Below are some of my favorite meals to have in my freezer: either I'll take an afternoon to make a few of these, I'll have one of these for dinner one night and either freeze half of the recipe (since, hi, there's only two of us), or - if I want a few portions for the freezer - I'll double/triple the recipe to freeze. My thing is, if I'm already dirtying the pans, it's not much more work to double a recipe for us to enjoy later. For example, in the next month, I'm hoping to make 10-12 of these recipes to prepare for the following months. When I know I have a crazy day coming up or on days I-just-can't-even, I pull something from our freezer instead of resorting to fast food or - in my finer moments - Eggos.
Budget Bytes has an excellent post on freezer cooking, as does this blogger. Check out my freezer Pinterest board for other inspiration, too.
Budget Bytes has an excellent post on freezer cooking, as does this blogger. Check out my freezer Pinterest board for other inspiration, too.
taco-tuesday meats: quesadillas, burrito bowls, etc
slow cooker tacos al pastor
slow cooker carnitas
slow cooker shredded beef tacos
barbacoa beef
two-ingredient salsa chicken (or any saucy, shredded meat, if that makes sense)
taco meat
chili: with cornbread, as frito pie, etc (other chili ideas here)
black bean chili
slow cooker chili
mel's chili
my favorite white chili (but haven't tried freezing it yet - might also try doing this as a "dump" recipe)
"dump" recipes to freeze: put raw ingredients in ziploc bag to be dumped in a crockpot
teriyaki chicken (or any saucy, shredded meat, if that makes sense)
four-packet roast (add carrots)
creamy italian chicken
garlic chicken
crockpot maple dijon chicken drumsticks
slow cooker sticky chicken wings
slow cooker ravioli (i omit mozzarella and use vodka sauce YUM)
pinto beans + sausage (can also freeze this cooked, as well)
beef stroganoff (can also freeze this cooked, as well)
soups:
Reheating Soup: I usually freeze these in 32-ounce containers, run the frozen soup container under water to loosen the frozen block of soup, then put the frozen block of soup into a tiny crockpot to reheat on low for a few hours. Granted, if you're a larger family (we're only two people), you might want to put a bit more soup into a larger crockpot or on the stove to reheat.
Soup Pucks: I also like to freeze individual "pucks" of soup for lunches. I put fresh soup into a silicone muffin pan to freeze. Once frozen, I pop the "pucks" out of the silicone pan and into a gallon bag in the freezer. I'll reheat 2-3 "pucks" of soup in the microwave.
loaded broccoli cheese bacon soups
best tomato soup ever (omit sherry, add arborio rice)
chicken noodle soup (use rotisserie chicken)
slow cooker broccoli cheese soup
Make sure to slowly add the hot roux to the room temperature broth first, while whisking quickly. Then add in the broccoli while whisking quickly. I learned the hard way that if it's all added together too quickly, the cold stuff shocks the hot roux, creating a weird, curdled consistency.
tomato tortellini soup
other:
mini masala meatballs (most meatballs fare well)
chicken spaghetti
cheesy broccoli quinoa casserole
your favorite spaghetti sauce (I want to try meat lovers slow cooker spaghetti sauce or this one)
cheesy baked ziti (haven't tried yet)
king ranch casserole
your favorite chicken pot pie
turkey tettrazini
sour cream noodle bake (don't substitute ground turkey!)
baked ravioli
your favorite lasagna recipe (and most casseroles, tbh)
your favorite meatloaf (I've been wanting to try this one, this one, and this one)
your favorite enchiladas (I love Pioneer Woman's chicken enchiladas in her second cookbook)
shrimp enchiladas (but after a month, it loses a lot of flavor)
ham and cheese pockets
pizza pickets with Trader Joe's pizza dough
beef and bean burritos
chicken taquitos (or any taquito)
tamales (we buy out our neighborhood lady, freeze them, and enjoy them for 3-6 months)
supposedly quiche, but I haven't tried that yet
sandwiches:
slow cooker roasted garlic beef sandwiches
sloppy joes
philly cheesesteak sloppy joes
turkey and swiss sloppy joes (use ground beef, not turkey)
breads:
banana muffins
cornbread muffin
pancake mini muffins (pancakes and waffles freeze well, too)
perfect blueberry muffins (or any muffin, biscuit, and scone, really)
whole wheat dinner muffins
buttermilk drop biscuits (THE BEST)
Pioneer Woman cheese muffins
sides:
twice baked potatoes
chive and onion mashed potatoes (thaw in fridge, bake 350 degrees)
hashbrown casserole
products I like to use:
check out my favorite cooking supplies here
check out this post and this post for my older freezer cooking posts.
