Start your freezer meals?

MiaMyPuggle · November 2013

I didn't do freezer meals when I had DS. But, now with #2 on the way, I know I'll need it. I wasn't sure if I should start 2 months before she is born, but I decided to anyway because we have a chest freezer that will freeze the meals well.
I have 2 1/2 meals done. I made chili and chicken broccoli rice casserole and my mom made a sweet potato side.
Anyone else start already?

Arrgcr · November 2013

I have! I will make a double of something and then freeze the other part. I also have made a think of taco meat and frozen it. And enchilada filler. For me and DS I make a sandwich bag full of things DH won't eat. Anything containing chicken. I've felt like crap all week and ended up dipping into the chicken spaghetti and Alfredo...

maebynot · November 2013

Yes! My parents happened to be in town this weekend (they live a 10 hr drive away) and suggested we start so she and I put away a big lasagna, some cooked chicken that can be added to anything and some turkey loaf. She's really conservative about food safety/freezing stuff and said this was totally fine to freeze now and eat in January so I took the help while I had it! Glad I'm not the only one - it feels like the only thing I have sort of done since the nursery, hospital bag, decorations, baby purchases, etc are still all on my "To Do" list:)

Arrgcr · November 2013

@mlegal when you freeze meatloaf, is it fully cooked or raw?

caraconner · November 2013

I've been *thinking* about freezer meals. But haven't gotten any farther than that. It'll probably just be a few lasagnas, some bacon buns and meat balls for quick spaghetti meals.

Arrgcr · November 2013

Should we do like a freezer meal recipe exchange thing? Like share a couple of recipes?

tootsscott · November 2013

I started a while ago, and my bf is cooking some for me this week for me to keep. I did most of mine in either ziploc bags or aluminum casserole dishes to save space! I have chilli, broccoli soup, lasagna, spinach rice casserole... I forget what else. But I have at least 4 servings of each.

Unknown · November 2013

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valigrl21 · November 2013

I have been doing them for about 6 months or so now. If I am home and DD is napping on the weekends, I will try to put a few in the freezer. Or just double up on Sunday night's dinner and put the second batch in the freezer. I am running out of room to store them though.

shortstuff15 · November 2013

I've been doubling easy things like soup & chili for about a month now. I just put the leftovers in a ziplock bag so I can freeze it flat and it doesn't take as much room. I have 7 meals already. I did this for my second too and it worked awesome!

quidditchcapn1120 · November 2013

This weekend was DS1's birthday party and we had about 10-15 pounds of sliced crockpot pork and beef leftover. So, we went out and bought a deep freezer. I just noticed Target has a "spend $50 on food, get $10 off" mobile coupon just this week so I will probably do another couple meals this weekend via Pinterest.

The nice thing about a deep freezer this time is I will have a place to put my stash of breast milk. Last time I used up almost the whole freezer for breast milk and we didn't have anywhere to put food (which I was happy to have that version of the problem as opposed to the opposite).

LadyJ2949 · November 2013

It's so funny you posted this because I was going to start a discussion about this today.

There is a whole article about freezing meals in this months Rachel Ray magazine, too. It has a lot of great tips about freezing meals, timelines for how long foods are good, packaging, etc.

I recently made a list of some of the different meals I want to make over the next few weeks. I'm doing the same as some of the PP's: I'll make dinner and just double it and freeze all the leftovers. So far I've made chicken tortilla soup, chicken nuggets, and chicken stuffing bake (lots o' chicken lol). This week it's a couple extra batches of my meatballs and sauce, a baked ziti, and a few extra batches of taco filling. Some of the others on my list are beef stew, lasagna, chili, shepherds pie, pork chops and golden applesauce, french onion soup, and chicken stir fry.

If any of you ladies have some tried and true freezer recipes you'd like to share, I'd love to see them! Also, how many meals do you ladies plan on making? How much do you think you'll need to tide you over until you get into a routine with the baby?

LMCB12 · November 2013

I got a few pans so I could make double batches of a few things this week. I will probably do the lasagne in the next couple days.

MiaMyPuggle · November 2013

I plan on making about 10 meals. I have my H here for 2 weeks, then my mom for the week H goes back to work. Hoping they help cook so I don't have to use up my precious meals!

gina0485 · November 2013

I was going to start in December. I am loving the idea of a freezer meal recipe exchange or thread.

Galaxy8227 · November 2013

I'll probably start the beginning of Dec. I made a few with DS but now that we have the second freezer I hope to make more.

last14real · November 2013

I had frozen bierocks, 2 bags of chili, fajita chicken with peppers and onions, and chicken pot pie guts (chicken,seasonings,veggies,& sauce all cooked for like 2 hrs that goes in a pot pie). But I have been sick for the last week and a half so DS and I ate the bierocks and chicken pot pie guts. DH is outta town on military leave and I want my son to still eat home cooked meals, definitely glad I already froze some and had them this last week. With the chicken pot pie guts all I did was use a pack of pillsbury biscuits as a top and bottom crust and we had an awesome 3 to 4 meals:) I will keep trying to freeze at least one meal per weekend until LO is here.

genaruthp · November 2013

I am waiting till next month's budget to do the majority of it. But good ideas.

