Freezer Meals

I made 30 freezer meals in preparation for the birth of my twins, and it worked SO much better than I ever could have anticipated.  Most of the meals were unqualified successes, and only one was gross.  I wanted to share my methods and recipes for anyone interested.

I used recipes that my family loves.  I found that soups and casseroles worked really well.  Pasta casseroles weren't so great, and I avoided anything that needs crisp texture.  Instead of making a bunch of meals at once, I made 2nd batches as I cooked dinner for my family.  From the time I found out I was having twins at 11 weeks, I aimed to make 2 freezer meals a week.  I found that making a 2nd batch of a meal takes WAY less than twice the work.  Some meals took as little as 5 extra minutes and 1 extra dish.  It was so easy, in fact, that I am now planning to keep a steady rotation of meals in my my freezer all the time and stock up every summer for the beginning of school/canning season.

Because some of my meals needed to last 6 months, I used my Food Saver to vacuum pack them.  The Food Saver bags are slightly narrower than a 9x13, so I found a casserole dish that was narrow enough.  I made all my casseroles in that dish lined with heavy duty aluminum foil.  After I froze the casserole, I would pop it out of the pan and freeze it in the foil.  Then, I knew which pan to get when reheating the meals and just popped it back in.  It worked great.  The foil also made cleanup easier.  For soups, I put the Food Saver bag in a cereal-sized Tupperware container to freeze.

(Excuse the dirtiness: we had a freezer meal last night)

After the meals were frozen, I sealed them in the Food Saver bags and labeled them with the name of the meal and the date made.  I also kept a spreadsheet of what meals I made, the date made, any other ingredients it needed, and instructions.

I kept the meals in an upright deep freezer.  For reference, the 30 meals filled up my bottom basket shelf and one normal shelf.

Now, this is saving my life.  We have delicious homemade dinners with very few dishes every night.  When my colicky twin is screaming, all I have to do is grab a bag, open it, and pop the food into a pan.  I figure out which meal I'm using at about 4 o'clock each afternoon.  The casseroles take about 2 hours to reheat at 350 degrees.  Covered with foil, they don't seem to burn.  I microwave the soup bags long enough to get the bag off, then dump the frozen block straight into a pot. They take about 1 hour. I could probably do them in the microwave as well, but I haven't tried it.  

Here are the recipes we enjoyed with any extra instructions noted.

Chicken Apple Curry

No. Servings: 8

Prep: 15 min Cook: 3 hrs

4 chicken breasts

2-3 cups apples

1 onion

1-2 C chicken boullion

1 large can cream of chicken soup

2 tsp. curry

10 cups cooked rice (5 dry)

1. Cut chicken into strips 1x1x2 in.  Chop apples and onion.
2. Put all ingredients except rice into crockpot.  Cook on high three hours or until chicken is cooked and onions are soft.
3. Serve over rice.
4. Freezer: Make rice at time of eating.

Chicken Pot Pie

No. Servings: 8

2 quarts chicken stock

3 cups chicken

3 cups carrots, chopped

3 cups potatoes, chopped

2 cups green peas

Flour & milk, mixed

2 recipes double pie crust

1. Cook chicken in stock for one hour or until cooked through.
2. Break chicken into chunks and return to pot.  Add carrots and potatoes.  
3. When both are tender, add peas and thickening (flour & milk).
4. Place in pie crust.  Cook at 350° until crust is brown and mixture is bubbling.

Chicken Enchiladas

No. Servings: 6

Prep: 15 min Cook: 15 min

4 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped OR 2 cans cooked chicken

1.5 cup sour cream

3 cans cream of chicken soup

1 can green chiles OR ¼ cup green onions, chopped and sautéed

8 tortillas

Milk

Cheese, shredded

1. Combine chicken, sour cream, soup, and vegetables.  Add milk until the mixture is spreadable.  
2. Cover bottom of pan with sauce, then fill tortillas with sauce, leaving ½ cup out.  Place tortillas in pan, then cover with remaining sauce and cheese.  
3. Cook in microwave or oven until warmed.
4. Freezer: Sticks to foil; use a disposable pan.  Top with cheese once nearly reheated.

Green Chicken Enchiladas
No. Servings: 8
Prep: 15 min Cook 30 min

4 chicken breasts OR 2 cans chicken

2 cans black beans

14 oz or more salsa

1 cup cooked rice

Shredded cheese

Pepper

8 tortillas

1 can green enchilada sauce

1. Mix first six ingredients.
2. Fill tortillas with mixture and place in 9x13 pan.  Cover with sauce, covering all edges of tortillas.  Top with more cheese.
3. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Meatloaf

No. Servings: 1 pan

Prep: 20 min Cook: 1 1/2 hr

2 beaten eggs

3/4 C milk

2/3 C dry bread crumbs

1/4 C finely chopped onion

2 Tbsp fresh parsley

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sage, basil, or oregano

1/8 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 lb ground beef, lamb or pork

1/4 C ketchup

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp dry mustard

1. Combine eggs and milk in bowl.  Stir in bread, onion, salt, and spices.
2. Add meat; mix well.  Lightly pat into a greased loaf pan.
3. Bake at 350° for 1 - 1 1/2 hours or until internal temperature registers 160°.
4. In a bowl, combine ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard.  Spread over meat.  Bake 10 minutes more and let stand 10 minutes before serving.
5. Freezer: Make sauce when serving.

