Low-cost freezer meal options

I only have a few pots and pans, a few mixing bowls, a couple of whisks, etc. On a regular basis I feed four people — so my kitchen reflects our needs. I know we eat a lot of chicken meals, some with hamburger, and a lot of casserole type meals.

Basically approach freezer meals the same way you would any meal plan. I only have the freezer on my side by side refrigerator. I have had a couple of different deep freezers in the past, but they never got used properly, so I got rid of them.

I thoroughly cleaned out my freezer and found that once it was all cleaned up, not only did I have enough room for all those freezer meals — I even had a leftover shelf to fill with my favorite ice cream which I totally did.

I bought ones that hold about 2 pounds of food, because 4 people divided by 2 pounds is 8 ounces each. Buy good plastic baggies I recommend Ziploc in both gallon and quart size. I did it barefoot and my feet were killing me at the end of four hours.

I wish I had done it on a Sunday when my girls were home to help wash dishes, open cans, etc. I did the bulk of the work when they were at school, but by the last hour I had help and it made my life much easier.

Well, it was for me anyways. Sharpie it up, baby. Need onion for 4 freezer meals recipes? Chop it all at once to make your life easier. Poach all your chicken in one pot which will also give you some decent broth.

Brown all of your hamburger together then divide it out for the different meals. Once again, I have a basic set of pots and pans plus one large stock pot, a couple of mixing bowls one large, one medium , a few wooden spoons and some whisks.

Plus ten is a good stopping point, which my OCD brain appreciates. Of course, if you want to use smaller sizes, then you can absolutely use smaller pans and the meals will stretch even further.

For chili, sauces, etc, we typically use a quart freezer bag with 2 cups of whatever recipe. It makes the meals stretch much further. Before you store your freezer meals, you need to make sure that they are properly labeled.

This includes:. Honestly, that depends on the meal. BUT — according to the USDA, most of the ingredients have safety guidelines that state different times. gov :. I try to side on the err of caution and stay in the month range.

Though, honestly, they never seem to last much longer than the guidelines. I started by putting 5 packs of chicken breasts 15 pieces total in a stock pot with water, to boil them all for the meals I needed. I used the biggest pot I had and boiled them all. While the chicken was cooking, I used another pot and began to brown 12 pounds of ground beef in a smaller stock pot.

To the ground beef, add in the garlic and onions and let cook until onions are soft. Add in the rest of the ingredients and cook for 45 minutes or so on medium heat, until flavors are combined. You can use this sauce for dozens of meals! I used the marinara to make 5 small lasagnas in 2.

On the bottom of your pan, ladle in enough sauce to lightly coat the bottom of the pan with a thin layer. Using a small spoon or tablespoon scoop, add in dollops of the ricotta mixture I did 5 drops on each layer, one on each corner and one in the middle.

Add more marinara onto and around the ricotta, sprinkle a thin layer of mozzarella, then add another layer of noodles. Do three layers, topping it off the final layer of noodles with sauce and good layer mozzarella cheese and cover with cardboard top. Set aside to cool before putting in freezer.

After I made my lasagna, I put the rest of the marinara into gallon Ziploc bags, two cups in each, then squished all the air off and froze them flat in the freezer. Put browned ground beef into a pan with onions and cook until onions are soft. Add in all the other ingredients including the juice of the tomatoes and cook for 30 minutes or so until flavors have combined.

In a saute pan, cook together the ground beef over medium high heat until onion is soft. Set aside to cool.

Make the crust first by combining the flour, egg, sour cream and enough water to bring it together into a thick, but spreadable consistency. Spray the pans I used three round pans and spread a layer of the dough into each one.

Sprinkle the cooled meat mixture over the dough, then top each one with about 2 cups of cheddar. Top with lid. To cook, bake at degrees for minutes, until cheese is lightly browned and bubbly.

For a variation, you could put some of the marinara on the dough, and have a cheeseburger pizza casserole. For the rest of the ground beef, I divided it up into a couple of quart Ziploc bags for sloppy joes or tacos. I shredded all of the chicken and used it in several of the recipes below.

After they were all made, I put the rest of the shredded chicken into quart size Ziploc bags and froze them flat for Chicken Tacos, BBQ Chicken sandwiches, etc. Combine all ingredients except shredded cheddar into a bowl, divide out into three pans, the top with cheddar cheese. When ready to cook, bake at degrees for minutes, until warm and bubbly.

So yummy! Mix together all of the ingredients in a bowl, except the cheese. Divide out into four pans, then top each with the cheddar cheese and top with cardboard topper.

I serve with sour cream and salsa on top and tortilla chips on the side. In a large bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients together, then separate into pans. When ready to cook, bake at until thoroughly warm and cheese is melted everything is already cooked in the casserole.

Mix all of the ingredients together, put into pans and freeze. For me, YES. If you get going, you can really crank out a lot freezer recipes very easily.

Do we eat these every night. There are things my family likes that takes very little time to make and should really be made fresh like potato soup.

These meals will probably last us two month total, if you take out a couple of nights a month to eat out, making fresh meals in between, etc. But those four hours basically gives me an easy meal every other night for two months.

Totally worth it to me! But eating freezer meals five times in two months is pretty realistic. So these freezer recipes come in pretty handy! Gina Luker is a writer, photographer and lover of all things quirky. She's usually found with a drill in one hand and a cocktail in the other while blogging along the way.

She's addicted to coffee, polka dots, rock stars, Instagram , and everything aqua. Amazing post, and finally freezer meals that sound like foods my family would actually eat! And of course I have to ask for the chicken and dressing recipe!!! I am looking forward to dedicating a few hours to this one!!!

I would love to have the recipe you mentioned. The more the better. Hi Geri, what kind of stomach issues does your daughter have? My daughter is having some issues too and I am trying to figure out what foods are affecting her. Does your daughter have a condition or just sensativity to things?

I started having stomach issues in the last year or so, and it was getting so bad I decided to do some investigating on my own, reading labels, etc. Acid reflux is very bad for your health. The only thing that helps me is Famatodine, the generic brand I found at Walmart.

What I have discovered is causing my acid reflux is High Fructose Corn Syrup. If I do not eat any processed foods, I can eat anything and not get sick. Good afternoon.

If stomach issues are the problem, depending on what they are, you might consider processed foods containing gluten a preservative additive, especially in anything with wheat as a culprit.

It took me several years many years ago to come to this conclusion. There is gluten in wheat naturally, but differing amounts depending on the wheat itself.

I hope this helps. If you have not do so already. Take your daughter in to do a food allergy test. It turned out my daughter had several sensitivities. Corn is the main one for her which is in just about everything processed. It is also a cumulative thing for her.

She does not have to totally abstain from eating things with corn as long as she does not over do it. It has been about a year and she can actually eat more than she use to be able to do. You could use ground chicken, turkey, meatless crumbles and springboard to other freezer meal ideas!

I also make freezer meal, taco casserole came about by combining left overs.. refining it as I go. I use ground turkey and pork now instead of beef. There is a cookbook that has recipes that might help your daughter.

Dressing recipe please. Thank you. There must be a better alternative to freezing rather than using plastic bags. Also, I wonder if there is there any merit to the post about not freezing tomato sauce for lasagna etc in foil containers because the foil leaches into the sauce. The idea of pre making all these meals is a good one but too bad there is not some less worrisome way to freeze the meals.

I would rather freeze all in glass containers but that obviously is not possible. I will have to keep that in mind! How about lining foil pans with parchment paper to protect from contact with aluminum? I wonder if the cardboard baking dishes some commercial frozen meals come in are available to purchase somewhere????

I use the ziplock plastic baking pans. Reusable too. Sometimes hard to find though. Usually stock up after holidays on them. Line your glass dishes with plastic wrap before putting the meals in them, then put them in the freezer. Then you get your glassware back. Then put them back in the glass dish to bake.

I make all of my freezer meals this way. For things like meatloaves, I just put a gallon ziploc in the pan, fill it with the meatloaf allowing it to shape to the pan, then stick it in the freezer. When you need to eat it, just remove the bag and stick the meatloaf back in the bread pan.

It will fit perfectly. I freeze in glass all the time! I have purchased Pyrex dishes with lids that go from freezer to fridge to oven just fine. I think that Ziploc also has a line of glass cooking containers with lids for the freezer.

They do take up more space in the freezer but I find they feed my family just fine! I know a woman that will line a glass pan with plastic wrap, then fill the pan with whatever casserole she wants to freeze.

