Freezer Meals

[5ft Diva]

I just looked at my calendar and realized that I have a baby coming in about 10 weeks. Holy Moly! When did that happen? Anyway, I am really nervous about going into a depression because of feeling overwhelmed (baby #6 - and I've had post partum depression w/ four of my kids) and think that I can help to avoid all of this by doing about 2-4 weeks worth of freezer meals. (BTW, Is it possible to do them for 2-3 months? Will they store very well for that long?) I was wondering if any of you could give me recipes for freezer meals that you have tried that are good. I would ask that you please not give me a link to look them up because I know I won't make the time to look them up right now, I would really just like a recipe that I can just print off and try. If any of you know of any - even just one - please send it my way!

TIA

[runamyrun]

FoxyRoxy is a really good person to ask about freezer meals. So is Cathy. I have a freezer meal cookbook and have tried a couple of recipes. What I actually prefer doing is just making the meals that my family already love to eat. A couple of ideas of things that I have done:
taco meat
sloppy joe meat
french bread pizza (wrap up a loaf of french bread, put cheese in a freezer bag, put ham or pepperoni in a freezer bag, and keep a can of pizza sauce on hand or make and freeze pizza sauce. When you are ready to serve it, put on the toppings and broil in the oven.)
mini calzones (Thaw out however many Rhodes rolls you would like. Spread a roll out into a circle and fill with whatever pizza toppings you like but not pizza sauce. Fold over half of the roll and seal the edges with a fork. The thing I love about this is that I can personalize them for my family members. We all like different toppings. I place all of the calzones on cookie sheets to freeze separately. Once they are frozen, I put them in freezer bags. When you want to cook them, take out however many you need and bake on a cookie sheet for about 20 to 25 minutes.) Serve with warm pizza sauce to dip in (my husband pours pizza sauce over his.)
family size baked burrito (If you want this recipe, let me know and I can type it up. Basically you use four tortillas to end up with a large square almost the size of a pizza pan. It has refried beans, chicken, cheese, etc. You can make it spicy or tone it down. When you serve it you can top it with a lime and avocado sauce or do without. It tastes great both ways. We also like to serve it with chopped lettuce, olives and tomatoes.)
chicken enchilada casserole (This is what we had at the couple's Enrichment night dinner but I make it without tomatoes. It is really easy to make. You mix a cup of sour cream, 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, 2 cups of cheese, 2 cans diced green chilies, and 1 to 4 pounds of chicken (whatever amount you like--we use less meat than most people). Tear up 24 corn tortillas into bite size pieces and then mix into the sauce. Put into 9x13 and freeze.)
chicken rollups (I recently did this and it was yummy! Use your favorite recipe for chicken rollups to make the filling. Then we used a cookie scoop or spoon to portion out how much you would put in a crescent roll. We put the scooped filling onto a cookie sheet to freeze. When frozen, I put the filling into freezer bags. When ready to serve, put each scoop into crescent roll dough and bake. Serve with chicken gravy.)
chicken enchiladas I have a spicy version, so let me know if you want the recipe. I know that not everyone likes spicy food.
A1 Bold pepper chickenThis is really easy to make, but my kids don't like it. Cook 1 lb chopped chicken. Thinly slice 1 red pepper and 1 green pepper. Cook on stove. Add chicken to peppers, 3/4 cup A1 sauce and 1 Tbsp water. Heat to a boil and simmer 5 minutes. Once cooled down, freeze in freezer bag. I reheat this on the stove and serve over rice.
veggie meatballs Mix 1/2 lb hamburger, 1/4 cup grated carrots, 1/2 cup grated potatoes, 2 Tbsp finely diced onion, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 egg. Shape into meatballs, coat in flour and fry in pan until brown. Put in casserole dish and cover with a mixture of 1 can of cream of chicken soup and a canful of milk. Freeze. To serve, bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Serve over rice.
lasagnaThis works really well. My kids are young, so we don't need very much lasagna for dinner. Instead of making a 9x13, I divide it up into 2 or 3 small dishes. That way we have more dinners already made!
mini pizzas This is good for a snack or an easy meal. This is a recipe that uses a master meat sauce. Cook 4 lbs hamburger and add 1 minced onion, 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste plus 6 oz of water or 1 can tomato soup, 2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt. Simmer 20 to 30 minutes. Whatever you don't use for the pizzas, put into 1 cup portions in freezer bags. You can use this sauce for tacos, sloppy joes, spaghetti sauce, etc, just add the seasonings when you reheat the sauce. For the pizzas mix 1 cup of the master meat sauce and 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning and a dash of pepper. Spoon 2 Tbsp of mixture over half a bagel, English muffin or any other bread (we used English muffins and it was yummy.). Sprinkle with 1 to 2 Tbsp mozzarella cheese. Wrap individually in plastic wrap or place in small plastic bags. Place wrapped pizzas together in gallon size freezer bag and freeze. To cook, place on cookie sheet and bake at 400 for 8 to 10 minutes or until cheese melts and starts to brown. You can broil the last 2 to 3 minutes. 1 recipe makes 8 mini pizzas.
sticky chicken Mix half an envelope of dry onion soup mix with 1 cup Catalina dressing and 1 cup apricot jam. Add 1 to 2 lbs chopped cooked chicken. Put in freezer bag and freeze. To serve, simmer on stove for 5 minutes and serve over rice.
tatertot casserole My husband and kids don't like this so I don't make it, but growing up my family loved it. Cook hamburger and chopped onions. Put in bottom of casserole dish. Cover with tatertots. Cover tatertots with cream of chicken soup (I usually used 2 cans, depending on the amount I was making.) Freeze. To serve, bake for 30 to 45 minutes. Take out of the oven and cover tatertots with shredded cheese. Put back into the oven and bake until cheese is melted.

