2019, 6:34 pm

I find that the round challahs take up the most space, so I actually do everything else besides challah, all the baking and cooking and freeze in three different freezers and then I make 6 lbs ofchallah at a time (pretty often) , but at least I get most of the other cooking and baking out of the way in advance, besides all the dishes and salads that need to be fresh.