September 28th, 2013 - Freezer Meals

Good morning!  Today's post is a guest blog by our very own Jessica - She is a licensed social worker, who is preparing to meet a very lovely little belly bean in a few short weeks.  She is a frugal mama, who has very sweetly offered to share her freezer meal work up with us!  Take a moment to see more about who she is by stopping by her blog here and her website here, then swing on down to see how she does what she does!

From Jessica ~

Well hello there! If you have not tried freezer cooking before, you are missing out...yes it requires work and planning up front, yes it is a big mess, yes it is a long day of cooking, and yes your grocery bill will look bigger up front, BUT then it’s DONE! Done meaning, all you have to do is throw it in the crock-pot, oven, microwave, or warm in up stove top and dinner is DONE! Done also means you don’t have to go back to the grocery store for a few weeks to a month, and even then usually just for essentials (milk, bread, eggs, etc).  DONE also means (this one is high on my list) that there is not a huge stack of “prep” dishes to do every night!

 

I have to give shout outs to http://smithlive.blogspot.com/ and http://melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.com as they have both been fundamental in my planning, recipe selection, and overall freezer cooking experience. I feel like I have taken bits and pieces from both of them and adapted it to my taste and style.  I would encourage you to look at their websites!!

 

For right now, it is me and my hubby, so I make almost all of our freezer meal portions for two, so most of the recipes are for 4-6-8 servings so I portion it into smaller servings (and therefore get more meals). I have done 3 rounds of freezer cooking and each one has turned out a bit different as a result, but generally I get 30-40 meals, not including breakfast and lunch tacos/foods for $200-300.

 

TIP: Check out your Sunday circulars...meat is what makes meals expensive, so we try to plan around sales on ground meats, chicken, and pork. I often swap the meats in the recipes for whatever is on sale to make it cheaper!

 

OK, to get started you need to choose your recipes.  (You can follow that link, or select Freezer Meal Recipes from the left hand side of the page.) This past time I chose about 15 and the time before that about 10 or 12. These do include some sauces and soups, which I made large portions therefore getting more meals. Again, it depends on how many you are cooking for. Smithlive often doubles, triples, or quadruples her recipes to make about 25+. Either way, the goal is usually a month’s worth of meals in one day, factoring in a day or two of leftovers and eating out.

 

TIP: Look for recipes that call for the same ingredients, especially if you are just starting out. For example, if chili powder, ground mustard, soy sauce and rice vinegar are not staples in your house, buying these for just one recipe is not efficient. This is also true of things you might not use all of (canned adobo chilies, cream cheese, bbq sauce, etc). Try to find 2 recipes that will use the same ingredients to help lower cost!

Because I have done 3 rounds of freezer cooking now, I am going to list all of the recipes that I have used; again, it’s up to you which ones you want to use, maybe even start with 10. Also, a good portion of your favorite recipes can be modified into freezer meals, so if you have something you love, try freezing it! Disclaimer: a few of these recipes are new this round, so I cannot vouch for how they taste/turn out.

TIP: I print my recipes and put them in plastic sleeves in a 3 ring binder. This means I can take them out (of the binder, not the sleeve) easily and they are protected from the mess I make in the kitchen!

Last thing before the recipes...decide how you are going to package things. I LOVE LOVELOVE LOVE my foodsaver system and use this for almost everything except casseroles. If you don’t have a Foodsaver system, ask for one for Christmas, and until then use heavy duty quart and gallon freezer bags.

OK, here is my list:

PORK

Chile Verde Carnitas

BBQ Pineapple Pulled Pork

Egg Muffins (BREAKFAST ITEM)

WW Breakfast Burritos (BREAKFAST ITEM)

CHICKEN

Monterey Chicken

Cafe Rio Chicken

Lemon Garlic Chicken

WW Chicken Burrito Wrap (LUNCH ITEM)

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

Brown Sugar Chicken

Sesame Chicken

Creamy Chicken and Rigatoni Primavera (can also leave out chicken for veg dish)

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos

 

BEEF

3 Packet Roast

Beef Stroganoff

Best Ever Beef Dip Sandwiches

Goulash

 

GROUND MEAT (We use turkey and chx a lot because it’s healthier, but it is not cheaper!)

Spaghetti Sauce

3 Bean and Beef Chili

Sweet Sloppy Joes

Almost Lasagna

Baked Penne

NO MEAT/VEGGIES
Taco Dinner Mac and Cheese

Twice Baked Potatoes

Spicy Roasted Vegetable Mac and Cheese (can add meat if you wish)

Lentil Soup

RECIPES

They are in alphabetical order. I have made notes in red- either changes I have made or notes on how to cook. If the majority of the directions are in red- do the directions in black and then stop when you hit the red. As with ANY recipe, read through all of the directions  prior to beginning.

COOKING

Use your judgment when cooking based upon the time you have and what you are using. Crockpot meals can be adjusted based on time and temperature. ALWAYS make sure to cook all meats thoroughly when reheating. If baking, usually 350 for 20-25 minutes is good and stovetop over medium high heat until cooked.

Please leave a comment or two - adding other great freezer meal information, or what you loved about this one!