This website was just in a mom group of mine:

www.ringaroundtherosies.net/2012/02/freezer-cooking.html

dltate29 · November 2013

I have definitely started already as well... each time I make soemthing (typically on the weekend as that is when I have the time) I double the receipe or make two batches. I've been doing this a lot with egg casseroles and to make sure the egg and milk didn't go weird being frozen I tried one last month and it was great!

I cannot wait to start on my favorite soups, etc.

maebynot · November 2013

@Arrgcrsorry to post and run yesterday - had a crazy day, no power, etc. But all good now! Anyway, we cooked the turkey loaf and then froze it. I think you can keep frozen ground meat up to a year or so if it's uncooked but 2-3 months cooked. I'm due early Jan so I'll be eating this food in 2-3 months for sure (maybe before as I get lazier and lazier about cooking:)). So I think it'll be ok.

daltosostarby · November 2013

I'm starting with our Thanksgiving meal. I'm making double portions of some things, like the stuffing and mashed potatoes. Plus, I'll have the homemade soup after that I can freeze some of, as well as a pan of turkey tetrazzini. I'll continue after thanksgiving to make double portions of a couple meals a week so we will have a decent supply of freezer meals before LO gets here.

I definitely like the idea of sharing recipes as well!

moosebaby2011 · November 2013

I've started. We've had a freezer in our basement since we moved in last year that we haven't been using, and I got it cleaned and plugged in over the weekend.

Then I made lots and lots of meatloaf. Well, I had a 3 lb package of ground turkey that I made into 3 small meatloaves, one of which got eaten for dinner. The other two got wrapped in foil, stuck in a ziploc, and then frozen.

I also have a tamale pie and some beef stew already made and frozen.

thirsty85 · November 2013

i have been doing this too! I also saw the ring around the rosies crock pot freezer recipes and started doing these for the crock pot. I have used a lot of my own crock pot recipes for this though, just sort of stole her idea of the 'crock pot freezer' meals. they are SO easy! I've tried just to do a dry run and they are awesome! i LOVE the idea of an exchange!

LadyJ2949 · November 2013

@tiffy1693 - It's in the December issue. It was helpful for me because it explains how to properly wrap things so they don't get freezer burn, various ways to thaw things out, how long frozen foods last, etc. A decent little resource. I was kind of hoping I'd turn the page and see a bunch of freezer friendly recipes but so far I don't see anything specifically geared towards that.

flufy82 · November 2013

Started in early October knowing this month and next are booked to the max. So far I have chili, chicken noodle soup, beef barley soup, chicken and rice casserole, regular meat lasagna, alfredo chicken lasagna, 2 chicken pot pie, banana bread...

Most of it in aluminum baking pans...soups in plastic ziplock freezable containers.

Still have a few more I'd like to do, but I know my MIL will stock our freezer too, so I need to leave some room.

BABYROSEJEANS17 · November 2013

I'd wish I had enough room in my freezer to freeze meals. At the very least I'll be making a lot of pots of marinara sauce (I don't like jar sauce) and freeze them in quart freezer bags for SO & myself. I make a basic sauce and if I feel like getting fancy I can sauté veggies, make a pink sauce, etc. Sadly that's as far as I've gotten.

Momto1goofball · November 2013

I just found this on Rachel Ray's website. There are a few on here that I will definitely be trying.

https://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/special-recipe-collections/top-20-freezable-recipes/1/

goldenB · November 2013

I just found this link - apparently you can do 14 meals in 1 afternoon:

https://kojo-designs.com/2012/04/getting-organized-a-whole-months-worth-of-meals-via-crockpot-freezer-cooking/

LexGator · November 2013

I plan to do some over the long weekend next weekend. I have a list of recipes I've been pinning/collecting for a few months and a spreadsheet with all of the ingredients I need. A lot of the nonperishables I already have. I am hoping either chicken or ground meat is on sale somewhere this coming week so I can do a batch next weekend. You all have motivated me -- I felt like maybe it was too early, but as I get lazier and lazier, I know now's the time.

LadyJ2949 · November 2013

I made three stir fry meals tonight to freeze. I blanched all the veggies, let them cool, and then placed them in freezer bags. For blanching times for each veggie, I used this site for guidance:

https://www.simplebites.net/diy-stir-fry-vegetable-freezer-packages/

Then I cut up the chicken breast into bite sized pieces and placed them in a separate freezer bag with teriyaki marinade. (I read that you can cook the chicken in advance but I was worried it would get dried out when I reheated it.)

You could take it a step further and measure out all the spices, sauces, toppings, etc. to go with it (I typically add garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, hoisin, soy sauce, sesame seeds, crushed peanuts, scallions) but I figure cutting up all the veggies and marinating the chicken is really the time consuming part and the rest would be a breeze to add when we'r reheating it.

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