Freezer Cooking Day begins...

It's 1:30 p.m. CST and homeschooling is done for the day, Grandma is here to watch the children, my apron is on, Pandora is playing in the background, and I'm about ready to make a very big mess in my just-cleaned kitchen... all for a good cause because I'm baking and cooking up a storm today!

I'll be back with an update in a few hours or less. In the mean time, you can follow along on Twitter.

Comments

[Elizabeth Quigley]

Hi Crystal,
I thought you might want to let your readers know that Kroger's just announced they will not be doing the free turkey program this year. It is a 2 million program they can't afford to do. They will be sending out coupons for 10.00 off a turkey with a 50.00 purchase.
If you have any questions let me know.
Elizabeth

[Julia @ The Frugal Find]

Beautiful kitchen! :)

[Rochelle P]

I love the fact that Grandma is there! Grandmas are the BEST!!

[Lorie]

Do you clean off your counters in anticipation of cooking day or is this the way it always looks when clean? It looks immaculate &, as always, I'm very impressed with how much you seem to be able to get done in a 24 hour period.

********************
Money Saving Mom here: Well, this is the way I try to always keep it--at least I try to have it look like this for part of the day, that way it never gets too out of hand! :) I'm very much a minimalist, so stuff on my kitchen countertops is just not "me".

But by the end of today, it will not resemble anything close to this!

[Monica]

why can't my kitchen look that clean!! Happy cooking.

[Erin]

Your kitchen is WAY too clean! LOL But it's beautiful and I can't wait to see and read about the wonderful things coming out of it! :)

[Rachel Haugaard]

Wow, you have a lovely kitchen!!! :)

[Teresa]

You definitely need to post an "after" picture or I will never believe that it can look any different than this. LOL, seriously!

[jamie]

Will u please post a picture of your kitchen after the cooking but before the clean up? I'm feeling very inferior here. As I sit home with 4 children, 1 with Influenza & the other 3 with strep. I only wish I could have my kitchen that clean........

[Tricia Young]

Please post a post-cooking day picture of your kitchen :) I try to keep mine this clean too. I don't like anything on my counters, but things to do find their way there.

Happy cooking! I couldn't get myself motivated to do a big cooking day today.

[sioux city car dealers]

I love your cabinets!

[Selena]

I agree with everyone else, you are definitely an inspiration. Keep up the great work!

[Brandy]

I would love to have a "tour" of your kitchen to see where you keep things and how you organize!

[anoo]

beautiful kitchen indeed!

[Mandy]

What an absolutely beautiful kitchen!!

[raquel]

First off, thank you for sharing your recipes with us. Today I made the Chx Tetra and I had a hard time measuring the spaghetti. I cooked and drained the noodles and then measured 2 cups. However, the ziploc bags were not even halfway full and the mixture was very creamy. The ones in the picture looked like they had more in them than mine. Did I measure wrong?

[Shannon]

Your kitchen looks like it's in a model home! Is the rest of your house this clean? How do you do it with three little ones?

[joanne]

gosh I wish my kitchen was THAT clean!!!!! U go girl!!! ah to be young with three kids hehehe. I remember my energy and boy do I miss it. 40 with three teenagers is kicking my butt!!! Maybe its that acia juice ??? I need energy!

[Ann]

I was going to start a cooking baking day, but ended up volunteering at my children's school until 1:00 and now they are already home from school. I did manage to get a meatloaf made for tonight and another for the freezer. I will have to join you for tomorrow.

[alisha.hughes@hotmail.com]

If my kitchen looked like that I would be taking pictures and posting for the world to see too. ;) Good job. Three kids and a kitchen that looks like that, even for 5 minutes, is an amazing feat.

[Laura]

Love the clean kitchen also... I like you didn't have a window over my sink, so we got an old window frame and put mirror behind it... looks like a window.. not staring at the wall while doing dishes.. I love it! :) I like your wreath too... just letting you know what we did. Have fun cooking in such a clean environment!

[Brooke P]

I want to know what you're listening to on Pandora. Do you share your station?

[Meegan]

Your kitchen looks amazing! It's so beautiful!

[Angie]

How do you make freezer mashed potatoes??

[Beatle]

Oh my! Your kitchen inspires me!! I am so sick of having clutter all over my counters!

[yenny]

Wow it's 8:30 p.m. here where I live I'm almost going to bed. Will see the end results tomorrow though.

[Honey]

First of all, I have to say my kitchen never started out that neat and clean. Nor did it end that way...but I did get lots done. Mainly because God so kindly provided for us in the form of a friend bringing us a meal (my husband is laid off). Since dinner involved no cooking or clean up, I had energy to make several things afterward. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are on sale at Food City for $1.79/#. So I made 2 chicken tetrazzini casseroles, boiled some chicken for the freezer, made hot chicken salad, and egg salad. My sourdough flopped because I think my starter died.

[charity]

Way to go! Keep up all the great work.

[Allison V.]

I would LOVE to keep my counters that empty...but my tiny apartment kitchen means some stuff won't fit in the cupboards. It also means make-ahead freezers meals are impossible. Really, though, I'm just jealous you can rent a house with a kitchen that nice! : ) Good job!

[Brooke C.]

I was wondering how you prepare your frozen waffles when you are ready to eat them (i.e. toaster/microwave)? I love to make waffles for my family and it would be great to freeze them to save time, but I have been worried that they would not taste as good. Thanks for the help!