Freezer Meal Recipes!

If you didn't see my freezer prep post you might want to read over that first. I give you some tips and tricks that helped me out. As a beginner it was pretty intimidating! If you've already read that post I'll hush up and let you check out the recipes and prep work for each one!
http://rollercoasterofmotherhood.blogspot.com/2012/08/freezer-prep-before-baby.html

Crockpot Chicken pulls!

Freezer prep: For this one I grabbed a gallon size freezer bag and threw in my chicken breast. Then mixed the sauce in a bowl and tossed over the chicken. Pushed out all the air and wrote down the instructions on the bag. Also put a reminder that I needed to pull out buns which I also have in the freezer!

Serving with a side of macaroni and baked beans!

Chicken Fajitas in the oven!

Freezer prep: Grabbed a gallon size freezer bag and added my chopped chicken breast, green peppers and onion. I wrote on my bag that I need to add my cajun seasoning before cooking. Also have a reminder to pull out the tortilla shells. Which you guessed it are also sitting in the freezer!

Serving with sour cream and cheese. Now we may have to run and grab sour cream from the local store but its better then doing a full shopping trip. Most of the time we have sour cream in our fridge anyway so its a slim possibility.

Crockpot Chicken noodle soup

Freezer bag: I tossed in my chicken breast, carrots, onion and celery. I put on the bag to add chicken broth and seasonings before cooking in the crockpot. Also that I need to boil the noodles on the stove DO NOT do those in the crockpot! Cook time and everything is also on the bag.

Crockpot Creamy sweet pork roast

Freezer bag: I tossed together the sauce mix and threw it over the pork roast. Sealed it and wrote down the cook time and date. 

Serving with mashed potatoes and a vegetable which I also wrote on the bag. 

Stuffed Shells

Foil pan: I prepped everything as if I were going to throw it in the oven. I stuffed the shells with the cheese mix, 1 pound hamburger and spinach. Put a layer of sauce on the bottom of pan shells then sauce on top. Sprinkled with cheese and froze.

Wrote down cook time and temperature on pan and to serve with garlic bread or salad if desired. 

Baked Sausage Ziti

Foil pan: Prepared as if I was going to throw it in the oven. For mine I added spinach and 1 pound of cooked italian sausage. Mixed all the stuff together and topped with cheese. Then placed in the oven with cooking instructions! 

Chicken broccoli Casserole

Ingredients: 

16 ounces frozen broccoli florets (or about 3 cups fresh broccoli florets)

3 cups cooked cubed chicken

pepper

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 cup chicken broth

paprika, optional

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cups rice (uncooked measurement), cooked according to package instructions (should make 4 1/5 cups of cooked rice)

Instructions: 

1. In covered saucepan, cook broccoli in water just until tender, about 5 minutes.

2. In greased 9 x 13 baking dish, spread broccoli across bottom and sprinkle chicken evenly on top. Generously sprinkle black pepper over chicken.

3. In mixing bowl, combine cream soups, mayonnaise, curry powder, and chicken broth, whisking until smooth. Pour over chicken. Sprinkle paprika on top if desired.

4. Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Spread cheese on top and bake 5-10 minutes longer, until melted and slightly browned.

5. While casserole is baking, cook rice. Serve the chicken and broccoli mixture over hot rice.

Now for freezing here's what I did. prepared everything up until the seasoning. When Im ready to cook Im going to then add in the curry and paprika. I also wrote that on the pan lid so I would remember and to serve over rice. Other then that I followed the step by step instructions then froze the meal! Now from what I read freezing mayo alone can cause it to separate and taste awful. However because you combined it with other ingredients it SHOULD be ok according to the things I looked at.....Let you know later ;)

Pepperoncini beef roast sandwiches  

For this one I just froze the beef roast and buns. No prep work for this one! 

click me for recipe!

Ranch pork chop stew

This one I just froze the pork chops in a freezer bag. Put on there I needed to add the ranch pack and cream of chicken. Then also I need to add the potatoes and carrots to the crockpot before cooking. Simple as that! 

Click me for recipe!

Breakfast Sandwiches!