Once it is frozen she pops it out of the pan and puts it back in the freezer. When it is time to bake the casserole, she takes off the plastic wrap, puts it back in the pan she assembled and froze it in, and sticks it in the oven, often putting it in the oven very early in the day so that by dinner time when she turns the oven on it cooks super quick because it has defrosted!

Just a thought.. Honestly, this probably isnt the best idea. There is a way! You can use it with bags OR plastic containers. It removes all the air.

There is also a jar attachment for canning. I have seen posts like this before that recommend taking your actual backing pans, spreading them or lining them with foil and placing the dish in them. When it is completely frozen you take it out, take the frozen dish out of the pan and individually wrap as you choose.

Then place back in the freezer. When you ate ready to cook it, you take it out of the freezer, unwrap it and place it back in the proper pan. You place it in the fridge to thaw, then cook as usual.

You could cut the recipe in half or just make the entire recipe and freeze into portions for 2 🙂. My friends with cancer could eat food frozen in plastic so she froze her things in reusable Pyrex containers with lids.

Have you ever thought of putting a layer of wax paper on top of the tomato dishes to keep the acid from eating the lids? Mason jars or any kind of recycled jars are great for a lot of this stuff…for the. Lasagnas— aluminium pan lined w.

Parchment or wax will be fine? Pyrx baing dish good too but be careful baking in that…. cracks can happen. I have just happened upon your post thru pinterest. I have a question about the jiffy pan things, I have never used them and was wondering if they keep the food sealed so it doesnt get freezer burn?

Also, is there a printable for the recipes? I want to print them out but dont want the whole webpage w all the comments it would be alot of pages!! I did get the shopping list to print thanks! To protect against freezer burn, you will want to put the containers into freezer bags. I use these containers for large amounts of left overs after the holidays and they are great and simple, but so not seal.

I fill pans, cover them, then slide them into a cheap plastic bag and seal that. Never had freezer burn issues that way…. I have made meals and frozen them in these pans for years. I have never had an issue with freezer burn, even if the meals have been in my freezer for months!

The foil pans could freezer burn the dishes if left in the freezer for too long. I don;t think you would have to worry too much about it but you can wrap them in plastic wrap or try to fin them in a Ziploc bag to extend the life of the dishes.

The chicken and dressing recipe is the last one listed. Our family also likes cream of mushroom soup and boiled eggs in our dressing. Also, I cook down the onions and celery in some chicken stock before adding it to the mixture. I must be blind. Hopefully, Gina Luker will see this, as I have two questions.

It says the ricotta mixture is dropped on top of the first thin layer of marinara sauce on the bottom of the pan. Should a layer of lasagna noodles go in between the two? Teal ~ This is being written some time after your comment, posted above.

But, I noticed exactly the samethyst thing about the lasagna recipe when I was reading through it. If it were just me, I usually put some sauce down in the bottom of the pan, then the dry noodles followed by the ricotta cheese and some more sauce, and continue like it says in the directions, which is how I normally assemble it.

I just use regular lasagna noodles to make it this way. No need to pay extra price for special noodles. Just make sure the noodles are surrounded on both sides by sauce when you do the layering, and they cook up fine. No need to worry ~ the noodles will soak up the extra liquid as it all cooks.

Hahaha where do you live? I used to be amish one point, e-mail me marlenekay gmail. I have a large stand up freezer that is full of nothing but jars! A lot of it is the result of a large garden, but I also have many jars of spaghetti sauce with hamburger all ready to go, and dozens of jars of soup.

When I make soup, probably 3 times a month at least, I make a huge pot and after having a meal, and taking out one meal for the frig, I freeze the rest in quart jars. We always have a hearty lunch or a quick meal ready for healthy eating.

Marge or anyone - what kind of jars do you use for freezing? I am getting away from plastic so I tried freezing some chicken stock in one of my quart Ball jars and it cracked!

I thought all canning type jars were freezer safe but I guess not. How do you tell? AND- what types of soup freeze best?

Dawn, You can freeze in jars but you have to be careful how much you put in them. The food will expand when it freezes and will crack the jar. No real guide to go by, you just have to learn as you go.

You have to give anything you put into any non flexible container i. glass container some room to expand. But, remember it will generally expand equally in all directions. Save the lids and you can stack them. If you use the right marker you can write contents and date it too.

I use them for freezing fresh caught fish fillets. I put the clean fillets in water and put it in my deep freezer. They will keep a very long time that way. I think I have only had one or two ever break.

Even if they do break, it is plastic, not glass. If you are going to put hot liquids in them though, just make sure the liquids are cool enough not to damage the plastic itself though.

Hey Dawn have you tried Tupperware Freezer Mates? They come in different sizes and we have tried keeping food in it and it lasts longer than in the fridge. I know its a bit expensive but it comes with life long warranty and pretty worth it to me.

I also reuse jars like spaghetti jars for broth ect. Just have to buy lids. The other thing is to not fill up to the shoulder- that is where the jar narrows.

When the jar is filled to the shoulder and the stuff inside starts to expand the narrowness makes it more likely to crack. I have used wide mouth jars pretty successfully as their shoulders are wider. Also, it is crucial that the food is totally cooled before putting in the freezer as warm food creates bigger ice crystals and therefore takes up more space.

We get a gallon of maple syrup from our home town, then freeze in quart Mason jars. OK for over a year so far. You should really only use straight jars as opposed to jars that are tapered at the neck for freezing. They are generally the wide-mouthed jars. Hope that helps! they do make glass jars for freezing specifically- Ball makes them and you can find themin the canning Isle.

There are special freezer jars made by the same canning jar company. I have been looking into preserving veggies as we will be doing a large garden this year. Everything i see involves pickeling, something I am not a real fan of. I have thought about dehydrating.

What methods of preserving do you reccomend in order to preserve the taste of the veggie. Sarah, I preserve the veggies from our large garden. I can the green beans — because we like them better that way. The rest I blanche and freeze in freezer bags or meal-saver bags.

When you can your own veggies, you can control the amount of salt you add. I recommend buying a Ball Blue Book. This has the blanching times and many recipes for using your foods. Good Luck!!! Sarah, If you are going to have a large garden then I recommend getting a pressure canning pot. You can then put up almost any veggie, preserve, fruit, meat, etc… Ball or Mason jar manufacturer website will have recommendations for the proper way to prep your jars, food, processing time, and storage.

I also freeze various veggies such as corn, peas, green beans, and peppers. here is a website I like and have learned a lot about canning. Good stuff! Thanks for the recipes, and dont worry we eat the cream of whatever soup too.

I know it is probably a big pain, but is there a way to get a calorie count or maybe a weight watchers point value on these meals? I can see ways to modify things a little with fat free and low fat products. Thank you so much!!

I love the idea of the freezer meals but not sure about the day of cooking. I like to at least have frozen cooked hamburger or Italian sausage on hand! Another day make a chicken recipe from this site, serve some for dinner and freeze the rest.

You will still end up with the same amount of frozen meals, just not all cooked on the same day. Gina, these are fantastic!

You have inspired me to load up the freezer. I am the same! Thanks for the recipes! Go you! Then more time for crafting and blogging! You make it sound so do-able! Now the wheels in my head are turning. I should totally do this! Thanks for the great recipes and encouragement.

I have done the same thing but….. on a much smaller scale! Kudos to you!! And cream soup….. I have been wanting to try my hand at a few freezer meals but just reading about it makes it sounds so over-whelming. You make it sound easy.

I am going to make my plan and get on this next weekend. I want 28 meals in my freezer especially for the next two months. Thanks for motivating me!!

You know, I tried researching it a couple of years ago, and it all seemed SO complicated that I never tried it. It was much easier than I thought. I was shocked when finished there were so many meals — I really only expected to get a dozen or so of them.

And… after the last couple of nights of not really cooking at all other than throwing a meal in the oven , it was very nice to have the afternoon with my husband when he got home from work instead of tending to dinner. I will definitely be doing this again 🙂.

Thank you for this post… I already keep my freezer full of non-sandwich lunches for school and with as busy as I can get this is a great way to keep from eating out. Again, thank you! However we also do leftovers often. I used to do this once a month on a Sunday afternoon with my hubby…I am wondering now why we got out of that habit.

Thanks for the reminder. I had learned the trick from my Grandmother, she also did batches of frozen pies which was handy. She was famous for her fruit pies and if asked to bring something to a gathering it was usually one of her pies.

Being able to just grab one out of the freezer to bake up made it easy. Awesome idea and posts! Thank you so much for the tutorial. I plan on sharing this and also doing it soon!