Sloppy Joes

No. Servings: 6

1 lb ground beef

Salt & pepper

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp garlic salt

2 stalks celery

1 onion

5-6 Tbsp brown sugar

¼ tsp dry mustard

1 Tb lemon juice

1 Tbsp vinegar

Ketchup until red, 1 ½-2 cups

Buns

Cheese

1. Brown hamburger and top with spices.    
2. Meanwhile, chop celery and mince onion.  Boil until tender.  Drain and add to hamburger.
3. Add brown sugar, mustard, lemon juice, vinegar, and ketchup and simmer until slightly thick.  
4. Serve with cheese on buns.

Shepherd’s Pie

1 lb ground beef

1 onion, minced

1 green pepper, minced

1 ½ C carrots, chopped

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

½ C beef broth

1 C green peas

2 cans whole corn, drained

Salt & pepper to taste

8 cups prepared instant mashed potatoes

Shredded cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400°.  Brown ground beef, onion and green pepper.
2. Meanwhile, boil carrots separately until tender.
3. Add Worcestershire, beef broth, peas, corn, and salt & pepper to the beef.  Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender and liquid is mostly gone.
4. Pour into greased 9x13 pan.  Cover completely with mashed potatoes, sprinkle with cheese.  
5. Cook 30 minutes or until bubbling and brown.
6. Freezer: Top with cheese once nearly reheated.

Stroganoff

No. Servings: 6 

by: Jill Day

1 lb stew meat OR ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 cup sour cream

1 large can cream of mushroom soup

Salt & pepper to taste

6 cups cooked noodles OR 6 baked potatoes

1. Brown meat and onion.  
2. Add sour cream, mushroom soup, and salt & pepper.  
3. Heat through and serve over noodles or potatoes.

Taco Joes
No. Servings: 6

1 lb hamburger

1 onion, chopped

Taco Seasoning

2 large cans pork and beans

2 bags Fritos

Cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, lettuce

1. Fry hamburger and onion.  Sprinkle with taco seasoning.
2. Add pork and beans.  Heat through.
3. Serve over Fritos and top with other ingredients.

Sukiyaki*

by: Joy Lundberg

1/4 C oil 

1 lb round steak, cut into strips

1 large onion

4 carrots, cut into strips 

3 stalks celery, sliced diagonally

10-15 mushrooms

Sauce

1/4 C brown sugar

1 dash garlic salt

1/8 C soy sauce

1 bullion cube

1/2 C hot water

1 Tbsp oil

1 Tbsp cornstarch

1/4 C water

Hot cooked rice

1. Brown meat in oil in wok.  Add onion and stir fry 3 minutes.
2. Add carrots and stir fry 5 minutes.
3. Add celery and mushroom and stir fry 5 minutes.
4. Mix sugar, garlic salt, soy sauce, bullion and water, and oil in separate bowl.  Add to meat and vegetables.
5. Thicken with mixture of cornstarch and water.
6. Stir until glossy.  Serve over rice.
7. Freezer: Substitute vegetables for Costco stir fry mix.  Stir fry vegetables, add cooked meat & sauce, and cook until thick.

Breakfast Casserole

Cook: 1 ½ hr

Day Before:

8 slices bread, broken

1 ½ C cheese, grated

1 lb. ham, sausage, or bacon, chopped

3 green onions, diced

½ green pepper, chopped

8 eggs

1 ½ C milk

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp dry mustard

1. Grease 9x13 pan.  In order, fill with bread, cheese, meat, and onions and peppers.
2. Beat eggs, mix with milk, salt and mustard.  Pour over casserole, thoroughly covering.  Let sit over night.

Just Before Baking:

¼ C milk

1 can mushrooms

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1. Mix and pour over casserole.  Bake at 350° for 1 ½ hours.

Crab Enchiladas

1 lb crab meat

1 pint half and half

16 oz salsa

16 corn tortillas

1 lb mozzarella cheese

1. Mix crab, half and half, and salsa.
2. Pour a little sauce on the bottom of the pan to coat it.
3. Rip up tortillas into 2 inch pieces.  Put a layer on the bottom of 9x13 pan.
4. Spoon a layer of meat and sauce onto the tortillas.
5. Add a layer of mozzarella cheese.
6. Repeat until pan is full.
7. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

Beef & Bacon Chowder

No. Servings: 6 

4 slices bacon cut (optional)

1 lb hamburger

2/3 C chopped celery

½ C chopped onion

1 C sliced carrots

2 cans cream of potato soup

4 C milk

¾ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1. Cook bacon and brown hamburger.
2. In a separate pot, cook carrots in a little bit of water.
3. Add celery and onion.  Cook until vegetables are tender.
4. Add meat, potato soup, milk, salt and pepper to vegetables.  Mix and heat well.

Chicken Noodle Soup

No. Servings: 12 

4 chicken breasts

3 bay leaves

1 onion, quartered

3 celery stalks

6 cubes boullion

Water to fill pot

3 cups carrots, chopped

2 cups celery, chopped

2 cups green peas

3 cups egg noodles

1. Simmer chicken, bay leaves, onion, celery, boullion and water for 1-1 ½ hours or until chicken is cooked and soft.  
2. Remove bay leaves, onion, and celery.  Break apart chicken.  
3. Add boullion to taste.  Add carrots; simmer 5-10 minutes, then add celery and noodles.  
4. When nearly done, add peas and heat through.
5. Freezer: Add noodles once cooled; add peas after reheating.

Taco Soup*

No. Servings: 8

1 lb hamburger

1 onion

1 can tomato soup

1 can water

3, 8 oz cans tomato sauce

½ pckg taco seasoning

1 32 oz can kidney beans, undrained

1. Brown hamburger & onion.  
2. Meanwhile, heat other ingredients in pot, then add hamburger and onion.  
3. Serve over chips and top with cheese & sour cream.

No Recipe Needed

Breakfast Burritos