One Hour Freezer Cooking Meal Prep: Breakfast

Breakfast meal prep ideas for the whole week in one hour! Eight tasty recipes (some with no eggs!) that adapt for weight loss, low carb or bodybuilding. You’ll love the homemade breakfast sausage and peanut butter granola bars!

One of my goals for this year is to do more freezer cooking. I started to be more intentional with it when the school year started – making double batches of blender chocolate waffles or extra peanut butter chocolate chip muffins – and I’ve REALLY reaped the rewards from it!

But I want to take it a step further and in all honesty, see how much I can do in a one hour freezer cooking session.

Because let’s face it – you and I? We’re both busy. I can tell you until I’m blue in the face to just “make time” or “fit it in,” but unless you have a PLAN to follow, it’s not going to happen!

Well that’s exactly what this is – it’s a one hour freezer cooking PLAN. My goal is to do several of these, but I’m going to start with what I know best: BREAKFAST!

How This Freezer Cooking Breakfast Meal Prep is Going to Work

Every recipe I’ve chosen had to meet the following requirements:

• It has to be something my family already loves (that means kids AND husband).
• Freezer-friendly (meaning it can be frozen either before OR after it’s cooked, then thawed, and it will still be delicious!)
• Easy to make. No one should need ninja cooking skills for these freezer cooking sessions!
• They might not be rice and beans cheap, but this is a frugal food blog so I can promise that every recipe is going to be light on the budget.
• “Normal” ingredients. Every recipe uses ingredients you can find at your local grocery store. Sure you CAN shop online or at a specialty food store, but my list of ingredients won’t force you to.

Watch Me Follow this Freezer Cooking Plan LIVE on Facebook!

This Friday, January 25, 2019, I’m going to be following this exact one hour freezer cooking plan and making everything LIVE on Facebook. I’d love for you to join me!

I’ll go live between 9am and 10am (EST). To watch, just click HERE and refresh your screen every now and then and my video will pop-up when I’m live. Remember that this is a ONE HOUR freezer cooking plan – so I’ll be live for awhile… feel free to watch or listen while you’re folding laundry, doing the dishes or some other chore.

Unfortunately you can’t watch live if you don’t have a Facebook account, BUT you can watch the video after the fact! Here’s how:

1. Go to https://facebook.com/dontwastethecrumbs
2. Close any pop-ups that you get.
3. From the menu bar (left on desktop, top on mobile), click on the VIDEOS button.
4. Look for the video dated January 25, 2019 with “freezer cooking” in the title.

Update: Here is the link to the recorded video! Enjoy! 

Before You Start this One Hour Freezer Cooking Breakfast Meal Prep

I’m not a pro at freezer cooking by any means, but I’ve done enough of my own freezer cooking sessions to have a few helpful pointers to pass on!

• Make sure you have everything you need BEFORE you start. This includes any and all kitchen appliances (the appliance itself, plus bowls/attachments that you need), tools, supplies and groceries (see below).
• I highly recommend grocery shopping at least the day before you cook. Although this one hour freezer cooking session is only an hour, when you include making a shopping list, actually grocery shopping, putting things away that you don’t need for the freezer cooking session, leaving out what you DO need, making sure you have everything you do need, and in general, getting ready for this freezer cooking session, it will make for a very long morning (or afternoon!).
• Make sure the kitchen counters are clear of anything you don’t need!
• Empty the dishwasher and sink of any dishes. (Running the dishwasher the night before would be a big help here!)

It includes a supply list, a grocery list, all of the recipes we’re making and the EXACT steps to follow to pull off making NINE awesome breakfasts for your family! 

 

One Hour Freezer Cooking Meal Prep: Breakfast

Here are the FIVE recipes we’ll be making:

• Instant Pot / Slow Cooker Apple Crumble
• Granola Bars
• 5-minute Apple Spiced Muffins
• Breakfast Sausage
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookie

Be sure to print the recipes before you begin!

Here are the supplies you need:

• (2) 7″ glass baking dishes with lids
• 1-2 large bowls
• (2) twelve-cup muffin tins
• (24) muffin liners (silicone or paper)
• (3) 11″ x 13″ baking sheets
• (8) one-gallon freezer bags
• aluminum foil
• blender (with extra pitchers)
• cutting board
• kitchen timer
• liquid measuring cup
• measuring cups
• measuring spoons
• parchment paper
• permanent marker
• sharp knife
• silpat mat (optional)
• spoon or spatula
• stand mixer (optional)
• sticker labels (or paper and tape)
• (1) 9″ x 13″ baking dish, with lid OR similar large container OR two smaller containers
• (2) 8″ x 8″ glass Pyrex dishes OR two 9×9 glass Pyrex dishes OR one 9×13 glass Pyrex dish (lid not necessary)
• ¼ cup cookie scoop (or a ¼ cup measuring cup)
• Instant Pot (6 or 7qt) OR slow cooker (4-6qt)

Here are the ingredients you need:

Pantry

• apple sauce
• baking powder
• baking soda
• cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• chocolate chips (mini)
• coconut oil
• flour
• honey
• maple syrup
• peanut butter
• peanuts
• pretzels
• rolled oats
• sugar
• vanilla

Cold Case/Meat

• butter
• eggs
• ground meat (chicken, turkey, lamb, pork)
• milk (dairy or non-dairy)

Produce

• apples (or sub seasonal produce such as peaches, berries, or pears!)