You may already do this, but I have also found it helps to cook a whole bunch of hamburger or chicken at once (to keep in the freezer). Then I portion it into the amount I generally use for my recipes and put it in freezer bags. Then, if my freezer meals are gone or I want to cook something else, the meat is already done. That saves a lot of time.

Sorry this isn't easy to read. I meant to just give a couple of ideas, but then I got carried away. Let me know if you have any questions.

[runamyrun]

I am not positive, but I think freezer meals are good for 3 to 4 months. If you are using ham, I think that might only be good for 2 months. And the food isn't dangerous to eat after that amount of time, the quality just won't be as good.

I made freezer meals when I had a month to go before Ella was born. I planned on using it all after she was born, but I used some while I was still pregnant. That was awesome! I had forgotten how tired I get during the last trimester, and that I don't always want to cook. Maybe you could make a few extras so you have that option too!

[Meticulous madness]

Wow RAR, thanks for these fun ideas! I don't have any special reason for needing freezer meals, other than the "full-time work" thing and my lazy-side that usually wins over once I get home at night. I may call you for specifics, if you don't mind.

I'll try to list a few of my own fave's soon. I'm more of a crock-pot person, which doesn't help you right now, 5D.

[5ft Diva]

Originally Posted by runamyrun

FoxyRoxy is a really good person to ask about freezer meals. So is Cathy. I have a freezer meal cookbook and have tried a couple of recipes. What I actually prefer doing is just making the meals that my family already love to eat. A couple of ideas of things that I have done:
taco meat
sloppy joe meat
french bread pizza (wrap up a loaf of french bread, put cheese in a freezer bag, put ham or pepperoni in a freezer bag, and keep a can of pizza sauce on hand or make and freeze pizza sauce. When you are ready to serve it, put on the toppings and broil in the oven.)
mini calzones (Thaw out however many Rhodes rolls you would like. Spread a roll out into a circle and fill with whatever pizza toppings you like but not pizza sauce. Fold over half of the roll and seal the edges with a fork. The thing I love about this is that I can personalize them for my family members. We all like different toppings. I place all of the calzones on cookie sheets to freeze separately. Once they are frozen, I put them in freezer bags. When you want to cook them, take out however many you need and bake on a cookie sheet for about 20 to 25 minutes.) Serve with warm pizza sauce to dip in (my husband pours pizza sauce over his.)
family size baked burrito (If you want this recipe, let me know and I can type it up. Basically you use four tortillas to end up with a large square almost the size of a pizza pan. It has refried beans, chicken, cheese, etc. You can make it spicy or tone it down. When you serve it you can top it with a lime and avocado sauce or do without. It tastes great both ways. We also like to serve it with chopped lettuce, olives and tomatoes.)
chicken enchilada casserole (This is what we had at the couple's Enrichment night dinner but I make it without tomatoes. It is really easy to make. You mix a cup of sour cream, 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, 2 cups of cheese, 2 cans diced green chilies, and 1 to 4 pounds of chicken (whatever amount you like--we use less meat than most people). Tear up 24 corn tortillas into bite size pieces and then mix into the sauce. Put into 9x13 and freeze.)
