Last night I got a phone call from a good friend, and she was asking if Dylan could come over to play for the afternoon. I said sure, he would be so excited to spend the day at a friend’s house. I know he will have a blast, and I knew that with a little extra time in the morning, I could knock out some cooking for the freezer.

Yesterday James came home with these…

One of his friends stopped by his workplace with a big bag of Apples for me. I was pretty pumped, and I knew exactly what to do with them. I’ll make up a big batch of freezer-friendly Apple Pie Filling, and be set for awhile. I’ll be baking a pie for his friend though, to say thanks.

Agnes wanted to “help”, but it was naptime, so no little gals in the kitchen.

I set in and got to work. I started the roux for the Potato Soup, and started the base for the Apple Pie Filling too. I also trashed the kitchen, but oh well.

I used the pre-cooked potatoes that I had on hand. I had Bacon Breakfast Potatoes, and Potatoes from the leftover weekend Pot Roast hanging out in the fridge. I threw in Milk, Cheese, Salt, Pepper, and Garlic Salt, and made one tasty soup.

Oh my goodness, it was really tasty.

It also made a gigantic pot of soup.

The Apple Pie Filling is simple. It’s Apple Juice, Sugar, Cinnamon, Corn Starch, and Apples. I just peeled, chopped, and dropped the Apples into the syrupy sweet cinnamon deliciousness. The kitchen smells amazing too.

I waited a bit for everything to cool. I got all of my freezer supplies together, and tidied up a bit of the dishes too.

I scooped the Apple Pie Filling into quart sized bags. I ended up with three quarts, and a little bit more. I’m going to mash, and add the leftover apples to Brown Sugar Topped Oatmeal Muffins, for the next time my mom comes to visit. Make sure and remove as much air from the bags that you can, and freeze the quart bags flat. It makes them easier to store (you can store them upright once they are frozen), and it helps them thaw a bit faster too.

When it was time to store the soup, I measured out 1 1/2 cup portions, and spooned them into a measuring cup. It was easy to portion the soup that way, and easy to pour into bags too. I can eat a ridiculous amount of homemade soup, it is just so stinking good.

I ended up with five generous portions. There would have been six servings, but I was hungry, and had to make sure and taste the batch before I froze it. Oh yeah, it was good! This soup reheats well, and is tasty alongside Crusty Bread Rolls.

What about you… Do you have any freezer favorites?