These are pretty self explanatory. For ours I just used bagels and english muffins, turkey bacon, eggs and cheese. Put the sandwiches together as if I was going to eat one and then froze. Now word to the wise I suggest using bagel things or english muffins. The thick bagels didn't work too well I did a test run on them. Also you can do burrito style if you dont like english muffins to bagels. I wrapped each sandwich in cling wrap (plastic wrap saran wrap whatever you wanna call it) and then placed then all in one gallon size freezer bag. Im going to thaw out the night before and pop in a toaster oven the next morning. I suggest thawing before if you're using a microwave and wrapping it in a damp paper towel. Might help with it overcooking......

Stove top Chili

Banana bread

So thats it my friends! See you in a few months for an update on whether or not this was a fail or not!

Freezer Prep before baby!

If you follow me on my youtube channel you know Im expecting my second son in just 6 weeks. I decided this time around I would attempt freezer cooking so we wouldn't starve or live off of cereal and soup. Lets just say that was a big lesson learned our first time around ha ha. Anyway I've never done freezer cooking and the thought was intimidating! Reading on how some things like potatoes wont freeze right or how rice may not taste good once thawed scared me. So after looking at meals I make all the time I realized I could do this. Forget all those articles and just think about it. Most of the meals Im going to share with you are my meals. I left the starches out of the prep process so I can avoid those funky tastes they may cause. I'll have to cook some rice or potatoes on the day we have some of these meals but hey thats a small step right!

Lets talk organization. For me it was easy to sort my list by freezing technic. Meaning if it was going to be froze in a freezer safe storage bag, foil pan or just the meat. I'll show you what I mean by posting a list of what's in this picture.

In Freezer gallon bag

• Chicken pulls
• Chicken Fajitas 
• Chicken Noodle soup
• Creamy Pork roast
• Chili
• banana bread
• bagel bacon egg and cheese sandwiches
• bacon, egg and cheese english muffins

In a foil pan

• Stuffed shells
• Baked sausage ziti
• Chicken Broccoli Casserole 

Just the meat

• Pepperoncini beef roast sandwiches  
• Ranch pork chop stew

Once I did that I looked at what I needed for each meal. For me prepping all this in one day was not going to happen. So I started with the breakfast sandwiches. Bought the stuff to make it and spent an hour prepping both! As for dinner I just double batched a lot of these. So when we had chili I froze half and if I made a creamy ranch meal I just tossed one in a bag to freeze and then the other in the oven. I'll explain more when I break down each meal. 

Now lets talk stickers! Yes Im a neat freak and for me I wanted to make sure I had EVERY item I needed for each meal. I don't want to run to the store for anything when baby gets here. After making my first list above I broke down each meal and what they required. So if I needed noodles or chicken broth I made sure I bought it. Once a meal was in my freezer I better have the dry ingredients to add on cooking day in the cabinets too. Now to keep myself from using these ingredients I put on these bright stickers and wrote what they were for on them. Now I know not to use them until its time to cook that meal! So easy and organized ha ha. 

Freezer organization was my next step. How in the world was I going to get 10 meals plus some in my small freezer? Also how could I make it simple enough for my husband to do if I couldn't get to a meal one night? I decided on the write it all out method. An example is pictured on the right. EVERYTHING has the cooking temperature, cook time and what I need to add to each meal before cooking. Also the date I put it in the freezer. That way when I start cooking I can use the stuff that was in the freezer longer. All the early dates (8-5-12) are at the top and the later dates (8-23-12) put on the bottom. So I can just grab and work my way down the freezer stacks. Maker sure you lay the freezer bag meals flat! It will save you room. I found filling the sink with water and submerging the freezer bags in it helped seal the bag and push out all the air! Now just be carful you don't go and dunk the zipper part or you will have a watery meal. As for the foil pan meals its best to freeze without stacking those. So if you're making more then one you want to be sure you don't stack any of them until they're rock hard. Foil covers wont hold in your sauce and it will create a big mess which you don't want. No I didn't do that myself but heard about some ladies that did. That's all my tips! Try not to do too many meals in one day and just prep as you go. If this is a prebaby or surgery preparation you can plan ahead. I did two to three meals a week. Got 10 meals done in just three weeks!

Now lets talk recipes! I think for this one Im going to create another post. All my freezer meal recipes and how I froze each one. Click the link to go onto that post!

http://rollercoasterofmotherhood.blogspot.com/2012/08/freezer-meal-recipes.html