Anyone do freezer meals?

sooosie

I posted last night about grocery shopping.  To go along with that, I've also been thinking of cooking things ahead and freezing them in portions since I have a chest freezer.  What kinds of meals do you freeze?  Anyone have recipes they'd like to share as well?

Suzie~shell

I love my freezer! I often make double of a recipe so that I can freeze half to cook another night. I don't do the whole month or anything, but I will make something for dinner one week, freeze half of it in a tinfoil pan and and serve it a few weeks later on a busy night (or a lazy night).

I often freeze dishes like baked penne, stuffed shells, macaroni and cheese, chicken enchiladas, chicken and rice, lasagna, meatballs, meatloaf, etc. PM me if you'd like any recipes, I have them all in word files so they're easy to send.

I also buy bulk portions of meat and freeze in meal size portions. I sometimes buy a half ham and separate it into a few sections and freeze; but I've found that I save the most money when I buy from a local butcher who sells meat in bulk. I buy 20lbs of chicken breast, 20lbs ground chuck, 10lbs pork chops, strip steaks and sausage -- it's all packaged in one pound packages, ready to freeze and lasts several months. I've saved as much as $80 from what I would've spent at the grocery store. 

fozzy923

I don't freeze too many meals, but I buy chicken breasts, slice them into thin cutlets (i get 3 per breast) and wrap alternating with wax paper seperating each cutlet -- then wrap with saran wrap in groups of 5.  -- this makes it super easy to defrost quick and make almost anything (ck francaisse, marsala, rollups - baked stuffed with broccoli, or any veggie and mozz - I will flour them and pan fry in a little butter and olive oil in a super hot pan and then chop and toss in buffalo sauce for a healthy buffalo chicken salad.

you could also chop the breasts in cubes to have ready for a quick stir fry or pot pie or get creative.

also, for a quick chicken parm, I will flour, egg, breadcrumb my chicken when  I am slicing it (at night, the slicing and breadcrumbing is time intensive) and then follow the same freezing method above, then when I  wanto make ck parm, i odn't have to worry about entertaining the kids -- all i have to do is defrost and fry...

I don't freeze uncooked chop meat for long, it doesn't stay as fresh to me as the chicken does.  A great frozen chopmeat dinner that stays great is shepherds pie. 

goodheartedmommy

I used to be way better at freezer meals than I am now. Lasagna, baked spaghetti, chicken pot pie, shepherd's pie, any chicken casserole are all good things to freeze. Another good thing to do is boil chicken and chop it and cook ground beef/turkey, and have it frozen in 1 lb portions, so you can just pull it out as needed for cooking. I also do the same with onions, peppers, and other things I cook with a lot. My friends and I were really good at getting together once a month to make freezer meals together, but we haven't done it in forever. It's fun, though, so ask some girlfriends if they're interested in getting together to make freezer meals. We'd all sign up for ingredients each time.