Bon appetit! Hi Laura, Thanks for commenting! Can I ask what you do for heating them up? Do you take items right from the freezer to the oven or do you thaw them? Do the cardboard ish tops also go in the oven? Hi Melissa, I take them out of the freezer, remove the lid, cover with foil and pop them into a degree oven until done.

That might mean 45 minutes or an hour, depending on the density of the dish. They all basically cook the same, just with different times needed until done. Hi Gina, Great posting and ideas! There happens to be a book out that can help you out with this idea written by a neighbor of mine in northern Utah.

Hope you can find it with a google search. It was only printed locally, I think. Keep up the great work and bless you for sharing!! I pull them from the freezer,pull off the foil top, bake at until its done. Just cook until the top is brown and bubbly. I loved this post! You said it would be long, but your great sense of humor made it so easy and fast to read.

I totally have to do this, but have been putting it off. Maybe this was the little nudge I needed to get it done! I have been wanting to try this for a long time, but, like you, I got overwhelmed and shied away after researching it on other blogs.

Your meals are so relatable and family-friendly. The chicken and dressing sounds amazing. I will definitely be giving this a try soon! Fantastic post, found it on Pinterest!! I have been wanting to get some meals in the freezer — thank you for helpful tips and recipes!

I found small warming trays and large so I put dinner on one and dessert on another. Sandra, I was wondering what kind of warming tray you are talking about?

I like this idea but are they like crock pots or the catering ones that have the candle burner under it? Do you put it on water? I will have to look for these. No questions — just thanks for a fabulous post! I only feed two of us so I think I could load up enough for several months using these recipes and techniques.

This is a wonderful idea. I truly need to clean out my freezer anyway, and I have a lot of things in there I need to use so I will adapt meals accordingly. GREAT post!!! I love the idea of being able to come home, grab a meal out of our deep freezer, throw it in the oven and then spend some time with my husband instead of one or both of us cooking after an exhausting day of work!

Thank you for the ideas! Hi there! What an easy read! I have a question. Can you freeze just about anything? We eat White Chicken chili a lot.. I usually just throw it all in the crockpot and cook all day.

What would make it easier is preparing it all and then dumping it in the crockpot to cook all day. Same with chili. Is that OK to do? Now for the sloppy meat how do you heat that up?

Definitely will try some of your ideas. My comment otherwise? Use square or rectangular pans. Round pans leave too much wasted space, and freezer space is valuable space. I did this recently for a friend of mine who suddenly found herself taking care of her terminally ill mother and elderly father.

This is an overwhelming situation for anyone and being two states apart I was grasping at straws on how I could lend a true helping hand when I finally came up with this idea. Mine took a little more than 4 hours 24, I think but I spent a good bit of time researching how to balance hide healthy immune support ingredients for a picky eater and quick serve comfort foods for the whole family and the added pressure of keeping everything sterile.

It was definitely a labor of love and very much appreciated. A few things I found to work well you might add to your freezer meal menu next time are twice baked potatoes, shredded pork crock pot Boston Butt , zucchini bread and pizza dough or pre-baked shells — I did both. I did the same for my parents, 4 states away from me.

Just remember to put directions for cooking on the package. In my case, my Mom has ALZ and Dad has NEVER cooked! I had to include the fact that the cover had to be removed….. bless his heart 🙂. Amy — I would LOVE to see your list of recipes!

Do you have a list of those? There are some sauces that use veggies as the base. Ive seen the recipes but not sure where. Google or pintrest maybe. Jessica Seinfeld had made 2 I think cookbooks0 called Deceptively Delicious and she hides veggies in everything including desserts.

Currently my child eats many veggies not all but I am also always looking for more ways to get more veggies into our diet. If possible grate them…lol. Many people are not aware of this, but grated carrots added to any type of tomato based sauce really sweetens it up. I followed her recipe and doubled the carrots because I really like how they tone down acidic sauces.

I make spaghetti with ground turkey, onions, shredded carrots, shredded zucchini, and thinly chopped green peppers. Her secret? She adds a small jar of babyfood squash to the taco meat!

Sounds like a great idea! Ha Ha! I was just starting to write a grocery list, when I finally scrolled down and found that you made a grocery list to print! How much easier can that be! Thanks so much for the great post. I tried the chicken and dressing recipe and it was a HUGE it.

My 6-yea-old son ate FIVE small helpings before I cut him off. Thanks for helping me find a new family favorite! to the cleaning your kitchen before hand tip. The recipes look delicious! Way to many canned goods and processed ingredients for me. The salt in most are not the best for anyone!

If salt is your concern, can or freeze your summer tomatoes, cook your own beans an use them, etc. I love all your recipes! I have been researching freezer cooking and different recipes for months but most of the recipes I found did not sound like something my family would eat. I have two small kids 2 and 4 so they have to be pretty basic and comfort food type recipes.

I will be trying my hand at your recipes this weekend. I just went back to work after being a SAHM for a year, so I am looking forward to having a freezer full of meals to pull out and throw in for dinner.

I also LOVE the dollar tree for their aluminum pans. I use them all the time. thanks for sharing your awesome recipes and making it so do-able. I love this blog post!!!! I had always been taught Grandmother, college home-ec classes to NEVER freeze raw eggs.

Have you had any problems with this? I first noticed it in your lasagna recipe. Im not sure about freezing eggs, but you can treat them with mineral oil and refrigerate and they will last a long long time! You can google it for exact instructions, but its easy and quick and guarantees fresh eggs up to a year later..

Yes, youYes, you can absolutely freeze eggs! Crack them into an ice cube tray, freeze till hard then put in baggies. Use in custards, puddings, or anything you want a raw egg for. You can also scramble them and use for scrambles, or breakfast casseroles.

We have chickens and because of that fresh eggs. In the summer they lay and lay and lay but slack off a bit in the winter. A friend who also had chickens told me when you get too many in the summer, just crack them into a ziploc.

Mix them like you are going to scramble eggs and freeze. Then when I had to make a breakfast casserole for work or anything that needed scrambled egg mixture — tada! I did a dozen at a time but you could even mix two or three and label and then use for recipes. Thank you for such a thoughtful post and for going the extra mile to make the shopping list.

For those who have smaller families to feed just the two of us at home.. this concept could easily be condensed. No one is saying you have to cook 30 meals for 4 and all that variety right?

I mean.. Your chicken casserole looks yummy.. really similar to my pot pie recipe where I use puff pastry instead of cheese for the topping. A LOT of recipes require very little active time and just maybe waiting. Last night we did pork country ribs in the oven with roasted brussel sprouts on the side yeah..

probably not a big seller with kids those sprouts! it took less than 2 hours in the oven.. Thanks for sharing. I do have a question — how many people are you feeding with each meal? I have 6 to feed, 3 teens, one elderly nana, and 2 adults. Thanks again. It will be great to have some of these premade meals on hand.

Great job!! to feed kids out of cans lined with BPA. MSG causes obesity and many other health problems. With much respect, thanks. You do not get fat from the can that held crem of whatever.

Too little exercise and too much food does that. This also is not the only thing eaten for the 2 months. Get off the high horse already.

This post was meant to be helpful for those trying to feed the family in a timely, economic matter. One has chicken pot pie and another that has chicken enchiladas.

These are fixed at home using a recipe our family loves and then frozen. Throw them in an ice chest and cover with a towel, they are still frozen when we arrive. When we get back to the condo all we have to do is throw a salad together and dinner is ready.

There are always homemade cakes or cookies around for dessert. My chicken pot pie is easy peasy. I boil my chicken: when done, cool, debone if not boneless , and shred. I boil potatoes in some of the broth until tender; then mash some or all of the potatoes in the broth this acta as a thickening agent.

Mix potatoes, 2 bags of frozen mixed veggies, 1 or 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, potatoes anything else you might want to add and season to taste. I make just a pie crust for the top but have made top and bottom.

Then cover with foil and freeze. Bake at for about 45 min or until crust is golden and mixture is bubbly. You can also use refrigerated pastry or puff pastry for the cust if you wish.

This makes a huge batch so could easily be into freezer meals for the home. But feeding 8 — 10 people and having leftovers for another night, we need a big batch! Would really like the chicken enchilada recipe! My sister makes turkey enchilada and I would much rather use chicken plus hers is so time consuming!!

Do it often enough, and you almost never have to cook dinner during the week when everyone is busy working and other stuff too. Cant have lasagna without mozzarella cheese…………:D.