chicken rollups (I recently did this and it was yummy! Use your favorite recipe for chicken rollups to make the filling. Then we used a cookie scoop or spoon to portion out how much you would put in a crescent roll. We put the scooped filling onto a cookie sheet to freeze. When frozen, I put the filling into freezer bags. When ready to serve, put each scoop into crescent roll dough and bake. Serve with chicken gravy.)
chicken enchiladas I have a spicy version, so let me know if you want the recipe. I know that not everyone likes spicy food.
A1 Bold pepper chickenThis is really easy to make, but my kids don't like it. Cook 1 lb chopped chicken. Thinly slice 1 red pepper and 1 green pepper. Cook on stove. Add chicken to peppers, 3/4 cup A1 sauce and 1 Tbsp water. Heat to a boil and simmer 5 minutes. Once cooled down, freeze in freezer bag. I reheat this on the stove and serve over rice.
veggie meatballs Mix 1/2 lb hamburger, 1/4 cup grated carrots, 1/2 cup grated potatoes, 2 Tbsp finely diced onion, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 egg. Shape into meatballs, coat in flour and fry in pan until brown. Put in casserole dish and cover with a mixture of 1 can of cream of chicken soup and a canful of milk. Freeze. To serve, bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Serve over rice.
lasagnaThis works really well. My kids are young, so we don't need very much lasagna for dinner. Instead of making a 9x13, I divide it up into 2 or 3 small dishes. That way we have more dinners already made!
mini pizzas This is good for a snack or an easy meal. This is a recipe that uses a master meat sauce. Cook 4 lbs hamburger and add 1 minced onion, 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste plus 6 oz of water or 1 can tomato soup, 2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt. Simmer 20 to 30 minutes. Whatever you don't use for the pizzas, put into 1 cup portions in freezer bags. You can use this sauce for tacos, sloppy joes, spaghetti sauce, etc, just add the seasonings when you reheat the sauce. For the pizzas mix 1 cup of the master meat sauce and 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning and a dash of pepper. Spoon 2 Tbsp of mixture over half a bagel, English muffin or any other bread (we used English muffins and it was yummy.). Sprinkle with 1 to 2 Tbsp mozzarella cheese. Wrap individually in plastic wrap or place in small plastic bags. Place wrapped pizzas together in gallon size freezer bag and freeze. To cook, place on cookie sheet and bake at 400 for 8 to 10 minutes or until cheese melts and starts to brown. You can broil the last 2 to 3 minutes. 1 recipe makes 8 mini pizzas.
sticky chicken Mix half an envelope of dry onion soup mix with 1 cup Catalina dressing and 1 cup apricot jam. Add 1 to 2 lbs chopped cooked chicken. Put in freezer bag and freeze. To serve, simmer on stove for 5 minutes and serve over rice.
tatertot casserole My husband and kids don't like this so I don't make it, but growing up my family loved it. Cook hamburger and chopped onions. Put in bottom of casserole dish. Cover with tatertots. Cover tatertots with cream of chicken soup (I usually used 2 cans, depending on the amount I was making.) Freeze. To serve, bake for 30 to 45 minutes. Take out of the oven and cover tatertots with shredded cheese. Put back into the oven and bake until cheese is melted.

