Freezer meal ideas and recipes « Back to Group Discussions

[Ethelpea]

Might as well start it now.  Use this thread to post easy to freeze and re-heat meals. 

I plan on doing:

bean and beef burritos

salisbury steak

spaghetti meatsauce

[camprunner]

My favorite threads :)

I make mine in muffin silicone muffin tins and freeze them. Then I pop out the froze cups into a freezer bag for personal serving sizes which are easy to heat up.

stuffed pepper casserole

chili chese casserole

spicy ricy

cheese burger casserole

I'll have to come back and add more later. I actually have about 12 recipes in which I pull from that I know are freezable for occasions just like this!  I made a few to get me through the first trimester and we just now ran out.

[BeanBean06]

We have a lot of dietary restrictions in our house so I plan to make freezer meals and have the pantry stocked with enough food for a few weeks so we can have things to grab if need be, as we can't really "order out"

I plan on prepping meats like steaks and such and freezing them separately so they can just be taken out and grilled, lots of "dump chicken" recipes that can just be thrown in the slow cooker. And I'll probably make a few big bags of my home made red sauce for easy pasta meals... My mother inlaw suggested people donate to a grocery store gift card in lue of bringing meals because of all our restrictions, I think that a great idea

I look forward to reading everyone's suggestions!

[1babysmom]

Chicken/black bean enchiladas

Egg & cheese strata

Shepherd's Pie

Spaghetti Casserole

Lots of soups

Lots of individual snacks, muffins and cookies :)

[brooklyn_warbler]

Here is what I froze during my pregnancy with my daughter.  I froze similar stuff with my son, but not quite as much and I can't find the list.

* spinach quiche
* veg enchiladas
* black bean, winter squash, and spinach chili
* my most favourite lentil and kale soup w/roasted garlic
* wild rice and mushroom soup
* kale and butternut squash phyllo pie
* veg lasagna
* zucchini bread
* shepherd's pie
* wild rice casserole with broccoli, cheddar, and carrots

* savoury bread pudding
* lactation cookie dough (oatmeal chocolate chip, mmmm)
* whole wheat pasta with a butternut-squash cream sauce and green beans
* faux-bolognese sauce
* cauliflower soup

* palak paneer

* my amazing faux meatballs + marinara sauce

* pizza dough (although my coop now has great and cheap whole wheat pizza dough so I don't make my own anymore)

Everything defrosted well although i thought the phyllo pie & the butternut pasta were the least appealing of the bunch so I won't make those again (although I will almost definitely make spanakopita because my kids loooooove it and I've frozen it before with great success.  I think the kale/squash combo just didn't freeze well in that particular meal).

[TIFF4NY]

Originally Posted by brooklyn_warbler 

Here is what I froze during my pregnancy with my daughter.  I froze similar stuff with my son, but not quite as much and I can't find the list.

* spinach quiche
* veg enchiladas
* black bean, winter squash, and spinach chili
* my most favourite lentil and kale soup w/roasted garlic
* wild rice and mushroom soup
* kale and butternut squash phyllo pie
* veg lasagna
* zucchini bread
* shepherd's pie
* wild rice casserole with broccoli, cheddar, and carrots

* savoury bread pudding
* lactation cookie dough (oatmeal chocolate chip, mmmm)
* whole wheat pasta with a butternut-squash cream sauce and green beans
* faux-bolognese sauce
* cauliflower soup

* palak paneer

* my amazing faux meatballs + marinara sauce

* pizza dough (although my coop now has great and cheap whole wheat pizza dough so I don't make my own anymore)

Everything defrosted well although i thought the phyllo pie & the butternut pasta were the least appealing of the bunch so I won't make those again (although I will almost definitely make spanakopita because my kids loooooove it and I've frozen it before with great success.  I think the kale/squash combo just didn't freeze well in that particular meal).

So much of your list has me salivating. Might need some recipes for these!

[Ethelpea]

oh yes, I forgot the ever so easy to freeze CHILI :) 

[firespiritmelody]

Originally Posted by TIFF4NY 

So much of your list has me salivating. Might need some recipes for these!