Thank you!!! My fiance is a trucker and I was looking for my things to make and freeze for him to take on the road. Wonderful ideas 😀. I used to make lots of freezer meals for my husband while he was on the road. He always loved having the home cooked meals and not having to go into a truckstop to eat.

How do your drivers take the frozen meals? He does not want to take anything big as he does not have his own truck right now and is only gone 5 days a week. I am trying to figure out how to send him better stuff then all that prepackaged foods. My husband and I both work outside the home full time, have 3 small children 5 and under , and are currently also full time graduate students.

I am excited to put this amazing post to good use. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! but also probably have activities and miss meals too..

so that should probably work. Just have extra rolls on hand for filler:. I use to do this with 3 other families. We each cooked a chicken and a beef dish for our family plus theirs and exchanged them on Mondays. It gave us a week worth of meals and was easy to do since you were basically preparing only 2 different meals.

The key is to do this with families of similar size we have 5 children. Finally a site that makes normal meals in batches that my whole family 10 living with me at this moment will eat.

Thanks so much for your blog. Same versatility with pork, cooking a large roast in a Crock-Pot or other slow cooker, etc. And they do extremely well sliced, prepared in recipes, and frozen. Thank you for the ideas and detail, and for the shopping list. Thanks, this is a great idea.

I really appreciate you sharing. I would like to come up with another 30 dishes, this way every other month, you could have a rotation and a great variety.

I used to do this years ago for my family of four, but quit when the kids were grown. You have inspired me! Thank you and Paula!

for a great post! Cream of anything soup works for me as long as protein and vegetables included! Are all of these cooked and frozen, and then reheated when ready to eat?

Or do you freeze some of them uncooked? Most of them are precooked, but the lasagna noodles are uncooked. They all reheat the same way, oven for 45 minutes or so until thoroughly warm.

One thing I learned was something you touched upon with the lasagna. It was a little more work but much less whine 🙂 I cook the noodles and lay them out to cool. While still warm I spread the ricotta mixture down one side with a layer of mozzarella on top.

Roll it up from one short end and sit on a cookie sheet. I put sauce in another bag equal to the amount of roll-up bags and put them all into a gallon bag. I only label the gallon bag!

Saves me some time When we want lasagna I take out one sauce and one bag of 2 roll-ups. Thaws pretty quick too! Love this idea! Question though — how would you go about thawing and reheating the chili?

I cut off the bag with kitchen scissors, then put it in a pot with a cup or so of water, then heat it up on medium heat. It takes 15 minutes or so — but if I can remember to put it in the fridge the day before, I can pour it out of the bag and have it ready in about 5 minutes.

Super simple 🙂. This is probably a silly question but can someone tell me how you know how long to cook it? Also do you have to let these thaw before you cook them?

This is an amazing idea and id love to try it but im not sure about the cooking part? I do set them out to thaw some cook them at you can tell when they are done or when the top is brown and bubbly.

Thank you so much for this! Again, thank you, thank you!! Many blessings to you and your family. Perfect to have on hand for those times when you need to bring a friend a meal. I got all the stuff to do this and am in my kitchen now to do it… I am excited!!! I know I should have known I needed mozzarella for lasagna but my brain was apparently on auto pilot.

My fault! Alas to the store one more time! I have never done a month of meals in one day, occasionally I just make a really big batch of something and divide it. The grill keeps my food protected from critters and I can chill foods quickly without my freezer having to work overtime.

I love the recipes with raw ingredients in a bag that you can just put in the crock pot and, like magic, end up with dinner that night!

To cook: Thaw overnight in the fridge, then dump into the crock pot and cook on low for about 8 hours. To cook: Place in the fridge the night before to thaw. Cook on low for 6ish hours until chicken is cooked through. But they can be time-consuming, making them a less-than-ideal weeknight recipe.

These recipes will change that! This recipe should be high on the list of best freezer meals for new moms- easy to prep, full of good veggies and nutrition, and SO easy to cook when ready!

To cook: Put in the fridge the night before to thaw. Dump in and cook for 8 hours on low in the slow cooker! since you can easily reheat it in a crock pot OR instant pot to make your night as low-key or fast as needed!

To cook: Put frozen soup in an instant pot for about half an hour high pressure or a slow cooker for 4 hours on high. This recipe takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish so even on those busy workdays or lazy weeknights- you still have time to make yourself feel better with a bowl of chicken noodle soup.

To cook: Just throw your soup back onto the stovetop for 10 minutes to reheat the dish. This might be the best crock pot freezer meal, for how clean and simple it is! Eat as-is, or serve over white rice for a more filling meal! I suggest you use low-sodium soy sauce to cut back on the salt a bit without cutting back on flavor.

To cook: Thaw before cooking. Cook on low for hours. You could alternatively use a skillet or wok for faster cooking time. You could use the cooked result for a sandwich, salad topper, served with a side — you name it!

To cook: In crock pot from frozen — 6 hours on low. In crock pot from thawed — about 4 hours on low. Can also be cooked in the oven after thawing overnight! To cook: Dump from frozen into a skillet and cook through. Serve topped with cheddar cheese, cheese whiz, or whatever cheese you like on a warm roll.

You can also change up the protein and use shredded chicken or pork or ground beef or chicken for different textures and flavors. To cook: Thaw overnight, then bake per recipe instructions, 0r bake straight from frozen with extended cooking time.

You know that we love our smoothies, and the idea of putting bags of prepped smoothie ingredients right into the freezer to dump, blend, and go is pure genius!

Save money on store-bought or drive-thru breakfast sandwiches and make these delicious breakfast sandwiches for yourself instead! You can prep toppings ahead of time or use store bought stuff- our classics?

White chocolate chips and creamy peanut butter melted! To cook: Place frozen rolls in a baking dish, 2 inches apart on all sides. Freezer meals are, simply put, meals that you do the grunt work of assembling ahead of time, typically to be cooked or at least reheated at a later date. You can get them at the grocery store for quick meals on busy nights, but you can also prep them yourself for a cheaper, healthier alternative.

Freezer meals can also be partially done as all raw ingredients for a recipe in one container to dump into your slow cooker on your way to work another day. If you are looking for a plan for your freezer meals, check out this article we wrote on how a monthly meal planner can change your life.

Generally speaking, your homemade freezer meals will keep just fine for up to a few months so make sure to label the date when you make them. Using a round container means a frozen block will fit right into your instant pot without needing to try to thaw and re-shape.

Consider using gallon-size Ziploc bags that can easily be frozen flat and stacked for a tidy freezer. The last thing you want is to put in work to make delicious freezer meals only to find anything expanded and burst in the freezer things like soups, for example!

With a little bit of planning, you can have dinner taken care of for the next few weeks with these easy freezer meals. Give some of these recipes a try and see how easy it is to have a home-cooked meal without all the fuss.

Hi, I'm Brittany Kline! A organization, productivity, and home systems expert. With my master's degree in education and life experience as a mom I help other moms simplify and organize their entires lives. I have been featured in online publications like Forbes, TIME, USA Today, Huffington Post, Business Insider, Marie Claire, The Penny Hoarder, Bankrate, Nerd Wallet, CNBC, Acorns, Yahoo Finance, MSN, GoBankingRates, Her Money, Thrive Global, The Simple Dollar, Money Crashers, Readers Digest, FinCon, Best Company, Rent Cafe, Romper, Intuit Turbo, Opp Loans, CreditCards.

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Healthy Freezer Meals on a Budget ; BBQ Chicken Pizza · Breaded Smothered Chicken · Chicken and Beef Fajitas · Chicken Crescent Rolls Lasagna and meatloaf are typical freezer meals for me too. If you buy ground meat in bulk at sams or Costco, they're 2. Easy make ahead Orange Chicken Freezer Meal. · 3. Chicken Burrito Bowls. · 4. Stuffed Shells Freezer Meal recipe. · 5. Instant Pot

How I made a month of Freezer Meals in one afternoon

Low-cost freezer meal options - Freezer Meal FAQs · Cheap Freezer Meal Tips · Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken · Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice · Fiesta Chicken Healthy Freezer Meals on a Budget ; BBQ Chicken Pizza · Breaded Smothered Chicken · Chicken and Beef Fajitas · Chicken Crescent Rolls Lasagna and meatloaf are typical freezer meals for me too. If you buy ground meat in bulk at sams or Costco, they're 2. Easy make ahead Orange Chicken Freezer Meal. · 3. Chicken Burrito Bowls. · 4. Stuffed Shells Freezer Meal recipe. · 5. Instant Pot

And using the prepared mashed potatoes I used a different brand that was on sale this week made it extremely easy to get this quickly ready to bake. A full recipe makes at least 8 servings for us. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Sign me up for the newsletter! Welcome here! I'm Julia, a wife and mother to two lovely daughters who LOVES cooking for my family! You only need basic kitchen items to cook with me! Subscribe to my Youtube or my newsletter for new recipes weekly!

