Stocked Freezer - For Real

I think at some point like 2 weeks ago I wrote a similar post about what I had in my freezer, but I'm doing it again anyway... mainly so I can keep inventory of what I have.

As of today, I'm looking at 10 actual "ready to go" dinners, plus the makings of 10 more. Yey for me.

Ready to go dinners:

• enchiladas
• baked ziti
• stuffed peppers
• perogies (just need 1 pepper and 1 onion)
• ravioli with vodka sauce (jar of sauce is on hold in the cabinet)
• meatballs & sauce (just need 2 sub rolls and some provolone to make meatball parm)
• meatballs & sauce (have a box of spaghetti on hold in the cabinet)\
• burrito mix , modified to add corn & Rotel (just need tortillas, have salsa & sour cream in the fridge)
• chicken nuggets & fries - will be enough for 2 meals... I had coupons that made this a really cheap dinner idea :-)

Also have:

• 3 packets of cooked shredded chicken (1 cup portions)
• 2 packets of raw ground turkey (1/2 lb each)
• 3 packets of raw chicken breasts (2 breasts per bag)
• 2 cans of Pillsbury crescent rolls (because I am in love with this site)
• Tortellini & Alfredo Sauce, and a bag of frozen broccoli. This is a really quick dinner - boil the tortellini, heat the sauce, make the broccoli in the microwave. Then chop up the broccoli and add it to the sauce... toss over tortellini. Yum.

This month's shopping bills have been a killer, since normally I look at what we have before we go and try to craft meals based on what we already have plus what I have coupons for or what's on sale. These past 2 weeks worth of groceries have been almost double what we normally spend, but I've kind of been making doubles of everything and stocking up on stuff that I normally wouldn't - like Listerine, body wash, pancake mix... plus all of the meat. I bought more meat than I normally would have this week.

I'm hoping that by stocking up on stuff now, I'll only have to do really quick "10 items or less" trips when Baby Girl is really little, seeing as it's flu season and I have no desire to do grocery shopping with an infant. I just wish my freezer was bigger....

Off to make a few batches of pumpkin and chocolate toffee cookies. I learned a hot trick on Good Eats (I am secretly in love with Alton Brown) - make the dough and lay out the cookies on the baking pan... and then instead of putting them in the oven, put the tray in the freezer. Once the cookie dough is frozen, bag it up in a freezer safe bag and store (in the freezer) until you want to bake them. Then bake as normal! Which means you can bake 4 cookies (for yourself at 3 in the afternoon) or 2 dozen (to take to a party.... of for yourself at 3 in the afternoon). How genius is that?