making meals to freeze

sweetyq1984

I have started making some meals to freeze so that when LO is here I dont have to think about making healthy food for me.  Is anyone else thinking about doing this? If so, are there any recipes you would like to share?

moroccojade

I will definitely do this again.

I will make Japanese curry....   and a creamy red borscht....  and maybe a lasagna or two.

AnnieRoo13

I'll definitely do some of this too. I'm planning on making lasagna, spaghetti sauce, stuffed shells, and chilli.

I'd love to be able to use my slow cooker too, but I've never really been 100% happy with the recipes I've made using it.

I probably won't start my cooking until September/October when it's a little cooler.

sweetyq1984

Ive never had much success with soups but I found two recipes that Im going to try.  Most of the ones im making are slow cooker recipes, I make extra then we eat it for dinner and freeze the rest. Ill definitely be making at least one lasagna, hubby has be wanting it for some time now.

sweetyq1984

AnnieRoo13 said:

I'll definitely do some of this too. I'm planning on making lasagna, spaghetti sauce, stuffed shells, and chilli. I'd love to be able to use my slow cooker too, but I've never really been 100% happy with the recipes I've made using it. I probably won't start my cooking until September/October when it's a little cooler.

Do you have a spaghetti sauce recipe that you wouldnt mind sharing? Id love to start making my own.

jac409

I will do stuffed shells, lasagna, enchiladas, soups, etc. I probably won't start until September or October either. I'm sure Pinterest has some good ideas.

absolutelymaybe

I will definitely think about this. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that's as far as I'm going to get.

wallygirl

I plan on doing this but I won't start till mid to late September. So far on the list is baked ziti, lasagna, taco soup, and poppy seed chicken.

@AnnieRoo13‌ I have never frozen stuffed shells do you just freeze the stuffed shells or go ahead and top with sauce before freezing? TIA

Love4Science

I just made my list of freezer meals today but probably won't start until the end of August/beginning of September.

Sweet potato blintzes, black bean veggie burgers, stuffed shells, mushroom sherry sauce for pasta, mushroom bourguignon, kielbasa white bean soup, slow cooker root beer pulled pork all made the list.  I'll probably make one batch of each and freeze all of it so I really don't have to think about cooking for a while. 

AnnieRoo13

@sweetyq1984‌ I use Pioneer Woman's spaghetti sauce recipe: https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/09/spaghetti-sauce/

It makes a ton and it's delicious. It also freezes really well- we had it for dinner tonight! I put it in large ziplock freezer bags and squeeze all the air out and then freeze them flat so they don't take up too much room.

@wallygirl‌ to be honest I haven't frozen stuffed shells either. I would likely put the sauce on top before freezing though as I have found most tomato based sauce freezes pretty well.

runningmama14

AnnieRoo13 said:

@sweetyq1984‌ I use Pioneer Woman's spaghetti sauce recipe: https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/09/spaghetti-sauce/

It makes a ton and it's delicious. It also freezes really well- we had it for dinner tonight! I put it in large ziplock freezer bags and squeeze all the air out and then freeze them flat so they don't take up too much room.

@wallygirl‌ to be honest I haven't frozen stuffed shells either. I would likely put the sauce on top before freezing though as I have found most tomato based sauce freezes pretty well.

I do stuffed shells both ways. I'll freeze a whole pan already made and I'll freeze them without any sauce. I use the non sauced ones to make a lunch or dinner for one as needed. Both work fine.

tinkerbell1658

@AnnieRoo13‌ I learned how to get the air out and freeze flat from doing it for breastmilk! Lmao, thats what I always think of when Im doing it.

I would stuff the shells, put them in a foil pan, sauce and cheese them. Pop in the freezer like that. Nothing to do but put in the oven, the sauce and cheese freeze good. :-)

smitty2013

We have almost finished out list and I hope to start on it in late September.

Allisonville

I really, really want to do this. My problem is that my husband is weird and isn't a big fan of pasta or casseroles. Soooo I hope to make few and just kind of mix them in every now and then for the first few months. As of right now my list includes probably 2 each of lasagna, chicken tetrazzini, taco soup, and potato soup.

I also want to stock my freezer with some easy convenience foods. Pizza, chicken tenders, stuff like that. Not the healthiest meals ever, but better than take out or a drive through!

Kristy774

Allisonville said:

I really, really want to do this. My problem is that my husband is weird and isn't a big fan of pasta or casseroles. Soooo I hope to make few and just kind of mix them in every now and then for the first few months. As of right now my list includes probably 2 each of lasagna, chicken tetrazzini, taco soup, and potato soup.

I also want to stock my freezer with some easy convenience foods. Pizza, chicken tenders, stuff like that. Not the healthiest meals ever, but better than take out or a drive through!

Can I have your chicken tetrazzini recipe?

Allisonville

@Kristy774‌ I used this one.

https://goodenessgracious.com/2013/09/chicken-tetrazzini.html

I did a test batch and thought it was pretty good.

nov14mom

I love your baby's name AnnieRoo!

amtay825

Love4Science said:

I just made my list of freezer meals today but probably won't start until the end of August/beginning of September.