Thank you for all the support 🧡. Email address:. Home » 20 Cheap Freezer Meals. Freezer Meal FAQs How long do they last in the freezer? My freezer meals are always freezer burnt.

How do I avoid that? What do I need to start making cheap freezer meals? Cheap Freezer Meal Tips Write down the meal name with any cooking information and side ideas on the freezer bag or aluminum foil tin with a sharpie before you add the food in. Freeze any baked dishes or casseroles in disposable aluminum pans.

So I like to fork out a couple of dollars for a pack of disposable aluminum pans for whenever I make a freezer casserole. Double, triple, or quadruple any of these recipes to add more servings. I make them in separate bags to keep the quantities and baking times the same.

I usually add any liquid in when I go to cook them. Use these bag holders to easily keep the bags open and scoop in the food with no mess! Take your meals out of the freezer the night before you want to cook them and allow them to thaw.

Add the chicken, barbecue sauce, and Italian dressing to a large freezer bag. When ready to cook, let thaw, then add to a greased slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 6 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through.

Shred with two forks in the slow cooker. Serve on buns and with coleslaw, if desired, and enjoy. Add all of the ingredients to the bag except for the chicken broth and cheese.

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Home Recipes Collection Freezable recipes. Freezable recipes. Showing items 1 to 24 of Chicken tikka masala. Slow cooker meatballs.

Roasted spaghetti squash. Potato cakes. Broccoli stem falafel bowl. You should also check out my favorite cleanse! Learn more about me and the rest of my team. Fabulessly Frugal: A Coupon Blog Sharing Gift Ideas, Amazon Deals, Printable Coupons, DIY, How to Extreme Coupon, and Make Ahead Meals.

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Jan 4, The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure. Creamy Chicken Taquitos Have you ever had those frozen taquitos you can buy at the grocery store before? Crock-Pot Beef and Mushrooms This healthy crock-pot beef and mushrooms recipe is just delicious.

Skillet Honey Lime Tilapia Another very healthy freezer meal recipe here. Honey Sesame Chicken I really love it when freezer meals collide with the slow cooker or instant pot because it just makes for such an EASY meal.

Honey Garlic Meatballs Meatballs are versatile while also being extremely delicious all on their own, and these honey garlic meatballs are some of the best.

Breakfast Smoothie You can really almost turn any smoothie recipe into a freezer meal, but this breakfast smoothie is one of my favorites. Zupas Copycat Yucatan Chicken Tortilla Soup This is another amazing soup recipe that is healthy and absolutely delicious.

Cilantro Lime Chicken This freezable cilantro lime chicken is quick to prepare and easily cooked in the slow cooker. Garlic Pork Stir-Fry I love a good stir-fry — especially one that is easy to make! It helps us out too so thank you 🙂 Learn More About Freezer Meal Cooking: Why you NEED Freezer Meal Cooking in your life!

How to start a Freezer Meal Group Should you? Meal Type: Recipe Roundup. Trending Recipes. Finger Food and Dips , Seafood Tuna Melt Quesadillas in the Air Fryer. Meat and Poultry Steak Hash in the Air Fryer. Breakfast Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes. Guide Air Fryer Easter Recipes Easy Spring Recipes for the Air Fryer.

January 23, at pm.

Low-cost freezer meal options - Freezer Meal FAQs · Cheap Freezer Meal Tips · Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken · Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice · Fiesta Chicken Healthy Freezer Meals on a Budget ; BBQ Chicken Pizza · Breaded Smothered Chicken · Chicken and Beef Fajitas · Chicken Crescent Rolls Lasagna and meatloaf are typical freezer meals for me too. If you buy ground meat in bulk at sams or Costco, they're 2. Easy make ahead Orange Chicken Freezer Meal. · 3. Chicken Burrito Bowls. · 4. Stuffed Shells Freezer Meal recipe. · 5. Instant Pot

Also check your local restaurant supply stores for multiple containers as well. You could also use your own metal pans, but you want to make sure you have enough of them before you get started.

For those of you who want to take your Instant Pot freezer meals out of the freezer, and pop the frozen meal right into your Instant Pot without defrosting or thawing, these 64 oz freezable plastic containers with lids are awesome.

Just make sure you also get a pack of these Sharpie peel-off markers so you can write on the bucket lids over and over again. Here is a list of my favorite freezer meal supplies that are perfect for beginners or even those who have been doing it for a while!

The majority of freezer meals will last anywhere from 3 to 9 months, depending on the ingredients used. This is probably the question I get asked the most. Here are some of my freezer meals for beginners posts and videos.

FREEZER MEALS FOR BEGINNERS HOW TO PREVENT FREEZER BURN MAKING 50 FREEZER MEALS IN A DAY! Healthy Homemade Hot Pockets Oven Baked Chicken Strips Homemade Frozen Yogurt Pops Homemade Granola Bars Chicken Taquitos Mozzarella Sticks Meatballs.

Chicken Enchiladas Homemade Easy Lasagna Homemade Chicken Pot Pie Fried Rice for the freezer Creamy Cheesy Broccoli Soup Tuna Casserole Baked Chicken Pesto Alfredo Homemade Stir-fry Hamburger Patties Chicken Enchilada Casserole.

The Master Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe freezer friendly Ice Cream Sandwiches Brownie Bites Apple Crisp. Honey Lime Chicken Chicken Lettuce Wraps Homemade Whole wheat bread Homemade Stir-fry Healthy Homemade Hot Pockets Oven Baked Chicken Strips Homemade Frozen Yogurt Pops Homemade Granola Bars Vegetable Lasagna.

Creamy Tomato Basil soup with ravioli Roast Beef French Dip Sandwiches Beef Barley Stew Darn Good Chili Bacon Covered Kalua Pork Boneless BBQ Ribs. Homemade Chicken broth Freezing Blueberries Homemade Beef Broth Rendered Tallow Make Ahead Green Smoothies Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls.

Food is my love language. But so is saving money. So I like to combine the two a lot and make thrifty make ahead and freeze meals to save time. Because life is busy, and freezer meals can come to the rescue for all of us. And yes, they actually CAN taste good.

Read more Skip to primary navigation Skip to main content Skip to primary sidebar Subscribe For Email Updates. Okay, now back to the freezer meals info and recipes. MY TOP 15 ALL-TIME FAVORITE FREEZER MEAL RECIPES 1. Homemade Easy Lasagna Recipe Freezer Meal.

This recipe is straight from my mom, who is one of the best cooks I know! I often make two lasagna pans up, bake one that night for dinner and freeze the other. Easy make ahead Orange Chicken Freezer Meal.

This one is just so good. And my kids will eat it up too, which makes me one happy mama. Chicken Burrito Bowls. I love to make up a bunch of these and use them for my lunches.

Such a yummy healthy freezer meal recipe. Stuffed Shells Freezer Meal recipe. All 5-star reviews on this recipe from my readers. They love it as much as I do! Instant Pot Shredded Beef Fajitas. Topped with fresh cilantro, and stuffed into a warm corn tortilla.

Oh my goodness. French Dip Sandwich freezer meal cooked in the crockpot. My kids go crazy for these make-ahead Homemade Chicken Strips. Creamy Cheesy Cilantro Chicken Taquitos. Baked Chicken Pesto Alfredo freezer meal. A great one I love to gift to others in need.

Instant Pot Turkey Bolognese Freezer Meal. I love that this one is fast and low fat. Served over pasta for dinner. This Freezer Meatballs Recipe is a staple in our household.

I am always stocking up the freezer with them because my family loves them so much. Twice Baked Potatoes Make Ahead and freeze — this one is only available in my cookbook Seriously Good Freezer Meals , but it one of my favorite meals to have on hand when I am in need of that perfect comfort food.

The BEST ever chocolate chip cookies. I make the dough, and then freeze little cookie dough balls so when I need a few cookies, I can pop them them into the oven and have warm fresh cookies anytime.

And lastly, my Darn Good Chili recipe. The perfect balance of flavor, heat and all good things. I love the idea of being able to come home, grab a meal out of our deep freezer, throw it in the oven and then spend some time with my husband instead of one or both of us cooking after an exhausting day of work!

