When you first get into freezer cooking, there are a few major mistakes that you might be inclined to make as a newbie.  If you don’t recognize them, you might even allow them to turn you off to freezer cooking altogether, and that’s not necessary!

I’m sure there are other things you could do that are best avoided, but here are my top three:

1. Biting off more than you can chew

You read about freezer cooking.  It sounds like a fantastic idea – a great time-saver for busy evenings, and a life-saver (figuratively speaking) when you’re sick.  You get all excited and plan out a whole month’s worth of meals – 30 different entrées.  You do the shopping.  You’re kind of tired, but you’ve got this.  Then you get to the cooking.  And about an hour in you decide you are never. doing. this. freezer. cooking. thing. again.

If this is you – you’re not the only one.  Maybe you were a bit smarter than the rest of us and didn’t go quite this far, but you still did too much, too fast.

Slow down.  Keep in mind that a) you can baby-step into this freezer cooking thing, and b) nothing says you have to do a month of meals.

Really.  There are a lot of ways people do freezer cooking, ranging all the way from fixing up a month (or more) of meals at a time, to doubling tonight’s dinner and putting the second batch in the freezer, to just preparing some breakfasts.  Whatever makes sense for you is what you should do.

2. Cooking foods that aren’t tried-and-tested

Probably the next-most-common mistake made by newbies is freezing stuff their families have never tried.  Now, obviously, you have to eat everything for the first time at some point.  But you do not want a whole freezer full of food your family hates!

So…do not make a triple-batch of something you’ve never tried.  And do not go all-out preparing and freezing a month’s worth of meals that are all (or mostly) new to you.  Start with what you know and introduce new recipes one or two at a time.  In single batches.

3. Planning to cook after a big cooking session

Unless you’re punishing yourself for something, it is really not a good idea to plan on cooking dinner right after you’ve spent the entire day cooking the rest of the month’s dinner.  Believe me, you will not feel like it.  You might even feel like throwing yourself on the floor like a toddler at the thought of cooking again. now.

So plan ahead for this.  Either plan to get takeout, plan to have someone else cook, plan on sandwiches, or build into your cooking plan something to be eaten tonight instead of popped straight into the freezer.  Your feet will thank you.

What major mistakes would you add to this list?

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