You may already do this, but I have also found it helps to cook a whole bunch of hamburger or chicken at once (to keep in the freezer). Then I portion it into the amount I generally use for my recipes and put it in freezer bags. Then, if my freezer meals are gone or I want to cook something else, the meat is already done. That saves a lot of time.

Sorry this isn't easy to read. I meant to just give a couple of ideas, but then I got carried away. Let me know if you have any questions.

Amy, this is wonderful! Thanks for letting me in on all of your knowledge. I appreciate the simplicity of your system since that's what my life requires right now. Just printed this whole post off so that I can refer to a hard copy later on. Thanks again!

[5ft Diva]

Originally Posted by Meticulous madness

Wow RAR, thanks for these fun ideas! I don't have any special reason for needing freezer meals, other than the "full-time work" thing and my lazy-side that usually wins over once I get home at night. I may call you for specifics, if you don't mind.

I'll try to list a few of my own fave's soon. I'm more of a crock-pot person, which doesn't help you right now, 5D.

I'm open to quick and easy if that's what your crock pot meals are. (Quick to put together, that is.)

[runamyrun]

I'd also like to have yummy recipes for the crock pot. I've only cooked a couple of things in there, so I feel pretty clueless. M&M, please share! And of course you are welcome to call if you have questions about my freezer meals.

[5ft Diva]

I also sent out a mass e-mail w/ the same request and I have been so grateful for the responses that I've been given that I thought I'd post them on here as well in case someone else ever needed a place to go to for Freezer Meal Ideas.

Also my MIL loaned me her book "Dinner is Ready" that is fabulous! It's a cookbook that teaches you how to do freezer meals and has 150 recipes in it. I'm excited to get to work. I feel so blessed to have been given all these wonderful ideas. Thank you everyone again so much for all of your help. You have no idea how much this is going to help me after the baby comes.

[5ft Diva]

Response #1

Hello! I'm ***** sister and I have a few ideas for frozen dinners. I did this same thing when I had my baby. I started making two of every dinner I had planned for the week. We would eat one and freeze the other. I also made a whole bunch of meatballs and then had stuff on hand to make meatball sandwiches (bottled sauce), spaghetti and meatballs (bottled sauce), sweet and sour (Yoshida's & Pineapple chunks juice and all) meatballs with rice, and meatballs in a cream sauce (cream of mushroom soup) with rice. I also made homemade pizza's using pita bread or rhodes dough as the crust and then froze them uncooked. Also one of my personal favorites is salsa chicken, which is good for quesadillas, burritos, nachos, chimichungas, etc. all you do is put chicken or beef in the crockpot and then salsa over the top of it, cook it on low all day and enjoy!

We had frozen dinners for almost 2 months! It was so great! They froze great, and they lasted in the freezer for a long time! Sorry there aren't real recipes, if you need more of a recipe let me know. Hope this helps.

[5ft Diva]

Response #2

Yes you can store meals 2-3 months.Breads usually last about 2 months.
Example of making meatballs ahead of time and then having different sauces that are frozen separately or already mixed in.(BBQ, sweet and sour, spaghetti,alfredo, swedish meatballs) I cook a huge batch of meatballls in the oven and then store them in ziplocks that are family meal sized.

[5ft Diva]

Response #3

I've made one just like this and it tastes good. You can use whatever veggies you want but corn and beans freeze well.
Cottage Pie
Makes: 6 Servings Total Time: 1 hr 45 min
Category: Casseroles/Pot Pies


Ingredients:
6-8 large potatoes
1/8 cup milk
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen cut green beans
1 lb. ground beef
2 cubes beef boullion
1 1/2 packs taco seasoning mix
1/4 cup butter
Preparation
Peel and boil potatoes. Drain, add milk and mash. Set aside to cool.

Mix corn and green beans. Boil until near-done. It will cook fully in the oven later.

Brown ground beef in a deep pan. Mix beef boulion with 1/3 cup of water and stir in the taco seasoning mix. Add to cooked ground beef and cook on medium heat for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Drain excess juice (meat mixture should be wet but not pooling in liquid), and add in the cooked vegetables. Mix well and put in a large casserole dish. Press the mixture down with a large spoon.