What would make it easier is preparing it all and then dumping it in the crockpot to cook all day. Same with chili. Is that OK to do? Now for the sloppy meat how do you heat that up?

Just remember to put directions for cooking on the package. In my case, my Mom has ALZ and Dad has NEVER cooked! I had to include the fact that the cover had to be removed….. bless his heart 🙂.

Amy — I would LOVE to see your list of recipes! Do you have a list of those? There are some sauces that use veggies as the base. Ive seen the recipes but not sure where. Google or pintrest maybe.

Jessica Seinfeld had made 2 I think cookbooks0 called Deceptively Delicious and she hides veggies in everything including desserts.

I followed her recipe and doubled the carrots because I really like how they tone down acidic sauces. I make spaghetti with ground turkey, onions, shredded carrots, shredded zucchini, and thinly chopped green peppers. Her secret? She adds a small jar of babyfood squash to the taco meat!

Now I add some canned pumpkin when I make tacos and there are never any leftovers. So easy and it makes the meat creamy. Amy, I would like more information about how you did the smoothies in the muffin pans. Sounds like a great idea! Ha Ha! I was just starting to write a grocery list, when I finally scrolled down and found that you made a grocery list to print!

How much easier can that be! Thanks so much for the great post. I tried the chicken and dressing recipe and it was a HUGE it. My 6-yea-old son ate FIVE small helpings before I cut him off.

Thanks for helping me find a new family favorite! to the cleaning your kitchen before hand tip. The recipes look delicious! Way to many canned goods and processed ingredients for me. The salt in most are not the best for anyone!

I have two small kids 2 and 4 so they have to be pretty basic and comfort food type recipes. I will be trying my hand at your recipes this weekend. I just went back to work after being a SAHM for a year, so I am looking forward to having a freezer full of meals to pull out and throw in for dinner.

I also LOVE the dollar tree for their aluminum pans. I use them all the time. thanks for sharing your awesome recipes and making it so do-able. I love this blog post!!!!

I had always been taught Grandmother, college home-ec classes to NEVER freeze raw eggs. Have you had any problems with this? I first noticed it in your lasagna recipe. Im not sure about freezing eggs, but you can treat them with mineral oil and refrigerate and they will last a long long time!

You can google it for exact instructions, but its easy and quick and guarantees fresh eggs up to a year later.. Yes, youYes, you can absolutely freeze eggs! Crack them into an ice cube tray, freeze till hard then put in baggies.

Use in custards, puddings, or anything you want a raw egg for. You can also scramble them and use for scrambles, or breakfast casseroles. We have chickens and because of that fresh eggs. In the summer they lay and lay and lay but slack off a bit in the winter.

A friend who also had chickens told me when you get too many in the summer, just crack them into a ziploc. Mix them like you are going to scramble eggs and freeze. Then when I had to make a breakfast casserole for work or anything that needed scrambled egg mixture — tada!

I did a dozen at a time but you could even mix two or three and label and then use for recipes. Thank you for such a thoughtful post and for going the extra mile to make the shopping list. For those who have smaller families to feed just the two of us at home..

this concept could easily be condensed. No one is saying you have to cook 30 meals for 4 and all that variety right? I mean.. Your chicken casserole looks yummy.. really similar to my pot pie recipe where I use puff pastry instead of cheese for the topping. A LOT of recipes require very little active time and just maybe waiting.

Last night we did pork country ribs in the oven with roasted brussel sprouts on the side yeah.. probably not a big seller with kids those sprouts!

it took less than 2 hours in the oven.. Thanks for sharing. I do have a question — how many people are you feeding with each meal? I have 6 to feed, 3 teens, one elderly nana, and 2 adults. Thanks again. It will be great to have some of these premade meals on hand.

Great job!! to feed kids out of cans lined with BPA. MSG causes obesity and many other health problems. With much respect, thanks. You do not get fat from the can that held crem of whatever. Too little exercise and too much food does that. This also is not the only thing eaten for the 2 months.

Get off the high horse already. This post was meant to be helpful for those trying to feed the family in a timely, economic matter. One has chicken pot pie and another that has chicken enchiladas.

My chicken pot pie is easy peasy. I boil my chicken: when done, cool, debone if not boneless , and shred. I boil potatoes in some of the broth until tender; then mash some or all of the potatoes in the broth this acta as a thickening agent. Mix potatoes, 2 bags of frozen mixed veggies, 1 or 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, potatoes anything else you might want to add and season to taste.

I make just a pie crust for the top but have made top and bottom. Then cover with foil and freeze. Bake at for about 45 min or until crust is golden and mixture is bubbly. You can also use refrigerated pastry or puff pastry for the cust if you wish.

Do it often enough, and you almost never have to cook dinner during the week when everyone is busy working and other stuff too. Cant have lasagna without mozzarella cheese…………:D. Thank you!!! My fiance is a trucker and I was looking for my things to make and freeze for him to take on the road.

Wonderful ideas 😀. I used to make lots of freezer meals for my husband while he was on the road. He always loved having the home cooked meals and not having to go into a truckstop to eat.

How do your drivers take the frozen meals? He does not want to take anything big as he does not have his own truck right now and is only gone 5 days a week.

I am trying to figure out how to send him better stuff then all that prepackaged foods. My husband and I both work outside the home full time, have 3 small children 5 and under , and are currently also full time graduate students. I am excited to put this amazing post to good use.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! but also probably have activities and miss meals too.. so that should probably work. Just have extra rolls on hand for filler:. I use to do this with 3 other families. We each cooked a chicken and a beef dish for our family plus theirs and exchanged them on Mondays.

It gave us a week worth of meals and was easy to do since you were basically preparing only 2 different meals. The key is to do this with families of similar size we have 5 children. Finally a site that makes normal meals in batches that my whole family 10 living with me at this moment will eat.

I would like to come up with another 30 dishes, this way every other month, you could have a rotation and a great variety. I used to do this years ago for my family of four, but quit when the kids were grown. You have inspired me! Thank you and Paula! for a great post! Cream of anything soup works for me as long as protein and vegetables included!

Are all of these cooked and frozen, and then reheated when ready to eat? Or do you freeze some of them uncooked? Most of them are precooked, but the lasagna noodles are uncooked. They all reheat the same way, oven for 45 minutes or so until thoroughly warm.

One thing I learned was something you touched upon with the lasagna. It was a little more work but much less whine 🙂 I cook the noodles and lay them out to cool.

While still warm I spread the ricotta mixture down one side with a layer of mozzarella on top. Roll it up from one short end and sit on a cookie sheet. I put sauce in another bag equal to the amount of roll-up bags and put them all into a gallon bag. I only label the gallon bag! Saves me some time When we want lasagna I take out one sauce and one bag of 2 roll-ups.

Thaws pretty quick too! Love this idea! Question though — how would you go about thawing and reheating the chili?

Super simple 🙂. This is probably a silly question but can someone tell me how you know how long to cook it? Also do you have to let these thaw before you cook them? This is an amazing idea and id love to try it but im not sure about the cooking part?

I do set them out to thaw some cook them at you can tell when they are done or when the top is brown and bubbly. Thank you so much for this! Again, thank you, thank you!! Many blessings to you and your family. Perfect to have on hand for those times when you need to bring a friend a meal.

I got all the stuff to do this and am in my kitchen now to do it… I am excited!!! I know I should have known I needed mozzarella for lasagna but my brain was apparently on auto pilot.

My fault! Alas to the store one more time! I have never done a month of meals in one day, occasionally I just make a really big batch of something and divide it.

The grill keeps my food protected from critters and I can chill foods quickly without my freezer having to work overtime. I never thought to do that, we live in Texas and have some cold nights, cooking on a cold day is great and I could use the grill or smoker over night on a cold night, not a 60 degree night, lol.

Im 38 weeks pregnant, and while my husband can make chicken and rice, I hope to not have to put his culinary skills to the test. This will be so easy for us to adjust to life with a new baby, and not have to stress about dinners.

Some more ideas……. did you know you can freeze pop corn. I use to run concessions at ball fields. Leftover popcorn always came home with me. Spread in pan -pop in over and heat for about 10 min….

taste like fresh. Potato Chips can freeze. I would make hot dogs and freeze for the kids to pop in microwave….. just dog in bun, wrap and freeze.

potato casseroles. On the shopping list there is no mozzarella cheese. We doubled everything since two of us were doing this. We feel like geniuses! There is no prep or clean up for these meals which is awesome!!! Thank you for the idea and we will be doing it again!

