Freezer Dump Bags

Jumped on the Freezer Dump Bags bandwagon! 5 different meals ready to make about 20-24 dinners. All 8 hrs recipes for while I’m at work. Total cost about $120

~Cranberry mustard pork
1.5kg pork, jar of cranberry sauce, 1tbs dijon mustard, 1 onion, dash or nutmeg, zest and juice of 1 orange.
~Beef stroganoff
1kg beef, 500gm mushrooms, 1 onion, 1/2c red wine, 2 beef stock cubes. I add 1C water in the morning when turning it on. Stir in 1/2C sour cream before serving.
~Mushroom barley stew
500gm mushrooms, 4 carrots, 1 onion, can of tomatoes, 1C barley. Add 2L veggie stock in the morning when turning on.
~Balsamic pot roast
2kg beef, 1/2C brown sugar, 1/4C balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbs soy sauce, pinch of chili flakes, 2 cloves of garlic, zest of 1 orange. Added 2C beef stock in the morning and about 6 potatoes as potatoes don’t freeze well.
~Pumpkin lentil curry
1 onion, 2C red lentils, 3C pumpkin, 400ml coconut milk, can of tomatoes, curry powder, bit of salt, 6 cups of water.

Notes:

All 8 hours on low. Perfect for work.

Question I’m guessing your going to freeze them. Do you defrost them before you put them in the slow cooker? X

Answer I will pop them in the fridge the night before but I did look into it and there is no harm if you need to put it in from frozen (especially because none of these are chicken)

Question Do you put absolutely all ingredients in the bags? ie. stock and sauces?

Answer I haven’t put the stock in or water, but have put the other liquids like wine and coconut milk etc.

Question How many people are they for?

Answer Each recipe is makes at least 4 meals (more if you have kids). So for me and my partner it will last a while.

Question Do you soak the lentils?

Answer They don’t need soaking like other legumes. You can if you want to reduce cooking time though, but as I am at work all day, the longer the better for me.

Question I don’t understand how this works. I know meats are browned but what about ingredients like onions or garlic etc are they precooked and then frozen ?

Answer Nope, I don’t brown anything first (onion, garlic etc) it all goes in the slow cooker raw.

Question Do you turn them in the freezer so they all freeze evenly?

Answer I’ve never heard of that (not saying it doesn’t exist). I’ll just be leaving them as they are in the picture. We haven’t had any issues with our freezer not freezing food properly before.

Question Do you brown the meat before freezing or just chuck it all in.

Answer I just chuck it all in Janine, a few people brown it first, but that kind of defeats the purpose of quick and easy to me.

Question What cut of pork do you use?

Answer I used pork scotch fillet because it was on special, and gravy beef for both the beef dishes.

Question Pumpkin lentil curry question. 6 cups of water plus the coconut cream sounds a lot of liquid, is this correct?

Answer The recipe called for 8 cups and I thought that was way too much. I brought it down to 6, with the lentils expanding a bit and me being out of the house for 7-8 hrs I think it’s wise. If it’s a tad wet when I get home I can add some cornflour, but I think it’s meant to be more of a chunky healthy soup with a curry flavour rather than a curry.

Question Do they all freeze before cooking.

Answer Yep, I keep them frozen until the night before and defrost for the morning to put in slow cooker.

Question Do you cut the pork up in the cranberry pork?? What cut do you use?

Answer I used a pork scotch fillet roll because it was on special and cut it up in fairly big pieces because it will be cooking for 8hrs. I could have left it in one big roll too. I’m sure any cut would work (rump, shoulder, loin).

Question What is it better to freeze the meals in? Freezer bags or zip bags or both for frost burn.

Answer Definitely use zip bags. I accidentally bought the large instead of the jumbo so I had to put most of the meals in 2 separate bags instead of one.

Oh that would be a stinky, horrible mess. These are just the largest zip lock bags from Woolies. I throw them out afterwards. (someone mentioned being environmentally friendly and washing them and re-using them, but I just don’t think i have the patience for that….)

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