Freezer Meals

sheluvs2travel · September 2014

Is anyone making any freezer meals in preparation for baby? I'd like to make a few and am googling recipes, but would love to hear from anyone who has any recommendations for things they have made (and liked) in the past.

TIA!

Maggie6424 · September 2014

There have already been several threads on this. Use the search feature on the main page and you should be able to find what you're looking for.

sheluvs2travel · September 2014

Really? I didn't see any previous posts with recipe links. Just suggestions about hot pockets and lasagna. I was specifically looking for recipes people tried and enjoyed.

hgielrebmik · September 2014

Google is your friend. Use it.

kaniela17 · September 2014

I guess this is just me but isn't this what these forums are for? To OP...I've been trying to find the motivation to do this as well. I do make freezer meals for my son. Just regular ditalini pasta with a jar of good marinara sauce with ground beef mixed in, let it cool then pack in 4oz. jars and freeze. You could also make your favorite Mac n cheese recipe and freeze the same way in bigger size jars or if you bake yours, cut into sections and freeze in baggies. You can get good mason jars at any walmart or target. That's all I've thought of for now, but I'm sure there are a ton more.

caranichole · September 2014

@sheluvs2travel‌ I don't have any recipes to offer but here we some previous threads that people made great suggestions on: https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12316865/freezer-meals https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12416250/freezing-meals-before-baby-arrives Neither of them really have recipes but the first has several links to sites that do. Don't be turned off from us based on PPs response. You asked something perfectly legitimate that hasn't actually been discussed that I can find.

Liss1481 · September 2014

If you have a Crock Pot, you may want to look up some recipes for it too. I'm not doing any freezer meals, but plan to utilize the Crock Pot. It's pretty awesome to dump everything in in the morning, and have a fresh dinner that night.

ETA: It'll be perfect soup weather, and soup/stew holds up great in the freezer. You can freeze them in individual mason jars for easy lunches etc.

Raesofsunshine1 · September 2014

So far Ive made a few. I just made the dish for supper and made a little extra and froze that.

Ive done so far...
-Hamburger gravy (just a beef gravy and ground beef that you serve over mashed potatoes)
-broccoli cheese soup
-chicken spaghetti
-cheddar Jalepeno burgers

I plan on still making
-breakfast burritos
-chili and/or taco soup
And if I have leftovers (like shredded pork) I might freeze that for sandwiches.

Im also planning on buying a large pack of chicken patties, breaded chicken tenders--- stuff like that that you can just heat up in the oven and eat with one hand.

Jbunny100 · September 2014

Check out the Pioneer Woman. She always has some great recipes that are make ahead meals or freezer meals. I am in love with her meat sauce.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/meat-sauce.html

sheluvs2travel · September 2014

theresat858, I just laughed out loud. There ARE a lot of bad crock pot recipes out there, aren't there? I also avoid Pinterest recipes because I hear they usually turn out terrible. I'm just not much of a crock pot gal myself, everything comes out kind of bland and mushy for me. Maybe it's my crockpot? Or I'm a terrible crock pot cook?

I found a chicken pot pie recipe on a food blog that sounds pretty good. It's the kind that you make ahead and freeze, but don't bake until you are ready to eat. I also make a rigatoni that turns out pretty good - not sure how well it will freeze though.

I totally forgot about soups! I'm going to try some of those too. If any of these turn out to be good, I'll come back and post recipe links.

Does anyone here have their own food blog or have any that they follow?

Liss1481 · September 2014

You can actually do a whole chicken in the Crock Pot - the skin doesn't get crispy of course but it's really tender. You can even use the bones/juices/etc to make stock overnight, that you can then use for soup

sheluvs2travel · September 2014

FamousEa said:

https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe-index?freezer-meals They have some yummy stuff

FamousEa - Which recipes from here do you like? I haven't tried any of her stuff.

pnwlover12 · September 2014

Liss1481 said:

You can actually do a whole chicken in the Crock Pot - the skin doesn't get crispy of course but it's really tender. You can even use the bones/juices/etc to make stock overnight, that you can then use for soup

I tried a pinterest recipe for crock pot whole chicken, and it suggested covering the bottom of the crock pot in balled up pieces of alum. foil, which allows the chicken juices to drain underneath it, rather than have allowing the chicken to sit in it's own juices. We tried it and it worked pretty well - still not like cooking it in an oven, but better than being all soft and moist.

sheluvs2travel · September 2014

Jbunny100 said:

Check out the Pioneer Woman. She always has some great recipes that are make ahead meals or freezer meals. I am in love with her meat sauce.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/meat-sauce.html

I forgot about Pioneer Woman! Her stuff is always really good.