This is a great post! My husband tends to do all of the cooking, however, I do know he gets tired of it. I am going to suggest that, as a family, we do this once per month. Again, thanks for taking the time to explain your experience. I was very informative. Gina, thank you! I may not use every recipe,but I can definitely do this!

Yes, I can see how I will be not too happy around 2 hours in, but this IS totally doable. And you are a great mom. Suzie made pork chops and potatoes and vegetables ALL AT THE SAME TIME! Seriously, now that I have time and grandkids, I cook a lot better, but time is still precious when I run an online store also.

I will surely do this. Thank you so much! Thank you for this wonderful post. I need to confirm two things, if I may. First, I put the dishes together and then cook them before freezing, correct!? The second thing is do I thaw them before cooking? Thank you again. I hope you know what a blessing you have been with this!

I have a question about the chicken breasts — are you using fresh or frozen? Looking forward to making these recipes! Thanks so much!! cut the quantity in half!

the broccoli, chicken, pasta bake needs more seasonings; it was rather bland. I just have to say…as a working mom of 6 kids.. This article has so motivated me into making this a family-event for a saturday afternoon once a month.

Thank you so much. Love this post! I did the marinara sauce without meat and it was great! I used to make your lasagna recipe and added ground turkey and turkey sausage and it was awesome!

I am making it again and this time for 12 people that will be visiting for the holidays 😉. I started making a few freezer meals after I watched the Pioneer Woman episode on freezer meals, I ran out and bought those disposable containers, they are so easy to use, stack nicely in the freezer and are just the right portion for a family of four.

My crockpot is another tool that I love. Although I a small number of recipes that I make in it, It so wonderful to have dinner done. thanks for sharing. at the end of the day. the three of us had NINE meals to freeze..

Thanks for this! I have a very demanding job and after getting home at around 7pm, I find it hard to get to the gym and cook for me and my husband. What a great way to plan ahead. For us, I made: — baked ziti instead of lasagna — turkey chilli — the basic chicken casserole above but substituted chopped broccoli for the other veggies and panko bread crumbs for french onions, and used one can of cream of chicken healthy request with one can cream of mushroom healthy request.

I was sitting here wondering what to use instead of the French onions and viola …Panko bread crumbs. Thank you! My tip: cover the tops with foil and write complete baking instructions on it for both frozen and thawed.

I did that for my husband and son and it worked great! Then when I was working late they could throw dinner in. Takes about 20 mins to make. Keep a bag of cooked peeled shrimp in the freezer. You can used pre cooked chicken too. I stock up on the shrimp when it is on sale.

Keep a bag of stir fry veggies in there as well, and finally some minute rice or you can use pasta too. I put some butter or olive oil in the skillet and heat it with some garlic.

Add the shrimp and sauté on medium until done. While it is cooking prepare your rice or noodles. Add the veggies to the shrimp pan and toss together.

Then, when the veggies are no longer frozen, add the rice or pasta and toss together. Dinner is done and it tastes wonderful! You can use already cooked chicken too. You can change it up by using oriental sauce. Happy cooking! Just wondering when you use the dollar store tins do you put plastic wrap down first or just the paper top it comes with?

and if just the paper top silver side down? I just put the cardboard top on it, foil side down. No plastic wrap or anything else.

Love this post. here are a couple of suggestions I would add. I would suggest using stoneware as opposed to aluminum, much healthier. if you freeze in the stoneware you can then transfer to a fresh-saver zip-lock bag, remove the air and store in the freezer, taking up much less room.

Just set the stoneware in a hot water briefly to allow you to dump the frozen contents out and slide into the appropriate sized fresh-saver zip-lock bag. the fresh saver bags also protect the food better from possible freezer burn. Liquid items like soup and chili can be frozen in plastic containers and similarly transferred to fresh-saver bags.

The bags are reusable. meat items should also be frozen first before storage in fresh-saver bags to keep from crushing them together. this provides more room in you freezer and allows you to use much healthier cooking containers. Stoneware is good both in the oven or the microwave and can come directly from the freezer or refrigerator to the cooking medium.

Plastic an aluminium are not good to cook in. Items should be cool before storing in plastic. Being a single man who loves to cook, I have been doing this for myself and others for a long time and find this in addition to your suggestions to be good techniques for storing cooking and serving good healthy food.

Keep up the good work!!! I cook in waves with prepared meals—I have found the crockpot is my best friend to do this with. I will put in 10 pounds of chicken breast in one; 8 pounds of ground beef in another; 8 pounds of flank steak in one.

I cook this all over night so when I get up in AM I am only putting together veggies and other ingredients needed to make several meals.

Simple, time saving and in general cost saving for our family. We eat more earls in tan out and one of our kids can pull the meal out of the freezer to throw in the oven for dinner. Are you poaching the chicken in the slow cooker?

the slow cooker is doing the cooking for you? I like this idea, I only have 2 slow cookers but for me I think that would work! They have changed my life back to making casseroles. I loved your recipes. I am going try some of these.

I thought that I would add, when I cook a meal for my family that I know freezes well, I double my recipe and freeze half. That way I always have meals in the freezer for the nights that are crazy. I bought about ten 9×13 pans with lids that I use just for freezing meals and my freezer is always stocked.

I have more kids than you, so I need more food. Most of you can get away with much smaller pans. Its just as easy to make twice as much when I am already cooking. I am going shopping tomorrow and cooking Wednesday.

I am really excited and am hoping this goes well. There are 4 of us in my family I have 2 big eaters men and they could probably share one of those pans between the two of them and leave my daughter and myself out. What do you have in mind for this.

I would love to make dinner like this. Thank you so much for sharing this!!! If you want your chicken shredded and have a stand mixer, just toss in several pieces while still warm and VOILA! Less prep time! Also great for shredding for BBQ sandwiches…I even did it with leftover pork roast so we had BBQ pork sandwiches!

What dollar store do you get the container as and do they freezer burn with just the cardboard top? Love this! And the grocery list is such a bonus! I started doing freezer meals a few years ago and agree completely that it is so worth the afternoon of cooking.

We normally keep the garbage can out of site in the laundry room, but when it comes time to cook freezer meals, we set up a folding table in the middle of the kitchen for added counter space and put the garbage can right under the edge so we are not running back and forth to it for every piece of trash.

Also, I glued some magnets to the back of clothes pins and hang them on the back part of the oven hood or on the fridge would work to display all the printed out recipes at one time, so I dont have to flip through recipes with messy fingers while trying to make so many at the same time. Hope those are helpful… and thanks for taking the time to share your details!

For the cheeseburger casserole, do you cook the dough before freezing it? Or do you freeze it before cooking the dough?? Line baking dishes with plastic wrap, add ingredients, cover and freeze until solid.

Turn the frozen food out of the dish and seal in a zip bag. When ready to use, remove the food from the bag, peel off the plastic and put it back into the original dish. To eliminate freezer burn in frozen casseroles, place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the food before freezing…..

just be sure to remove it before heating. Another idea for freezer meals that my daughter and several of her friends all young mother do. Each makes several casseroles of the same kind and freeze them, then one a week, they swap casseroles.

It works for them well for them. I am normally pretty organized so I am hopeful this will go well. My daughter jokes that she was in college before she realized that cream of something soup could be eaten on its own! Cooking for one is challenging. I think I could divide each meal into four individual servings and freeze them that way.

Or maybe freeze two servings and have the leftovers for lunch. Hi, I use the rectangle ones that she uses for my brother. Thanks for sharing your experience!

Just wondering, how long would these be good in the freezer before becoming freezer burnt? Thanks for doing this!! So many of these meals are ones we would eat. i have a picky husband. I really hope to try this. Just a suggestion: If you have the time, print out and laminate a recipe card for each.

Cover each meal with foil. Place recipe card with directions on each. Slide into a ziplock freezer bag. This way they are ready for whoever is doing the cooking OR for when you need to take a meal to a sick friend, new mother, or just because. These can then be re-used for the next cooking marathon.

I live alone and had to have surgery to repair a collarbone that dislocated at my sternum a couple of years ago due to a bicycling accident. for over a month, so before I went to the hospital, I made about a months worth of meals for myself.

About the only thing I did differently from you was I completely cooked each casserole on the prep date and I used disposable plastic containers so that I could freeze individual servings. I think all my recipes made six servings, so I made ten casseroles one after another lunch and dinner meals for 30 days.

You are right, cooking or merely preparing like you did all that in one day or two days in my case will make you wonder what the heck you are doing when you are about halfway finished! I also have a modest collection of cookware so I had no choice but to constantly wash things.

