From Freezer to Table: 75+ Simple, Whole Foods Recipes for Gathering, Cooking, and Sharing: A Cookbook

by Polly Conner, Rachel Tiemeyer

Rachel Tiemeyer and Polly Conner were new moms, struggling to get dinner on the table each night, when they had a rude awakening: their families weren't eating well, and they didn't have a clue what to do about it. Most evenings, they were too frazzled to do anything but slide a frozen pizza or fish sticks in the oven. That's when they had a breakthrough: what if they could stock their freezer with healthy, homemade food, rather than heavily processed food? Soon, they began gathering their friends to cook freezer-friendly meals together. They learned how to shop in bulk, cook larger quantities from scratch, stock their freezers with nutritious meals, and eventually made freezer cooking a lifestyle.

In From Freezer to Table, Rachel and Polly share the ultimate guidebook for transforming the way your family cooks, eats, and freezes. The chapters are packed with freezer cooking basics, practical tips for Freezer Cooking Parties or Freezer Clubs, and plenty of motivation and tools to make freezer cooking second nature in your home. With their 75+ simple, family-friendly recipes--all made from whole food ingredients--anyone can stock their freezer with wholesome favorites, like mixed berry scones, homemade chicken tenders, and slow-cooker carnitas. From Freezer to Table will help you reclaim your kitchen from unhealthy processed foods, while simultaneously saving your wallet, your waistline, and your time. Finally, you'll be able to enjoy delicious, stress-free meals around the table with those you love most.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Reference

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2017

Reviews

[J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thesis of this book is simple and straightforward: if you’re going to invest the time and effort to cook meals for your family, you can save both by making large batches, the remainder put in the freezer for later thawing and serving. But the authors take this idea a step further. Why not swap some of your own creations with those of friends and neighbors, for even more variety at the dining room table? Thus the concept of the “freezer club” is born. Actually, this duo takes it even a step further than that, with the notion of a “freezer cooking party,” in which participants gather at a convenient place, such as a neighbor’s home or favorite coffee shop, and plan a two to four hour weekend afternoon to jointly create the dishes outlined within these pages. Before going home, each member gets to take back with them wholesome meals prepared by his or her cohorts, which then are stored in the freezer until it’s time for them to be enjoyed.
If any of this seems daunting to the uninitiated, fear not, for the authors take readers step by step through the whole process. Chapter 1, “A Deep Dive into the Cold Chest,” covers the benefits of freezer cooking (they list seven, including eating healthier and jumpstarting one’s social life), the six steps to creating successful freezer meal, and food safety principles. Chapter 2 is entitled, “Throw a Freezer Cooking Party,” and gives clearly delineated instructions on how to pull this deal off. Chapter 3 does the same for “Start a Freezer Club.” By the time the reader has gotten thus far, he or she will be getting itchy fingers, wanting to ring up everyone they know to get this show on the road.
So much for Part 1. Part 2, and the bulk of the book, consists of recipes for the aforementioned freezer meals, with chapters dedicated to specific ingredients or entrees, such as chicken, beef, seafood, and so on. Yes, there is a chapter for breakfast items. Conner and Tiemeyer state that each recipe has been tried in-home and appears in this book only after it has proven itself to be nutritious, delicious, freezable and can be made within 30 minutes. It is evident that much thought has gone into the preparation of said recipes. An introductory paragraph gives some background about the dish and helpful tips regarding preparation. Ingredients and amounts appear in a column on the left hand of the page, while on the right column are step-by-step instructions for cooking the meal, followed by directions for freezing and unthawing same. Full color photography throughout the book illustrates many of the finished products and they had this reviewer wanting to tear out the pages and eat that!
Full disclosure: at the time of this review, none of the recipes were actually tried out, due to time constraints, but several are on the to-do list, in order to satisfy the voracious appetites of a growing family. For those who desire to stretch their food dollars and have more choices at dinnertime, this lovely cookbook is highly recommended for purchase.
Review by Michael F. Bemis

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of the book was great, there was some awesome advice at the beginning of the book. That was about it. The recipes were a big let down. The Cinnamon Oatmeal Pancakes sounded really good, that was about it. There were some interesting ideas like, Maple Soy Sauce, but for the most part I was not impressed. Many of the recipes required so many ingredients, as long as the page. When there is that much that goes into a recipe...it is a little offputting to want to try and make. That many ingredients and you know it is going to take a while to get done. I would not buy, nor would I recommend to someone else. There are better things out there.