Spices

• cayenne pepper
• celery seed
• cinnamon
• cloves
• granulated garlic
• nutmeg
• onion powder
• pepper
• sage
• salt

Before we jump into the step-by-step of this freezer cooking session, I’m sharing a couple things that make, not just batch cooking easier, but life in the kitchen easier as a whole!

Multiple Mixer Attachments. I have one KitchenAid mixer and the one mixing bowl that came with it, but two paddle attachments. (I have the paddle attachment that came with the mixer itself, plus this paddle one with the scraper. My mother-in-law gave me this one for Christmas one year, but the paddle is made with plastic and it broke after a few months. If you want an extra paddle, go for the real thing!) Having a second paddle attachment lets me wash less dishes in the midst of a cooking sessions, which is a huge time saver!

Multiple Mixer Bowls. As I mentioned, I only have one bowl at the moment, but I can see how having two would be a HUGE time saver in the long run. Right now this glass bowl with measurements on the side is more affordable than the stainless steel bowl, so I’m going to use Swagbucks to earn gift cards to Amazon so I don’t have to buy one out of pocket!

Multiple Blenders. You only need one blender base (I have a Blendtec), but having multiple blender jars is a LIFESAVER. I have multiple jars (Twister Jar, Four-side Jar and Wildside Jar) in various sizes and on some Saturday mornings, I’m known to have every single one of them filled with waffle batter! Like having multiple attachments and multiple bowls, having multiple jars lets me cook more at one time without having to stop and wash the dishes every few minutes.

What to Do Before You Begin Cooking

Read through every recipe in its entirety.

Some recipes may use appliances that you don’t have, and we’ve provided multiple cooking options for you – but what equipment you need will depend on which cooking option you choose.

Reading through the recipes will also help you to know exactly what type of pans you need, and how many, in order to make the recipes work.

Label your storage bags.

This doesn’t sound important, but TRUST ME! This will be a very fast hour and once everything is in a bag and frozen, IT ALL LOOKS THE SAME!!

Use a permanent marker to label what will go in the bag or container, any remaining baking instructions (for recipes you’re not baking) and today’s date.

Let’s Get This Freezer Cooking Meal Prep Started!

Preheat the oven to 350F.

1. Prepare Instant Pot (or Slow Cooker) Apple Crumble. Bake according to recipe instructions.
2. Prepare a double batch of Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola Bars and place in the freezer. (Tip: Use the bowl of a stand mixer if you have one. You don’t even have to wash out the bowl in between batches!)
3. Use a blender and prepare a double batch of 5-minute Apple Spiced Muffins. (Tip: Use two blender jars, if you have them, so you can measure everything at once, and then get both pans in the oven at the same time. I have a Blendtec blender and have the four-side jar and the Wildside jar.)
4. Use a kitchen timer and bake the muffins according to the recipe directions.
5. Wash the mixing bowl and prepare the Breakfast Sausage. (Tip: Using the bowl of a stand mixer for breakfast sausage is a HUGE time saver.) Make note of the time left on the muffins and bake according to the recipe directions.
6. When the timer goes off for the muffins, reset the timer for the additional minutes needed to bake the sausage. Place the muffins on a cooling rack to cool.
7. Wash the mixing bowl and prepare the Chocolate Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookie according to recipe instructions. Scoop the dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with a silpat mat. Freeze for 30 minutes.
8. At this point, you’re done cooking (or you’re waiting on the sausage to finish up).
9. When the Apple Crumble is done, serve or freeze the baked portion; freeze the second portion. If you use the Slow Cooker method, serve or freeze in a freezer-safe container with a lid.
10. Remove the granola bars from the freezer, cut into 24 pieces and divide between two freezer bags. Press out the excess air, seal and place bags in the freezer.
11. When the muffins are cool, remove them from the silicone liners OR leave them in the paper liners and divide them between two one-gallon freezer bags (labeled!) and place in the freezer.
12. When the sausage is done baking and cool, cut into 32 squares. Divide the sausage between two one-gallon freezer bags (labeled!) and place in the freezer.
13. When the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies are semi-frozen, divide them between two one-gallon freezer bags (labeled!) and place in the freezer.

Give yourself a pat on the back because you’re done!

It includes a supply list, a grocery list, all of the recipes we’re making and the EXACT steps to follow to pull off making EIGHT awesome breakfasts for your family!

Have you ever timed yourself in a freezer cooking session? How much can you get done in an hour? Please share your experiences with us in the comments section!