I second that request!! I would be so grateful if anyone with good tried-and-true recipes would share! I really want to get a jump on this for our family anyway because we fall into the "crap it's 20 minutes to bed time and we haven't fed the kids and there's nothing to eat in the house" trap far too often and have always wanted to do freezer cooking but I'm always afraid of how things will turn out.

[kellykins]

Wanted to chime in with a great website- http://onceamonthmom.com - it used to be free to access the full plans and shopping lists- but now you have to pay... which is a bummer, but you still have access to all of ther recipes they use!  They offer a GF/DF, vegetarian and whole foods option, so its not all canned soup and pasta stuff like I seem to find alot on OAMC type sites. 

AFM? I am still too pooped to even think about freezer cooking :(

[firespiritmelody]

Oooh! Thanks for the link!

[brooklyn_warbler]

I am happy to share recipes whenever people need them!  I probably won't be freezing until January!
 

[Ethelpea]

Originally Posted by kellykins 

Wanted to chime in with a great website- http://onceamonthmom.com - it used to be free to access the full plans and shopping lists- but now you have to pay... which is a bummer, but you still have access to all of ther recipes they use!  They offer a GF/DF, vegetarian and whole foods option, so its not all canned soup and pasta stuff like I seem to find alot on OAMC typpe sites. 

AFM? I am still too pooped to even think about freezer cooking :(

thanks for the link.  All these menu mailer type sites are so expensive now.  I remember years and years ago I signed up for savingdinner.com and it was cheap, a really good deal.  I learned how to cook from that mailer :). Now I can't justify paying that much.  I wish I could as it was soooo convenient and saved a lot of time.

[brooklyn_warbler]

How is everyone doing with this?  I am woefully behind.  So far this is what I have frozen

Spinach, Corn, and Black Bean Enchiladas

3 dinners' worth of Dal

Pakistani/Indian-style green beans, potatoes, and carrots (to be eaten with one of the dal)

Lemony red lentil/chickpea soup

This week I am going to freeze a cauliflower pizza crust, regular (whole wheat) pizza dough, sauce, and pre-shredded cheese.  But I really would ideally like to freeze *at least* 6 more dinners and maybe a couple of batches of high protein/grain free muffins.  I am 30 weeks...with everything else I have to do I am getting nervous about this being doable.  The weeks are moving too fast!

On that note, I have a question.  I wasn't omni last time I froze for a babymoon (I also wasn't doing low/no grain) and I didn't have a lot of experience with the kinds of recipes where you do the preliminary steps of a crockpot recipe and then freeze so you can stick it in the crockpot later.  I am wondering anyone has any tried and true recipes using beef that would be good for such a thing AND include some kind of veggie.  If anyone has any ideas I would be most grateful!

[bmcneal]

Originally Posted by brooklyn_warbler 

Here is what I froze during my pregnancy with my daughter.  I froze similar stuff with my son, but not quite as much and I can't find the list.

* spinach quiche
* veg enchiladas
* black bean, winter squash, and spinach chili
* my most favourite lentil and kale soup w/roasted garlic
* wild rice and mushroom soup
* kale and butternut squash phyllo pie
* veg lasagna
* zucchini bread
* shepherd's pie
* wild rice casserole with broccoli, cheddar, and carrots

* savoury bread pudding
* lactation cookie dough (oatmeal chocolate chip, mmmm)
* whole wheat pasta with a butternut-squash cream sauce and green beans
* faux-bolognese sauce
* cauliflower soup

* palak paneer

* my amazing faux meatballs + marinara sauce

* pizza dough (although my coop now has great and cheap whole wheat pizza dough so I don't make my own anymore)

Everything defrosted well although i thought the phyllo pie & the butternut pasta were the least appealing of the bunch so I won't make those again (although I will almost definitely make spanakopita because my kids loooooove it and I've frozen it before with great success.  I think the kale/squash combo just didn't freeze well in that particular meal).

May I have the recipes for those? I've never heard of lactation cookies, sounds like something I need to look into!