Sweet potato blintzes, black bean veggie burgers, stuffed shells, mushroom sherry sauce for pasta, mushroom bourguignon, kielbasa white bean soup, slow cooker root beer pulled pork all made the list.  I'll probably make one batch of each and freeze all of it so I really don't have to think about cooking for a while. 

Thanks to you, at 6AM I am craving root beer pulled pork. Never had it, but sounds wonderful and can't wait to try it. My mouth is literally watering for it....LOL. Time to make a trip to the grocery store; and forget freezing it...this will be dinner one night this week ;-)

missnacholover

I'm going to do this, but not for a little while.  Probably Septemberish. 

I'll probably also buy some already made things like Stouffers Lasagna and Mac N cheese and stuff. 

Like PP said, DH is a weirdo about casseroles.  But I figure I can make some burger patties and stuff like that to have on hand as well. 

MGM81

I have started my list and added some to my board on Pinterest

I think I will do a weekend of:
Crock Pot Meals
Turkey Chill
Mac Pie
Turkey Meatballs w/ sauce easy for subs or spaggititt 

AnnieRoo13

nov14mom said:

I love your baby's name AnnieRoo!

Thank you!

mrsransom

We have started freezing meals!  We aren't just doing it for baby.  We both work full time and struggle with cooking every night.  We end up getting takeout a lot because we are just so tired after work & want to relax, or just have other things we need to get done.  Well, this ends up being more calories, & a lot more money, which we won't have once day care fees start! 

We have already made & frozen some homemade pizzas, chicken pot pies, chicken lasagna, chicken fajita bake, homemade tortillas, & several different chicken & veggie things for the crock pot.  The only things we have cooked after being frozen so far are the pot pie & pizza, & both tasted fresh!

I'm planning on cooking as often as I can & always making extra to freeze, & then just using something frozen when there's no time to cook   There are tons of great recipes on pinterest, & if you like using clean ingredients (real foods, whole wheat, not much processed stuff), I recommend the recipes on 100daysofrealfood.com.  I have made probably half of them & they are all fantastic!

Love4Science

@amtay825 It's really easy!  I've never made it but I watched my dad make it a few months ago.  He just bought a couple pork tenderloins (about a pound each), put them in the crock pot, covered them with root beer, and turned the crock pot on low to cook overnight.  Then he pulled the pork out of the crock pot, shredded it, and discarded the cooking liquid.  He thinned some Sweet Baby Ray's Chipotle flavored BBQ sauce with some root beer until it was the right consistency, mixed that in to the shredded pork, and we ate it on King's Hawaiian rolls.  It was delicious.  It's not super root-beery, but the root beer in the BBQ sauce added just enough.

howin23

I'm planning to make lasagna, macaroni and cheese sauce (to just add to pasta), beef bourguignon (thaws great so I can still have dinner parties without the work), pecan chicken, and cookie dough.

I've talked my husband into getting a second freezer for the basement off craigslist so that we have more space, and will also stock that with pizza, chicken tenders, and vegetable steamers. I'm also hoping that friends will bring us food!

lovingaddi

I honestly didn't even think of this, but seriously that is a great idea! I'll have to do some research on crockpot recipes too.

wallygirl

Love4Science said:

@amtay825 It's really easy!  I've never made it but I watched my dad make it a few months ago.  He just bought a couple pork tenderloins (about a pound each), put them in the crock pot, covered them with root beer, and turned the crock pot on low to cook overnight.  Then he pulled the pork out of the crock pot, shredded it, and discarded the cooking liquid.  He thinned some Sweet Baby Ray's Chipotle flavored BBQ sauce with some root beer until it was the right consistency, mixed that in to the shredded pork, and we ate it on King's Hawaiian rolls.  It was delicious.  It's not super root-beery, but the root beer in the BBQ sauce added just enough.

I also add a quartered onion and some chopped celery and a couple of bay leaves to the root beer to give some extra flavor to the meat. I discard it after cooking. I usually thin my bbq sauce out with the cooking liquid IF it needs it after adding it to the pork. I have also used dr pepper instead of root beer because it was what we had in the house. 

jaminjeff

What I do (did this last time), pick 1-2 meals a week where I know it's a meal we like and I double or triple the recipe.  Then I just freeze the extras.  I started last week and did two extra batches of chicken tortilla soup.  This week I'm doing meatloaf.

cindyNmark2010

 

lovingaddi said:

I honestly didn't even think of this, but seriously that is a great idea! I'll have to do some research on crockpot recipes too.

I use this site all the time.  I'll prepare and freeze the ingredients and thaw them a day or two in the fridge before dumping them in the crock pot.

 

https://www.budget101.com/frugal/dump-recipes-164/

FishyMom

This is on my to do list (make list of freezer meals).  I have been pinning on pinterest to start off.  I am working on getting my freezer cleaned out so that I can make room for these new meals.  So far on my list is:

Chicken Enchiladas

Stuffed Shells

Lasagna

Chili

Home made Spaghetti

Chicken Pot Pies (mini)

Chipotle Pulled Pork

Casseroles (enchilada, taco, cheesy chicken spagetti)

I will probably make alot of these and then use my food saver and section them off as individual dinners.  I need to add ALOT more to my list tho!

xxMiss2Mrs09xx

Coming over from A14...does anyone do schwans? I was just looking into it and wondered your opinion on it.