PLEASE HELP! I NEED freezer meal ideas!

[3Girls4Me]

I make:
salisbury steaks--fully cook them and then freeze them with gravy
porcupine balls (the filling for stuffed peppers, but we don't eat peppers)
chili (great recipe for Wendy's chili at TopSecretrecipes.com )
precooked and seasoned taco meat
marinated chicken breast
pork roast or chops (just toss in crock pot and add sourkraut to cook)
7-up steak (super easy and you can make in crockpot or oven)

And I know that a lot of people make sticky chicken

The other thing I do is chop a bunch of onions and then divide and freeze in baggies. that way you can just grab a baggie and toss the onions in with a roast or meat. Cleaning up once is better than cleaning up a bunch of times

HTH

[tigerchic89]

I freeze a lot of breakfast and snack foods too. In teh early weeks with a newborn, I have a lot of friends who will cook meals..... but I still have a hard time with breakfasts and in between meal snacks. Here are recipies that I plan to stock the freezer with:

Gigi's Banana Nut Bread

3/4 Cup Ground flax seed
1/4 Cup Wheat Germ
3 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 Cup Unsalted butter
2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup applesauce
5 eggs
6 bananas, mashed
1 Cup nuts, chopped
Mix all of the wet ingredients.
Combine dry ingredients.
Add dry to wet and mix.
Add bananas and nuts
Bake 350 degrees for 55 minutes.
Makes 3 loaves

Gigi's Spaghetti Pie (adjusted from CookingLight)

1 lb ground round
1/4 teasp salt
1/4 teasp black pepper
1/4 teasp ground red pepper
16 oz tomato sauce
1/4 teasp garlic powder
1 1/2 cups fat free sour cream
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup light cream cheese
4 cups hot cooked spaghetti (~8oz uncooked)
1 1/3 cups shredded cheddar and/or mozzarella cheese

Cook meat, drain. Stir in salt, peppers, garlic, and tomato sauce.
Combine cream cheese, sour cream, and green onions in sep. bowl.
Layer in 2qt+ casserole spaghetti, sour crem mixture, meat mixture,
then cheddar cheese. Bake @ 350 degrees for 25 min.


Oatmeal Everything Cookies I freeze this dough rolled up in wax paper for slice and bake cookies

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 Cup Ground flax seed
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 Cup old fash oats
3/4 Cup Butter
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 eggs
1/4 Cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 Cup raisins
3/4 Cup chocolate chips
1/2 Cup walnuts
Mix all of the wet ingredients.
Combine dry ingredients.
Add dry to wet and mix.
drop by rounded tablespoons
Bake 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Mac & Cheese (good for kids)

2 cups macaroni noodles (raw)
1 teasp olive oil
2 cups cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
1 cups sour cream
2 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper
1/4 teasp hot sauce

Cook macaroni and olive oil. Drain. Mix everything
Bake at 400 degrees for 35-45 min. Freezes well too

[tigerchic89]

Grits Casserole (adapted from Amy McK)

1 lb sausage, browned
3 cups cooked grits
1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs, beaten
3 Tbls melted butter
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese
2 Tbls salsa


Mix everything
Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour
Gigi's Pancakes (adapted from Joy of Cooking)

1 c flour
2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 c ground flax seeds
6 T sugar
1 t salt
3 t baking powder
3 c milk
6 T melted butter
4 eggs
1 t vanilla

some broken pecan pieces

This makes enough to put a few meals into the freezer
I usually sprinkle the pecans on the top of the poured batter in the pan

Gigi's Waffles (adapted from Joy of cooking)

1 c flour
2 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 c ground flax seeds
2 T baking powder
2 T sugar
1 t salt
3 c milk
8 T melted butter
6 eggs beaten
1 c applesauce
some broken pecan pieces

This makes enough to put a few meals into the freezer
I usually sprinkle the pecans on the top of the poured batter in the iron

Fruit Bread for Bread Machine

1 3/4 cups water
2 Tbls Butter
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour
1 Tbls gluten
2 Tbls brown sugar
2 teas salt
1/4 teas nutmeg
1 pkg yeast
2 cups pecans, crasins, dried fruit
Gigi's dinner bread (adapted from Baking with Julia)

2 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbls yeast
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1 Tbls gluten
1/3 cups honey
1 Tbls salt
1 Tbls canola oil
2 Tbls poppy seeds
2 Tbls amaranth seeds
2 Tbls chopped walnuts
2 Tbls ground flax seeds
mix, knead and rise in bread machine
shape into loaves
bake at 350 for 25 min or until done

good dipped in olive oil

[anna_svwbug]

16 Bean Soup with cubes of ham. You can find the recipe on the back of the bag of 16 beans. They are sometimes in the mexican food section.
Happy Cooking!