JessAnnJ · September 2014

I'm too lazy to make freezer meals. We order meals from a dinner afare. We also ate other easy to prepare things like pasta, sandwiches, and tacos.

persephonerose · September 2014

We like to do Baked Zitti and freeze batches of spaghetti sauce. We have also been making muffins and freezing them, we did this when I was pregnant with DS1 and they made quick easy snacks for while I was breastfeeding.

The pot pie from pioneer woman is good. I like to add in a ton of fresh herbs to make it special. We prep them and freeze them unbaked.

You can also grill/roast chicken breast and slice it to freeze for easy to make chicken fajitas.

SCMomma · September 2014

You could cook up (or just purchase) some grilled chicken breasts for the freezer and use them for salads, sandwiches, chicken salad, over pasta, etc. Bags of frozen shrimp thaw and cook super quickly too. I agree with PPs on chili. That's the #1 freezer meal as far as I'm concerned

HappyCianci · September 2014

sheluvs2travel said:
Does anyone here have their own food blog or have any that they follow?

I have a little food blog called Kid Can Eat (www.kidcaneat.blogspot.com) that has some freezable breakfast bars and bean entrees. The blog Lean Green Bean has lots of good freezer-food ideas, as does Super Healthy Kids.

I'm already putting up food in the freezer. So far I have a batch of oat breakfast cookies, whole wheat banana-nut muffins, and veggie black bean chili.

I still plan to make and freeze:

cheesy quinoa cakes (1 cup cooked quinoa, 1 egg, 1 cup grated cheddar, a handful of parsley, form into cakes with a 1/4 cup measuring cup and bake on a cookie sheet at 350, flipping once...they are handheld and so good!)
meatballs
cooked chicken strips (I know you can buy these, but the storebought ones have weird ingredients)
baked beans

I'm stocking up on frozen bananas for smoothies, too... trying to come up with quick healthy things to feed my son, mostly.

TheOtherJacobsons · September 2014

I made these for a friend of mine last year. Not all of them have recipes (these are my recipes through Calorie Count and have nutritional info too), but there are the cook times for frozen. Basically make everything as if you were about to put it in the oven and cover with foil. I recommend writing the below information on the tin. When you are ready to cook it, either remove from the freezer the night before and cook as normal, or double the cook time if frozen.

Chicken Pot Pie - 425 degrees, 1 1/4 hours frozen, 375 40-50 minutes
Enchiladas - 350 for 35 minutes thawed - double for frozen - remove foil last 5-10 minutes.
Shepard's Pie - 350 for 30 minutes - double for frozen
Tuna Casserole - 350 for 30 minutes thawed - double for frozen - remove foil last 5-10 minutes.
Quiche - 350 for 30-40 minutes thawed - double for frozen - maybe add a couple more eggs if thawed.

Lasagna Roll Ups - 375 for 40-45 minutes thawed - double for frozen.

MrsTinMKE · September 2014

I am making freezer meals.

I have some pot pies, meatballs (Which can make several different meals), banana bread, muffins, enchiladas, spaghetti sauce, and lots of chicken breast that I have marinated that we can easily grill or throw in the slow cooker. I also have a crock pot going right now with Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal which we will eat some and freeze the rest.

I will be making more. I like to make extra large dinners when I cook. DH and I will eat some of what I make and I will freeze the rest. There are other things like fish and chicken or things I can pull out of the freezer and cook quickly or put in the crock pot. I am just focusing on easy homemade meals so we are not eating out all of the time.

Here are some of my favorite recipes:

Chicken Pot Pie - https://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-pot-pie-ix/

Meatballs - https://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Meatball-Nirvana/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=meatbals&e8=Quick Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe Hub&soid=sr_results_p1i9

Banana Bread or Muffins - https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/05/29/best-ever-banana-bread-with-cream-cheese-frosting/

Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas - https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/black-bean-and-cheese-enchiladas/5a9823dc-16bf-4a33-a636-ac6a87498341

BKLiz · September 2014

I just made some today. - chili - kale, spinach, black bean, onion, garlic, peppers, cheddar cheese enchiladas - roasted veggies (squash, zucchini, carrots, onions, and broccoli), black beans, tofu (spiced with taco seasoning), rice, and cheddar cheese burritos Tomorrow I'm trying out some veggie burger recipes.

turtlewifey · September 2014

Some ideas - chili, soup, mac and cheese, lasagna, spaghetti sauce, burger patties, banana/zucchini (whatever you like) bread for breakfast and snacks, and enchiladas.

The blog Damn Delicious has a bunch of recipes for 1 pot meals that look like they would freeze well. I make this stuffing regularly and freeze it for later use.
https://damndelicious.net/2013/06/03/quinoa-stuffed-bell-peppers/

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