Fourteen years ago (1995), I was at a Relief Society homemaking class and Nadine Andrews mentioned Freezer Cooking. Now I was already cooking up my meat ahead and freezing it. Sometimes I’d combine part of a meal and freeze it to save time. But I’d never heard of freezing the entire meal. That night changed my life! Having 10 members in our family, meals and laundry are two main components to successful order in our home. I’m just now getting on top of the laundry situation (after 25 years of marriage) – but the meals – I’m set! I started researching and found a Freezer recipe book to get me started. The idea was to cook one day a month, compile the meals (but DON’T cook them), put them in the freezer – then defrost the meal on the day you’d like to serve it and cook it up. It tastes like you just put it together that day – honest! This first cookbook I’d found had a lot of fancy recipes with unusual ingredients. The first month of meals was very interesting, but I learned a lot – what freezes...the process... I kept trying and experimented a lot with my own recipes. I came across www.30daygourmet.com which has great cookbooks and more details about this process. I found fun recipes on www. topsecretrecipies.com as well. I started compiling my favorite recipes and creating some of my own. I’m NOT a fancy cook – just have a lot of simple family recipes all in one book! If you’re interested in a copy of my cookbook, Shaleen’s Recipes, click here. If you're interested in 30-Day Gourmet's cookbook or the FABULOUS Advantage Software I use to organize my ingredients for cooking day, click on the banner at the top of the page. I’ve perfected this process to the point to where I compile about 120-140 meals over a week’s time. Yes, we have two freezers. These meals last our family six-eight months. So, as my friends like to say, “That’s how Shaleen does it...she only cooks twice a year!”