[3ForTheRoad]

Pasta Fazioli
2 cups cubed salted pork (or cubed ham)
1 can Great Northern beans
2-3 cloves of garlic (your preference)
2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
1 box ditalini (? The short tube pasta)

Fully cook pork or ham cubes
Sautee minced garlic in olive oil (do not burn!)
Cook pasta and drain but set aside 1 cup of the water

Add pasta, 1 cup of the water the pasta cooked in, and the rest of the ingredients to a stockpot and simmer for about 30 minutes to mix the flavors.

Serve as a soup or with a veggie as a main dish.

[cathleenc]

One of my favorites - roast beef!

Each time I make roast beef I actually make 2 - I slow bake them in the oven rather than on the stove top - cool the second in its natural juices, remove the fat and then freeze the roast plus juices. Really easy and really helpful!

Leftover roast beef can always be turned into sandwiches, tacos, enchiladas, etc....

[MeeMawAnn]

I have a recipe that should freeze well.
It is Tator Tot caserole. Pretty easy to fix, dinner in one casserole dish.
Brown a lb. of ground beef with a chopped onion, drain grease and stir in a can of mushroom soup, or other creamed soup you like, like cream of chicken, celery, broccoli etc. Put this in a casserole dish drain a can of french style green beans and pour them over the meat mixture, top with frozen tator tots and bake for 45 min or till the tator tots are cooked and browned, remove and add grated cheese and return to oven for about 5 min. till the cheese melts.
You could cook the hamburger with onions and freeze that, adding the rest later, just stir in the soup, pour on the green beans an tator tots and pop into the oven.

[qtkitty]

The easiest thing you can make to put in the freeze is a roast i think..personally. When i get roasts, hams, and whole chickens i get them WAY bigger then what i would need .. My roaster ( which i also use as a crock pot) which hasn't been out in a while ME BAD is a 9 quart? i think.

Any who when you get your meat get them on sale and get HUGE cuts. Toss the thing into the roaster with some water and your preference of light spices.. like

Pork Roast-Apple Cider Vinegar, pepper, basil or parsley, Onions, carrots, celery.

Beef Roast- Any Vinegar, pepper, basil or parsley, Onions, carrots, celery.

Chicken- Distilled Vinegar or Lemon juice, pepper, basil or parsley, Onions, carrots, celery.

Roast till finished. Cut off a chunk for dinner that night. Then you can use the left overs for freezer foods. For the normal meal portion roast i leave it whole and cut it after its reheated. Sometimes i cut the meat into 1/2 inch sections across the grain of the meat and then use forks to pull the meat apart, just add a little BBQ sauce ( different kinds of sauce give you different tastes.. even a little manwich ..vinegar based.. mustard based.. ketchup based BBQ's can make a HUGE difference) Make a soup out of some or have it cut up ready to put into another recipe like Hamburger helper ( chicken helper or pork helper).

All of the drippings .. can be skimmed and put into ice trays to freeze then used later. Or the drippings can be made into gravy by adding cornstarch.

Mashed potatoes seem to freeze well.. and if you freeze them in ice trays they are easy to portion from a huge bag.

Cookie recipes are easy to make into freezer wonders.. once the dough is made.. firm the dough by putting it in the fridge for a few hours. Then form into balls.. lay on a cookie sheet in the freezer til frozen then place them into a gallon size bag.. i have had good luck with making balls and putting them directly into the bag.. but it depends stiff a dough your recipes make. Then get out how many cookies you need and bake them. ( Hey 10-15min bake time i can deal with .. just not mixing them balling them and having to make the WHOLE batch right then.. when i am in a hurry)

For Breakfast..

Hardboil eggs and take off the shell and freeze them.. reheat when needed ( if you can get them into the freezer before they are gone.. i dont know about you but a whole dozen of hardboiled eggs disappear around here faster then saying SupercalifragilisticExpialidocious!!)

Crysanthumums

Hard boil 1 dozen eggs(+) Seperate yolk and white.. break up each in seperate containers ( i cheat and use a fork on both instead of cutting for HOURS) For Freezing you could leave yolks whole.

Make a milk gravy from heating milk to the boil and adding flour to make a gravy. ( MAKE SURE YOU COOK THE FLOUR if not it has an undone taste) Add the Whites to the milk gravy.

