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Families freeze food for future
By By Alica P. Thiele
Challenger reporter
Challenger reporter
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EmailDecember 02. 2009 6:00AM
When it’s time for dinner, Pat Kurtenbach just looks into her freezer, where 14 complete dinners sit ready for her to pop into an oven or slow cooker.
The same is true for Kim Van Hulzen, Jade Baker, Tammy Smith and eight other families who assembled the ingredients together and packaged them for future use.
The families have held freezer-cooking parties twice now, once in September and again Nov. 17. They use the kitchen at Brandon Valley Assembly of God Church, where most of them are members.
Van Hulzen and Baker coordinated the events, choosing recipes, buying groceries and labeling all the zip-top bags with the families’ initials, name of the dish and cooking instructions.
“It goes over so well,” said Kurtenbach, who had participated in a similar group in Sioux Falls. On one occasion, she invited Van Hulzen and Baker, who decided to try it in Brandon.
Kurtenbach cooks for just herself and her husband, so her meals are packaged in servings of two. Other bags contain four servings. The group hopes to hold a freezer cooking night once a month.
“And if my freezer starts getting full, I can sit one out,” Kurtenbach said.
Before the recent freezer cooking night began, Van Hulzen and Baker had all the ingredients out on tables, separated by recipe. Pairs of workers chose a recipe and assembled the ingredients into the bags.
The activity provided more than just meals. Fun, fellowship and a few math lessons contributed to the evening.
“Made with love,” Lyndy Peterson said as she closed one zip-top bag and made a kissing noise. Later, she and her cooking partner joked and sang while browning meat for a dump Swiss steak.
“How much is 8 ounces?” asked Brookes Noem as he began to measure ingredients for chicken potpie. “One cup,” came the reply. “And one pound of meat is two cups.”
Meals prepared included lasagna, fiesta chicken and rice, beef and barley soup, beef chimichangas, shepherd’s pie, Swiss chicken and others.
While assembling taco soup, Chariti Oakes’ 3-month-old son sat calmly in his infant seat, seemingly oblivious to the flurry around him. Oakes has three other children, so the meals will come in handy at her home, she said.
Freezing meals ahead is standard operating procedure for Ruth Meyer. “When I make soups and casseroles (at home), I try to double it right away,” she said as she stirred up bowls of cheesy ham and potatoes.
Van Hulzen and Baker went to four stores to get the ingredients, buying in bulk whenever possible. They also pre-browned much of the meat. The groceries cost about $1,300. Ten families each chipped in $130, and Van Hulzen’s and Baker’s shares were covered by their labor.
Since Kurtenbach’s meals were packed two servings to a bag, she got 28 meals for $2.32 per serving. “The price per meal turns out to be real reasonable,” she said.
As Tammy Smith breaded boneless chicken breasts for Dijon chicken, she remembered some of the recipes she’d taken home after the September freezer cooking night. “The chicken wild rice soup was real good,” she said. “And the spaghetti chicken – that was the kids’ favorite.”
“That was my mother’s recipe,” Van Hulzen offered.
Each family brought a cooler from home, and as each bag was filled, it went into the appropriate cooler. Van Hulzen is looking forward to the next freezer cooking night, because the meals save so much time later on.
“It’s fabulous,” she said. “Just pull it out in the morning to thaw.”
The same is true for Kim Van Hulzen, Jade Baker, Tammy Smith and eight other families who assembled the ingredients together and packaged them for future use.
The families have held freezer-cooking parties twice now, once in September and again Nov. 17. They use the kitchen at Brandon Valley Assembly of God Church, where most of them are members.
Van Hulzen and Baker coordinated the events, choosing recipes, buying groceries and labeling all the zip-top bags with the families’ initials, name of the dish and cooking instructions.
“It goes over so well,” said Kurtenbach, who had participated in a similar group in Sioux Falls. On one occasion, she invited Van Hulzen and Baker, who decided to try it in Brandon.
Kurtenbach cooks for just herself and her husband, so her meals are packaged in servings of two. Other bags contain four servings. The group hopes to hold a freezer cooking night once a month.
“And if my freezer starts getting full, I can sit one out,” Kurtenbach said.
Before the recent freezer cooking night began, Van Hulzen and Baker had all the ingredients out on tables, separated by recipe. Pairs of workers chose a recipe and assembled the ingredients into the bags.
The activity provided more than just meals. Fun, fellowship and a few math lessons contributed to the evening.
“Made with love,” Lyndy Peterson said as she closed one zip-top bag and made a kissing noise. Later, she and her cooking partner joked and sang while browning meat for a dump Swiss steak.
“How much is 8 ounces?” asked Brookes Noem as he began to measure ingredients for chicken potpie. “One cup,” came the reply. “And one pound of meat is two cups.”
Meals prepared included lasagna, fiesta chicken and rice, beef and barley soup, beef chimichangas, shepherd’s pie, Swiss chicken and others.
While assembling taco soup, Chariti Oakes’ 3-month-old son sat calmly in his infant seat, seemingly oblivious to the flurry around him. Oakes has three other children, so the meals will come in handy at her home, she said.
Freezing meals ahead is standard operating procedure for Ruth Meyer. “When I make soups and casseroles (at home), I try to double it right away,” she said as she stirred up bowls of cheesy ham and potatoes.
Van Hulzen and Baker went to four stores to get the ingredients, buying in bulk whenever possible. They also pre-browned much of the meat. The groceries cost about $1,300. Ten families each chipped in $130, and Van Hulzen’s and Baker’s shares were covered by their labor.
Since Kurtenbach’s meals were packed two servings to a bag, she got 28 meals for $2.32 per serving. “The price per meal turns out to be real reasonable,” she said.
As Tammy Smith breaded boneless chicken breasts for Dijon chicken, she remembered some of the recipes she’d taken home after the September freezer cooking night. “The chicken wild rice soup was real good,” she said. “And the spaghetti chicken – that was the kids’ favorite.”
“That was my mother’s recipe,” Van Hulzen offered.
Each family brought a cooler from home, and as each bag was filled, it went into the appropriate cooler. Van Hulzen is looking forward to the next freezer cooking night, because the meals save so much time later on.
“It’s fabulous,” she said. “Just pull it out in the morning to thaw.”
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Lyndy Peterson (from left), Heidi Merkel and Jade Baker prepare full meals assembly style. Baker and Kim Van Hulzen coordinated the freezer cooking event. They bought all the ingredients in bulk for 14 recipes. More than a dozen families chipped in for the groceries and helped bag the recipes, which they took home to cook later. Photo by Alica P. Thiele |  |
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