I had a lot of community and church friends who brought me meals. Others took me out to eat, invited me to eat at their house, helped me wash my hair, changed my bed sheets and did my laundry for me.

But on those days when I was on my own, it was really nice to have my own home cooking! My doctor told me I have to go easy on beef products.

Then go home and cook it exactly like beef, such as with beef spice mixes. I would love to have some other recipe ideas that might be out there. I have gotten tired of the same old recipes and would love to put some freezer foods together.

Sounds so simple when you explained it, but I need to come up with other recipes. Any help would be appreciated. Great post. I try to do something like this when I have friends having babies, especially if they have other kids.

Sometimes several will fit in one baggie. I also try to do breakfast stuff and desserts that freeze like pancakes or muffins in baggies or breakfast casseroles, cobblers freeze well too.

Super easy and convenient for lunch or dinner. this of course has all been used for friends, but no reason not to make it for myself! One tip, find out about food allergies BEFORE doing this for others!

Thank you for this post! I so need to do this! This gave me the inspiration I needed to take on the challenge on my own! If you hate to cut up onions, buy diced onions in the frozen section of your grocery store.

Thaw and drain, and they are ready to use in any recipe calling for diced onions. This is amazing! So badass! What size would you say your pans are for the lasagna? We used the 8. We came out with 5 dishes total. We did, however, run out of noodles and had to turn the last two dishes into pasta bakes by substituting layers of rotini.

well I for one want to say thank you for what you are doing. I know there are more recipes everyone can make. I never thought of using those pans at the Dollar Tree ,General Dollar,ect…..

I use empty butter dishes and plastic containers to freeze food in. I make soup and red beans a lot and make too much. sometimes my spaghetti and meat sauce is left over also. but it would be better frozen in a casserole dish for leftover warm up.

so I say bring the recipes on. I would love to see more. thanks again Martha. You are a genious! Been doing it for almost 20 years. so many recipes can be frozen. An easy way to start — always fix an extra of whatever meal you are cooking and freeze one. I find it much easier to can sauces, etc. If you are going to store it in canning jars anyway….

Having trouble being able to print off the shopping list say the website is unavailable,can someone please help me with this. THANKS so much for this! So easy. I just wish I had started earlier in the day. I saw it about 3 pm, went right out and bought the foil, then the food while my daughter started cooking the frozen hamburger.

I feel like dinnertime will go SO MUCH BETTER with all these back up freezer meals. No fast food for a while, either — which means we are eating healthier and cheaper, which my hubby loves!

Thank you for sharing. Glad for your reader that put the grocery list together also! Just ran across this post and now I am feeling totally inspired. Guess who will be going to the grocery early this morning.

This girl right here. Thank you for such a relatable, thoughtful, and accomplishable post. Will let you know how it turns out. Thanks for sharing recipes that have real food in them—not processed junk. Healthy freezer meals.

What a concept almost unheard of in our day and age. Go one step further and put those meals in Tupperware Freezer Mates products! Reusable and in the end, save you tons of money. Contact your local Tupperware consultant to order.

I just ran across this and I love it! I am def. doing this as I have been trying to figure out how to incorporate the gym to my after work schedule being a single mom with 2 kids…. seems impossible before this! I also ran across another site that had mason jar salads! You place the dressing in at the bottom of the mason jar very important and then you layer in tomatoes, carrots, onions whatever goodies you like on your salad and then the lettuce and spinach at the top also very important Store in the fridge and pull them out and shake it up and they are ready to go.

How easy is that?? States on the article that they will stay good for a weeks time if you make sure to keep the dressing and lettuce at the ends specified.

where do you get the covers for the pans? Are they available at the Dollar store? Do they come with the Pans? If covered do you have to still put them in a freezer bag? They can be bought at dollar tree they come with lids if it makes you more comfortable you can put them in a freezer bag also but I dont.

Then I put a helping of each in to 7 plastic containers, add a small handful of shredded cheddar cheese on top of each, put the lids on and freeze! I love my easy breakfasts! I think this is just great. I really got a lot of ideas from reading your recipes.

However, there are a couple things that I will change for myself. I also stopped using Ziploc about 6 months ago. I took some out of the box and was overwhelmed by a strong chemical odor. These chemicals prob.

Petrolem based can leech into food. Any cream of anything soup has MSG in it which is unhealthy. It can cause aggression, anxiety, anger, fast heartbeat, rise in blood pressure and is neurotoxic.

I love your recipes above and am not criticizing. For me, I will just make some alterations. When my daughters and I do this marathon cooking, I start a pot of vegetable soup, tossing in any compatible leftovers from what we are making.

That way when everything is done and packaged for the freezer, we still have a tasty supper when we are way TOO tired to cook anymore — without immediately dipping into our month of meals. A quick pan of cornbread and all the hubbies are happy.!

Where can you buy the tins with kids. I have never seen them before, should I go to a supplier company? Store in jar in cupboard. Makes the equivalent of 9 cans of soup.

Add mushrooms, celery or onion when cooking to make whatever cream-of-soup you are replacing. I usually make without bouillon and add while cooking. Amazing detail. What a great reference you have given us. I am expecting our second kiddo and have been looking for ways to make our post parted time easier.

Thanks so much. Great idea! Also for those of you wanting to freeze in jars look at freshpreserving. While a bit pricey for the initial investment they are re-useable. This is great! I have done the freezer meals from different websites and they work great!

These recipes are things that I know that my family will eat without guessing! I am going to go through coupons, pantry, freezer, and fridge right now and head to the store!

I will let everyone know how it goes! I stumbled upon this on pinterest. My husband is low carbing his meals soooo I cook 2 meals now. Thanks for the info! I am EXCITED to tackle this. I teach school for until , then have another job working the after school program from until almost so this is AWESOME!!!

I have some of my own recipes that I can alternate, but I am thankful for yours too. I saw some new ideas! Just thought I would share for the folks like me who do not want to spend the day cooking and then freezing, yet love the idea of freezer meals.

Six sisters blog has at least 20 delicious frozen meals that you put into the freezer I use gallon zip-locks , then take out as needed, place into your crock pot, and let it cook them for you all day long. I love the chicken and bean Chile, as well as the lime cilantro chicken.

Just passing along another option for your readers. You do a shop they list all ingredients as well, and are on pinterest too , spend about a half an hour packaging them up and labeling, and you are set to go! I take one bag out the night before, thaw in fridge, place in crock pot in the morning, and go!

Thanks for sharing, hope this is useful for someone else as well! While a good idea, these meals are all so unhealthy. Everything on the shopping list is canned or frozen.

Try substituting some fresh vegetables. I would really love to get more recipes from you. Your ideas here are great , I have a large upright freezer. I go to store maybe 2 times a month. In winter no transportation off of here to go to store.

Thank you very much for this , Lou-Ann mcGee in : Milton,WV east coast. Hi Gina! Thanks very much for your post. Really fabulous ideas and inspiring, too. I just wanted to mention that we do something like this — and always include a meal in the slow-cooker, made to freeze.

Usually ham… Here are two recipes:. On a bed of onion chunks, place the biggest ham you can fit, pour a bottle of strong tasting beer over it, then poor a can of maple syrup.

Run your cooker hours. Freeze in family-sized portions with sauce. Make two layers in your cooker: almost cooked macaroni mixed with ham chunks and frozen veggies, favorite cream-of soup and spices, shredded cheese. Slow cook. Run cooker on low hours. I tried this and it was surprisingly simple, I love the idea and the fact that it saves us money.

I made these meals today. Recipes were easy and food tasted amazing. I will, however, wear comfortable shoes next time, as my feet are hurting. I hope all of the meals freeze and reheat well.

Thanks for sharing this post! I have freed up a lot of time, as a mother working outside of the home, for the next month!

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27 EASY Freezer Meals in 2 HOURS! - CHEAP AND EASY FREEZER MEAL PREP 2022 - Katelyn's Kitchen Good Luck!!! Use in Low-cost freezer meal options of pasta, meall salads, or with roasted fish or meat. Her secret? Do you have a list of those? Toggle Menu Close. I love all your recipes!

3 thoughts on “Low-cost freezer meal options”

Ducage:

28.12.2023 в 07:23

Nach meinem ist das Thema sehr interessant. Ich biete Ihnen es an, hier oder in PM zu besprechen.

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Samuzshura:

29.12.2023 в 08:15

Was er meinen kann?

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Tojind:

30.12.2023 в 14:44

Ich denke, dass Sie den Fehler zulassen. Ich kann die Position verteidigen. Schreiben Sie mir in PM.

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