When ready to serve Toast bread break into 1/2 inch peices on to plates. pour some of the Gravy over the toast.. Then sprinkle over yolk.

Sausage Gravy is also is an easily frozen breakfast item. Home made biscuits can be frozen or made that morning.

French Toast can be frozen VERY well * nods* ( i add a little syrup and cinnamon to my egg batter for them to make them a little sweet so there is no need for syrup in the morning so its a good Toss in the microwave then walk out the door item)

Ham that has been roasted could be in the freezer cut into small portions to fit biscuits for in the mornings .. with Eggs.. Cook the eggs on a low-med heat in metal biscuit cutters and you can make Perfect breakfast sandwiches. Stick them in the freezer whole or make the morning of with frozen ham portions.

Snacks..

IF you make pizza dough then form it small like Lunchables.. then pre bake them .. then have spegetti sauce, shredded cheese, and toppings on hand.. then they can make their own personal pizzas.. and use the micrwave or toaster oven or even oven to make their own little pizzas.

[BabyZs]

1 lg bottle V8 Veggie juice
1 lg can vegall with potatoes
1 lb browned ground beef/turkey meat
1-2c. water
2 bags of succotash (frozen)
1sm bag of yellow/white corn mix (frozen)
salt/pepper to taste.

this freezes well and is VERY good!

[jesusislove35]

The book "Saving Dinner" is a great book for families who don't really have time for dinner. It is full of a well planed out yearly menu full of nutrition! Every week includes chk, beef, beans, veggie, and fish meal. It is written by a nutritionist with busy families is mind. Almost all of the meals freeze well. I cook every 2 weeks and am able to fill my freezer for 2 weeks using one weeks menu. The great thing too is it is organized by season so you are using produce that is going to be more fresh with less preservatives. It's a great resource for any mama!!!!

[potatofairy]

im a big fan of freezing soup! even if its just plain veggie broth made from mysterious fridge veggies on their way out. you can cook rice or potatos in it.

you can also use it as a base for another soup. try running it through a food processer with some steamed potatos or celery, then warm it up and add onions sauteed in butter and some milk and sour cream, salt and pepper, maybe fresh parsley and you have a cream soup real fast! meanwhile you can heat up some homemade bread that you had frozen!

[momgoddess]

Ok, this sounds really weird but it's amazingly good. It makes the most tender, flavorful chicken, even people who normally hate cranberry sauce LOVE this chicken.

Cranberry chicken

1 bottle of french dressing
1 package dry onion soup
1 can whole cranberry sauce

boneless, skinless chicken breasts (as many as you need, it makes a lot of sauce)

Mix the first 3 ingredients and cover the chicken in a baking dish, bake for 20-30 minutes or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked. May need to spoon the mixture over the chicken while baking a few times.

OR put chicken breasts with the sauce in freezer ziplock bags and freeze. Thaw then cook as above.


Miniature Meat Loaves ( a kids favorite)

* 1/2 cup ketchup
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 egg
* 1 tablespoon milk
* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1 1/2 cups crispy rice or corn chex (you can also use wheat)
* 1 1/2 pounds ground beef

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, combine the ketchup, brown sugar and mustard and mix well. Remove 4 tablespoons of this mixture and reserve for later for the top of the loaves. To the mixture in the bowl, add the Worcestershire sauce, salt, onion, garlic, egg, milk and ground black pepper and mix together well.
2. Stir in the cereal squares and let stand for 5 minutes. Then break up the cereal squares and add the ground beef, mixing well. Shape the mixture into the mini loaf pans you've decided to use.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 65 minutes. Brush on reserved ketchup mixture and bake for 15 more minutes.


COOL and FREEZE in Freezer bags.

I usually make huge batches of homemade pancakes and freeze them with wax paper between in big batches to just microwave for the kids on busy days. It avoids the mess of making pancakes every morning, just one big mess on one day a month or so. ;-) We use frozen strawberries on them sometimes, too.

[TulaneMama]

long lost thread I am re-subbing too

[wvmountainmama]

thin sliced beef, peppers and onions (thaw, heat and top with cheese for steak sandwhiches
macaroni and cheese with ham and peas
cheeseburger macaroni
hashbrown casserole with ham (the classic hashbrowns, cream of chicken/mushroom soup, sour cream, cheese recipe, just add chopped ham and chopped broccoli if desired)

[krankedyann]

I double or triple everything I cook and put one or two into the freezer. Beef dishes do beautifully. Chili, spaghetti, soups and any chicken dishes in sauce will freeze great.