I have a love/ hate relationship with eating out. I love to eat out. I hate eating out with kids because it’s so expensive. And when we are finished I always feel like the cost was way to high. But some days, cooking isn’t feasible. Maybe you were out all day running errands, or you had a field trip, or maybe the baby demanded you sit on the couch and nurse him lest he protest and tell the entire neighborhood that you want to feed those other children and not him. That’s when the freezer can work for you. Simply by making double of a meal (like lasagna) or having a massive cooking day, your freezer can hold meals ready to heat and eat. You’ll save valuable dollars by not heading out to a restaurant and they will be more nutritious than packaged meals from the grocery store.
Recently I made a big batch of Twice Baked Potatoes. Well, they were a big batch until all of my children declared them the best thing they had ever eaten and ate their body weight in potatoes before I could freeze them. Thankfully, I was able to freeze some! And they are super easy. They make a nice side dish depending on the size of your potato, or a quick lunch. Add a salad and you are good to go. Or don’t add the salad, I won’t tell.
Twice Baked Potatoes 
Sack of russet potatoes
bacon, cooked and crumbled
cream cheese, softened
sour cream
shredded cheese
butter, softened
olive oil and salt
Preheat your oven to 450*. Wash all of your potatoes, poke holes in them, rub them with olive oil and some salt, and wrap in foil. Stick them in the oven until they are perfect baked potatoes: when you squeeze them they feel a bit squishy. When done (probably in 1.5 – 2 hours depending on the size of your potato), pull them out of the oven, take off the foil, and let them cool until you can handle them.
When they are cool, cut all of them in half lengthwise and scoop out the insides into a big bowl. You want to create a little potatoe boat. Be sure to not scoop to much or your potato boat will collapse. Once you have all the potatoe insides scooped into the bowl, it’s time to make the worlds best mashed potatoes. I wish I could give you exact amounts, but I just guesstimate my way through. I start by throwing in half a stick of butter and mashing it all together. then I add an 8oz package of softened cream cheese and mix that thoroughly. Last I add a bit of sour cream to get the right consistency, and then add salt and pepper to taste. Finish by adding shredded cheese and the crumbled bacon.
Now fill your potato boats full of the wonderful mashed potato mixture. Set on a cookie sheet. After you are done filling all the potatoes you could sprinkle more shredded cheese if you want. Stick the cookie sheet in the freezer and let the potatoes freeze up. When they are completely frozen, put them into a freezer ziploc bag and label. When you are hungry, you can grab one (0r 5 if you have an army like mine) and place in the oven on 400* until warmed through. You could also microwave them, though I’ll admit I haven’t tried that.