Spread the mashed potatoes on top and flatten. Score the potatoes in a checkerboard style with a fork to make ridges. Put dabs of butter randomly on top.

Bake at 375 for 40 minutes. If potatoes haven't browned, stick under the broiler for a few minutes but don't burn.

Let cool slightly before serving.
Notes

-Freezer Meals... Make a double or triple batch. Ater baking and cooling, transfer to single, double, or any size freezer containers. When you want a meal, simply thaw and re-heat in the microwave or oven.

-THE SECRET! Most cottage pies are bland but the flavour in this version comes from the taco/boullion mix. It's a refreshing change.

[5ft Diva]

Response #4

This isn't a recipe but it's also not a link. Any roll recipe that you like can be made ahead and frozen in dough form--just a lump or shaped into rolls, or you can bake them and freeze them. I like having hot rolls from the oven so I just freeze the dough. Set it out in the early afternoon and by dinner they're thawed and risen and ready to go. Of course, lasagne always freezes well. I would imagine a meatloaf would too.

I then asked some questions for clarifications and got:

Rolls--yes. Put them on a cookie sheet and freeze them just enough that they won't stick together and then you can put them in freezer bags. I'm guessing that you don't have enough pans to just leave them on the pans....for french bread your guess sounds good--I'd add plastic wrap and then foil.

I have a yummy recipe that could probably be frozen using french bread. You make the dough and then roll it out flat. You put pepperoni and cheese on it and roll it up. Cut slices in the top and bake at 350 for 25 min or until lightly brown. Dip in pizza sauce (warmed up). You could freeze it just before baking or after.

Lasagne...Pre-cook and then just heat it until it's hot and bubbly.
You'll probably want to invest in a aluminum pan that can be thrown away so your pan isn't stuck in the freezer.

Meatloaf...I don't know. If you precook it then the reheat will be simple. If you don't then just make sure it's thawed out before you cook it. Either way sounds like it will work out.

[runamyrun]

Rather than buying aluminum pans, you can just use heavy duty foil. I use 9x13s for a lot of my meals, so I line a 9x13 with foil, fill it with the food and cover with more foil. When it is frozen I can pop it out of the pan and use the pan for other things. When I am ready to cook the food, I just pop it back into the 9x13. It also creates less clean up for me!

[5ft Diva]

That is a fabulous idea, Amy. Does it really work? This may sound like a stupid question, but how long does it take for a meal to freeze? Just over night is what I'm assuming.

[runamyrun]

Yes it works. That is how I do it. The time it takes to freeze depends on how thick the food is. If it is something thin, it seems like it is frozen by the time I am putting some of the last meals in the freezer. If it is thicker I am sure it is frozen by the next day.

[5ft Diva]

Thanks. This really is a good idea.

[teeny]

This is a great thread! I also have a baby on the way, due in 12 weeks, and doing this would help me out soooo much! I got an idea from another site about freezer meals. A lady was saying that she got together with some other friends and did a "Freezer Dinner Exchange" In her case, she had five people that were interested, and so they each made two dishes and made five of each dish, and then they got together and exchanged all of them, that way they had 10 different meals each. My question to everyone is, would anyone else be interested in doing this with me???

[5ft Diva]

How many times would you want to do this? I could probalby fit it into my freezer meal schedule and just take out some of the things that I would rather not do.

[teeny]

Well, it depends how many people would want to do this, and depends how many meals we each want. I wouldn't mind having 14 meals in the freezer minimum. So, if we could get 7 people involved, then we could each make 2 meals, seven times, make sense? I'm the kind of person that likes to work my butt off for one whole day, just so I can make the next two weeks easy! So, I guess the way I'm wanting to do it would be to make it a one time deal, and if it works out well, and we want to do it again sometime then we can. But, I'm flexible too, so whatever everyone wants to do.....

[5ft Diva]

So you're thinking a one or two time deal??? Did I get that right? That totally works for me. Count me in.