[John’aLee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love when I learn a new concept I’ve never heard of before. This book teaches you how to start a freezer club with your friends. Once a month everyone gets together and makes their own individual freezer meal times the amount of friends that are there. Then everyone goes home with different dishes to stock their freezer with. Love the idea.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Polly Conner and Rachel Tiemeyer started a blog called Thriving Home about how they made their homes run smoothly and a big part of that for both was freezing cooking. Freezer cooking is cooking in bulk and freezing things to make it easier to have dinner on the table every day - whether it's a whole meal like a cassarole or just individual components that can quickly be put together for a meal. They explain how to have a Freezer Cooking party or start a Freezer Cooking club, but the recipes can also just stand alone as well. While I'm not personally interested in starting a freezer cooking club, I did find a lot of recipes I'd like to try. Overall, definitely a good cookbook for anyone who's busy and wants some quick and easy recipes to get dinner on the table.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway.

This recipe book provides more than just delicious recipes. Perfect for busy households or people wanting to save money, the author describes the best ways in which to freeze meals and reheat them for perfect results. How to create a club to share meals made is also included as a chapter. I love this book. The recipes are simple and easy to make yet taste delicious. They freeze and thaw great and is a perfect idea for not only people trying to save time but good for houses with small numbers in order to freeze and reheat large meals.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a good idea; start a freezer supper club with 5 of your friends. Voila, you'll have 12 meals made in the freezer.

I don't have a big enough freezer for this...but how wonderful for those who do. Recipes seem easy enough and would please a variety of folks.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most useful cookbook I have read on a very long time.

[tiasreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical recipes, detailed instructions, and personable authors make this a cookbook I will come back to again and again.

[Ricki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Besides being a cookbook full of decent-looking recipes, this book also explains how to stock your freezer with ready meals by having freezer parties (inviting friends over and preparing many meals together, then trading), which could evolve into having a freezer club (a group of people who get together once a month or so to exchange frozen meals they made separately). It lays out all the practical steps of these processes. The author gives an example of how to write invitations to a freezer party, to how to set up your kitchen to prepare for the party, and how to make it not only useful but also a fun evening with friends, sharing wine and snacks together.

At first I found this book exciting and inspiring. It would be so nice to have this mutual support network! But then it was a downer to realize this is just another area where I do not have this kind of tribe. I’ve had enough disappointments where I’ve tried to start a thing and no one was interested. Even so, the book can be used for someone just making freezer meals for their own family. The recipes look pretty good but still usually involved more grains and dairy than I'm interested in. I returned it to the library without noting any recipes I wanted to try.

[Jbussen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Copied from Rikki:
A cookbook of decent-looking recipes, this book also explains how to stock your freezer with ready meals by having freezer parties (inviting friends over and preparing many meals together, then trading), which could evolve into having a freezer club (a group of people who get together once a month or so to exchange frozen meals they made separately). It lays out all the practical steps of these processes. The author gives an example of how to write invitations to a freezer party, to how to set up your kitchen to prepare for the party, and how to make it not only useful but also a fun evening with friends, sharing wine and snacks together.

It would be so nice to have this mutual support network! But then it was a downer to realize this is just another area where I do not have this kind of tribe. I’ve had enough disappointments where I’ve tried to start a thing and no one was interested. Even so, the book can be used for someone just making freezer meals for their own family. I returned it to the library without noting any recipes I wanted to try.

[Tamera · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are color pictures every couple of pages, and it opens with a section about how to use the book, a quiz, how to make freezer cooking a lifestyle, proper freezing methods, and throwing a freezer party. Each recipe includes freezer meal instructions and cooking notes, and a goes well with section. I made the slow cooker marinara sauce and it was tasty and thick, which is how i like it. I used the sauce in the chicken Parmesan casserole. Very easy to make and filled the disposable 8X8 pan tightly - i was nervous it wouldn't all fit but it did. I didn't try it but passed it to my father's freezer. I used the remaining marinara for meatballs from another cookbook and froze it in a quart glad bag. My husband and i tried The Only Sloppy Joes (We Like). It was OK, I kept it deliberately bland (used less seasoning) due to my Dad's palette. Paul didn't like it though - it may have been the sneaky carrots in the recipe? I will definitely try more recipes in the future.

[Ligaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been bingeing on freezer meal books (and subsequently, cooking freezer meals) so this was one of several. I was disappointed by the recipes, though. I'm realizing my family skews vegetarian, so plenty of recipes are disqualified. Also, the recipe organization bugs me. Typically "Freezing instructions begin here" interrupts the step-by-step directions, and then continues with baking as if you're not freezing for later. Umm, the entire premise of this book is FREEZING for later, so... whaaa? A large section is devoted to explaining the Freezer Party concept, so, also something I could skip. Lastly, the recipes just didn't interest me. They seemed pretty mundane. My favorite freezer book so far is It's Always Freezer Season.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn’t the most original cookbook I’ve ever seen (I’ve seen plenty of similar recipes on Pinterest), but they offered lots of great ideas and family friendly recipes. I did love that most of the recipes had beautiful color photos to go with them and that each recipe had a written explanation with it. I’m sure I’ll pull this cookbook out quite often!! I especially loved the chapter where they outlined how to throw your own freezer party and/or put together a freezer club...such a great idea!!

[Lindsey Carnicella]

Checked out from library. Have used their website some. Great info on freezing and freezer parties. Don’t think I’ll be doing that myself. But I have been trying to freeze more in this stage of life. They have so many wonderful recipes on their website, I think I will just continue using that and don’t find it necessary to buy this book. I do appreciate that they typically don’t use cans of cream of such and such. I particularly use many of their freezer breakfast ideas. They have so many baked oatmeal ideas, and we have loved them all.

[Kym · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrive bloggers Polly Conner and Rachel Tiemey have put together a set of freezer meals to make eating real food easier. In addition to the recipes, they outline several ways to make eating freezer meals a social event by cooking in a club. The recipes look delicious, are adaptable to various diets/allergies/preferences and clearly written. The photos of the food are enticing.

I can't wait to start filling my freezer with some of these recipes!

[Kisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated the lack of canned soups and processed ingredients that are so often in these types of cookbooks. I did think the recipes were written in such a way as to be aimed at people cooking in single batches to be eaten at the time of cooking. There were freezer notes but almost like an afterthought for a book that is about freezer cooking.

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good sensible freezer advice and recipes. Most amazing to me was I can use my canning jars for freezing! As a single cook I freeze a lot because I don’t want to eat the same thing two three days in a row and most recipes are too much for one day.

[Valerie Wyse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will definitely be buying this book. It is very well organized with multiple helpful tips on each recipe. If you're a working mom or a mom who isn't thrilled about cooking everynight, this book is for you!

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My family has loved every recipe I’ve chosen from this book, and I love that the ingredients are whole foods, everyone wins! And, to be honest, we don’t always freeze the recipes, we often eat them right away! Love this cookbook, and their website!

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent cookbook. Need to buy.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall great start to freezer cooking without adding "can of" or packaged ingredients. I didn't realize I also was looking for less Carby or gluten free options- which this never said it was.

[Jennifer Dickert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

The recipes look great. I didn't actually try any because most were so much more complicated than my current recipe library of freezer-bag slow cooker meals.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Accessible, tasty meals that are perfect for doubling, freezing and pulling out for an easy dinner later. My family loves everything I make from it.

[Lisa Hammer · Rating 4 out of 5]

We have tried a bunch of these recipes and have found quite a few that we really liked! Much more flavorful and wholesome than typical freezer meals.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good recipes

[Christa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a go-to freezer meal cookbook. The recipes are easy and some are pretty healthy. All have turned out pretty good. I especially liked the sloppy joe recipe.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this one but still haven't implemented any meals quite yet!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the first 2 chapters of this book! They were so helpful and informative. A lot of the recipes looked amazing, but had so many ingredients that they became intimidating.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far I’ve tried three recipes from this cookbook and they have all been a hit with my whole family.