Freezer Meals: DIY Instant Oatmeal Packs

I've been doing a ton of freezer cooking lately.  Most Sunday afternoons, you can find me in the kitchen for at least an hour or two prepping a bunch of food for the week because it feels a million times easier to make a bunch at once and clean the kitchen at once and have food in the fridge and freezer and ready to go.  I have a bunch of dinners frozen right now, so this past weekend I thought I'd focus on getting some breakfasts and lunches in the freezer to make mornings easier.

On the menu:  Packets of Instant Oatmeal, these Breakfast Burritos and Roast Beef and Smoked Gouda Sandwiches.  Have you ever frozen sandwiches?  I know I've said it before, but they're one of my favorite things to have in the freezer.  I know it takes 2.2 seconds to make a sandwich, but it is ridiculously nice to just grab one and throw it in a lunch box for the kids or take one out in the morning and add some veggies for a lunch for myself.  Instant oatmeal is also an easy thing already, but making it just the way we like it and having it the freezer just feels good, especially since it's an easy one for the kids to grab themselves.  

DIY Instant Oatmeal Packs

1/2 cup Instant Rolled Oats (most instant oatmeal is 1/4 cup of oats, but everyone knows that you really eat two of those!)

1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar

1 Tablespoon Dried Cranberries (or Raisins or other Dried Fruit)

1 Tablespoon Chopped Almonds (Or other nuts)

Pinch of Cinnamon

Pinch of Salt

Freeze in individual baggies or jars to take to work or for kids to grab.  When you're ready to eat, add 1/2 cup boiling water or milk, stir and let it sit for 1-2 minutes. 

Some other great freezer options for breakfast and lunch: Muffins and more Muffins, Fruit Salad for on yogurt, cooked steel cut oatmeal frozen in muffin tins and ready to microwave, soups and stews and chilis in individual portions plus bread sliced to grab a slice or two.  And while you're chopping veggies and prepping, make a salad or two to have in the fridge!

Preserving: Freezing Peaches

Peach freezing happened around here today.  Laundry, too.  Because both were immediate needs and that tends to be how I get things done (when they're impossible to ignore) and, for better or for worse, it works.  

I've taken two preserving classes this summer through our local extension office.  (Sidenote: Look up yours nearby, they're pretty cool and the classes are crazy inexpensive and full of actually useful info if you're into that kind of thing!) One was on freezing produce and the other was on canning tomatoes and fruit.  I've read enough books and blog posts to have the general idea down and canned one batch of tomatoes last summer, but it's just felt like so.much.work.  Freezer jam and blanching and freezing fresh produce has been my go-to preserving option most often, but I've really want to can more as we're at the height of fresh produce right now. 
Marisa of Food in Jars shared on The Kitchn recently and I thought it was so pertinent to share: Why Strawberry Jam and Cucumber Pickles Are the Worst Way to Start Canning.

Taking the classes made me want to preserve more without it feeling completely consuming and overwhelming and freezing usually fits that bill.  The kids are at least getting bigger, but it's still really hard to have hours at a time to dedicate to canning and preserving.  Most of what I do needs to be able to happen in steps because if I DO have hours of time without kids, I likely won't choose canning as my first option for activities.  

So, today, it was boiling water in one pot  to boil peaches to remove skins. A large bowl full of water with Fruit Fresh (because I had it, lemon juice would work just as well.) A sink filled with ice and water for an ice bath after the boiling.  A cutting board, knife and bowl for skins.  Freezer bags ready to go - labeled and open with tops folded over and 1/4 cup sugar in each bag.  Peaches get dunked in the boiling water for a minute, then submerged in the ice bath.  (It helps the skin to slide right off.)  Then sliced and into the water with Fruit Fresh, then into the freezer bags.  

I thought I'd also share a few easy recipes I've saved and plan to have going in the upcoming weeks: 

Fermented Green Beans
3-Day Apricot Jam (the beauty in these is doing them over the course of a few days in small batches) 
Cold-Pack Peach Canning
Applesauce with Cortland Apples (inspired by my friend Molly who loves to use the Cortlands because it makes the applesauce pink!) 
Spiced Apples

If you want to test of the canning waters (I plan to re-visit with tomatoes in the upcoming weeks) here are a few resources with so much great info on getting started: 
A Beginners Guide to Canning
Canning 101: Tools of the Trade
Canning 101: The Basics