Freezer meal PSA

jrw526

I know many of us are going back to work soon.  If you're into making freezer meals, I'd highly suggest making some for your first few weeks back to work.  It's so nice to have something ready to go so you can have extra snuggle time with lo

Sharing this lovely thought as I make my 3rd freezer meal

SurpriseAt39

FarmBoysWife said:

Don't freeze potatoes!

Um? Why?
Raw potatoes? Mashed potatoes? Scalloped potatoes? Roasted potatoes?

You must explain....
(Not that I had specific plans to...but what is the reason???)

LaurenAsh23

I was actually thinking of posting a thread seeing if anyone is interested in sharing freezer recipes. I've been working on building up a stash for when I go back to work. So far I've made Mongolian beef, 2 strombolis and orange teriyaki chicken. Hoping to make pesto stuffed shells and chocolate chip cookie dough this weekend!

Also, my mom made us twice baked potatoes that were great warmed up from frozen.

Sanibel21

Ugh I wish I had motivation to do this! It seems so hard. How many servings of each thing do y'all make? I assume you freeze them in portions, but in what? Then microwave them or heat them in the oven? Maybe I'll try.

MA&CB

That's a good point!  I was just thinking how am I going to have time to make dinner after work when I'm sure LO will be attached to the boob as soon as we get home.  I just made a double batch of this chicken tortilla soup.  It freezes really well, and then you just add fresh toppings like avocado, tortilla strips or chips, cheese, cilantro etc.

https://laylita.com/recipes/2011/11/25/chicken-or-turkey-tortilla-soup-recipe/

I find it easiest just to plan a couple meals a week that can be doubled and freeze half.  Other things I made while pregnant that froze well were black bean soup, buffalo chicken for salads or wraps, stuffed shells, crockpot cilantro lime chicken, chicken curry, and bbq pulled pork.

jrw526

Today I made stuffed shells, lasagna roll ups, chicken Taquitos, and froze shredded chicken. I also plan to make chicken tortilla soup, and prep a few bags for crockpot meals.

Eta: I put the shells and lasagna rolls and Taquitos in a Pyrex container and freeze. Then I ransfer them to ziplock bags. For the shredded chicken, I put one shredded breast into a sandwich sized ziplock for easy portions.

linzerd

LaurenAsh23 said:

I was actually thinking of posting a thread seeing if anyone is interested in sharing freezer recipes. I've been working on building up a stash for when I go back to work. So far I've made Mongolian beef, 2 strombolis and orange teriyaki chicken. Hoping to make pesto stuffed shells and chocolate chip cookie dough this weekend! Also, my mom made us twice baked potatoes that were great warmed up from frozen.

@LaurenAsh23 please do! I want that pesto shells recipe! I'm obsessed with pesto!

clo1982

These sound awesome! Please link recipes!

karen31186

I have a whole list of freezer meals that I have typed up in a Word document. If you are interested, you can send me a message and I'll give it to you.

liamandlettie

mssm2012 said:

SurpriseAt39 said:

FarmBoysWife said:

Don't freeze potatoes!

Um? Why?
Raw potatoes? Mashed potatoes? Scalloped potatoes? Roasted potatoes?

You must explain....
(Not that I had specific plans to...but what is the reason???)

Raw potatoes turn gray/black in the freezer.

I learned the hard way. I had peeled & diced potatoes, stuck them in a ziploc freezer bag with other veggies and seasoning. Not pretty.

Really? We just made a crockpot meal from the freezer. Ranch porkchops and diced potatoes in one bag and they were just fine! We froze it in February. Hmmm....

SurpriseAt39

@jenniemac2000‌ & @mssm2012‌

When the starch from raw potatoes is exposed to air they discolour ...the same way a peeled banana will turn black/brown/grey.

When you diced them before freezing, you may have rinsed with water before freezing (?) therefore decreasing the surface starch before bagging??

As for whole potatoes,...I don't think even rinsing would help them due to surface area and time it would take to freeze them.

@FarmBoysWife‌

I thought you had the low-down on some evil chemical being released during freezing,...or something.

But since grocers still sell frozen fries and shepherds pie (and you didn't divulge any crazy reason not to), I will keep freezing my spuds as required.

teaforthree

Sanibel21 said:

Ugh I wish I had motivation to do this! It seems so hard. How many servings of each thing do y'all make? I assume you freeze them in portions, but in what? Then microwave them or heat them in the oven? Maybe I'll try.

The best way, IMO, to get a freezer meal stash is to simply double whatever you're already cooking for dinner and freeze half.  Before you know it you'll have lots of meals stored up.  That is what I did while pregnant until I couldn't fit any more in the freezer, and we ate from it for weeks.  A few of our favorites were sausage and kale pasta (I made with mini shells and just mixed it all together; didn't spend the time stuffing shells.  i also used chicken sausage that I buy in bulk as it's cheaper and a little healthier), quiche, soups (beef and barley and chicken and rice are a couple favorites), homemade marinara sauce, macaroni and cheese, chicken spaghetti (not the healthiest and definitely not my usual style of cuisine, but so good! Everyone loved this), and other stuff I know I'm forgetting.  Another piece of advice I have is to put liquid things, like soup, in a large ziplock bag, then freeze flat so that you can stack them in the freezer to save room. 

ladyglittersparkles

@CaseAndDave‌
You're a potato expert

jtenkorang

I did a few freezer meals before lo came along but I haven't since she was born please share recipes! My husband is picky so I'll probably end up cooking anyway but might ax well try.

Kewii

Here's one:

https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/02/spaghetti-meatballs/

I always double the amount of meatballs from this recipe and freeze 3/4 (in groups of six).  Good for spaghetti or meatball subs.

ladyglittersparkles

CaseAndDave said:

@futuremrsspriggs Do you think that is better or worse than being the penis expert like @pepperedmoth?? lol

@caseanddave I have to say it is a close second to the penis expert @pepperedmoth

tots are yum yo!

LittlePigeon

I made freezer meals a week or so before my due date and it was awesome to not have to cook the first few days we were home. I did beef stew, broccoli cheddar chicken pasta bake, spinach ricotta shells, freezer pizza braid, and a chicken rice casserole. The rice meal was just okay, but the others came out great! I found a lot of great recipes on Pintrest.

Edit: Words are hard.

Stephout

I was really glad we made the effort to do freezer meals before baby. I made a big batch of twice baked potatoes that turned out great. I made manicotti, some other pasta thing, Buffalo chicken meatloaf, bacon turkey meatloaf, and shredded chicken.

Meat was on sale this week so I went ahead and pre made a bunch of hamburger patties and a meatloaf to get ahead for next week. Grilling is an option we didn't have 2 months ago and it just seems easier than regular cooking.