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.