I've been trying to plan freezer meals, but not exactly sure how to store them, like, ziplock bags, or containers, or what.

i like the idea of the "dump" recipes, as well. Is there anything/type of meal you *shouldn't* prepare like this?

[brooklyn_warbler]

Lactation cookies!

http://www.food.com/recipe/oatmeal-chocolate-chip-lactation-cookies-by-noel-trujillo-192346

These are the veg enchiladas I made this time:

http://www.marthastewart.com/351778/vegetable-enchiladas

The ones I made the last two times were a little different and used zucchini.  If you want that recipe I can try to drum it up for you.  But the Martha Stewart recipe is delicious, easier, and my kids love it.  I do make a different sauce though because I find her's too bland and floury.

I honestly don't remember which lasagna I made last time!    But there are many good freezable recipes floating on the internet.

I'll def type up the meatball recipe & the spanakopita recipe for you too -- those aren't easy links because they're my own.  My spanakopita lies somewhere between these two recipes, though:

http://greek.food.com/recipe/spanakopita-greek-spinach-pie-84770

and

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spanakopita-greek-spinach-pie/

I use frozen spinach though.
 

[bmcneal]

Originally Posted by brooklyn_warbler 

Lactation cookies!

http://www.food.com/recipe/oatmeal-chocolate-chip-lactation-cookies-by-noel-trujillo-192346

These are the veg enchiladas I made this time:

http://www.marthastewart.com/351778/vegetable-enchiladas

The ones I made the last two times were a little different and used zucchini.  If you want that recipe I can try to drum it up for you.  But the Martha Stewart recipe is delicious, easier, and my kids love it.  I do make a different sauce though because I find her's too bland and floury.

I honestly don't remember which lasagna I made last time!    But there are many good freezable recipes floating on the internet.

I'll def type up the meatball recipe & the spanakopita recipe for you too -- those aren't easy links because they're my own.  My spanakopita lies somewhere between these two recipes, though:

http://greek.food.com/recipe/spanakopita-greek-spinach-pie-84770

and

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spanakopita-greek-spinach-pie/

I use frozen spinach though.
 

Thank you so much!

One question, if you make, like the lasagna, for example, how do you freeze it? Do you leave it in the pan? I probably need to get more pans anyway, I hate having to find somewhere to put breads/cakes/brownies and stuff when I need the pan for something else. 

[firespiritmelody]

I have absolutely nothing frozen and honestly am having a trouble just feeding us on a regular basis with everything that's going on right now. We've eaten waaaaay too much fast food and convenience foods and I hate it. I'm really going to insist that anyone that comes to visit us after the baby comes brings food with them! Still hoping we can get some stuff frozen between now and then, but I'm not going to beat myself up if it doesn't get done.

[bmcneal]

Originally Posted by firespiritmelody 

I have absolutely nothing frozen and honestly am having a trouble just feeding us on a regular basis with everything that's going on right now. We've eaten waaaaay too much fast food and convenience foods and I hate it. I'm really going to insist that anyone that comes to visit us after the baby comes brings food with them! Still hoping we can get some stuff frozen between now and then, but I'm not going to beat myself up if it doesn't get done.

I'm in the same boat, food-wise, firespiritmelody! Granted, you have a lot more going on, and I'm sure that makes it more difficult.

Ever since I saw this thread (a little bit ago, just this evening), I have been saving recipes, and planning on getting a little bit of stuff at a time, and working on it on the weekends. If I had anyone visiting, I would do that same thing, but I/we don't know many people, so I'm not sure how many, if any, visitors we'll have.

[camprunner]

I've always heard that freezer meals only last for three months so it's really only now that I'd feel comfortable doing so and now I'm debating between the casseroles I was originally going to fix (and freeze in muffin cups) and "pieces" of dishes that could be mixed and matched to create stuff...for example:

frozen cooked chicken

frozen cooked black beans

frozen cooked chopped veggies

And having many recipes with these where we just have to add the spices. I'd freeze in muffin cups and assume two muffin cups equals 1 cup of the ingredient.

[Munchkin08]

Originally Posted by TIFF4NY 

So much of your list has me salivating. Might need some recipes for these!

Ditto!