With my first baby we didn’t freeze anything ahead of time. We were blessed with meals from our local MOP’s chapter but she was already 2 months old by that time. It was hard to get back into cooking after she was born because I was tired and learning a lot. Hubby tried to help, and he excels at grilling and breakfast, but anything else can be a bit of a challenge. With my second, I froze some casseroles but not near as much as I wanted to do because we only had a small freezer on top of our fridge. In the 3 years since then, my parents have bought us a deep freezer and I am striving to get is chock full before this baby makes its appearance in the fall. We have been freezing green beans and green peppers from our garden and soon I will begin harvesting and freezing squash to turn into baby food for next spring. On top of that we are filling it with casseroles(my goal is 20 full meals), sides, main dishes and baked goods. This is a compilation of meals that I have found are easy to make and freeze well.
Baked goods
http://cookinupnorth.blogspot.com/2011/11/ihop-pancake-recipe.html
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/healthy-oats-and-applesauce-muffins/
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/banana-cinnamon-muffins/479aaf26-88aa-47f2-a5c0-3f4448ecdfd4
http://www.recipegirl.com/2012/05/07/monster-cookies/
I also have oatmeal raisin cookies(I use quakers recipe on the lid of the oatmeal container.) Dinner rolls in wheat and white, whole wheat bread and white bread. I will be doing a freezer cooking session of waffles soon. I like to freeze waffles all year round because they break up into perfect sizes to fit in the toaster. I am also going to make chocolate chip cookie dough balls and molasses cookies. The dough balls are great because I can pretend like I made fresh cookies for kids or company when I really just pulled them straight from the freezer. They taste good frozen too.
Side dishes
Twice baked mashed potatoes-I don’t have a recipe for this one but it is pretty self explanatory. Make mashed taters(I just make a huge batch for supper some night and use the leftovers), add sour cream, butter, cheese, green onion and bacon bits. Spread it into an 8x8 pan and freeze.
Corn on the cob-did you know you can freeze it?! Cut it in half, boil it for a few minutes then dunk in ice water. Then you can freeze it and have it year round! just add it to boiling water when you want it and get it the right color!
Refried beans-Okay, so I don’t have a recipe for this either but it is super easy. Just google it and you will find all kinds of variations. I like to make it plain and freeze in small bags since only 2 of us like it.
Main dishes
Taco meat
Pizza sausage(browned with peppers and onion)
Shredded chicken(plain and taco) I like roasting a whole chicken for supper and freezing the leftovers
Roast beef. Same as the chicken. We don’t want to eat leftovers for 3-4 days so I freeze some. Then I can make beef and noodles whenever I want.
Cubed ham
Meatballs-these are AMAZING!!! http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/easy-freezer-meal-meatballs/
Runzas
Chicken Nuggets-I do have an amazing recipe for these but can’t post it because you need to be a member of Cooks Country to see it. I will type it up on a separate post at some point.
Casseroles-
http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/05/4-weeks-to-fill-your-freezer-chicken-broccoli-rice-casserole-day-14.html This one makes 4-8x8 casseroles.
Lasagna
Enchiladas
http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/freezer-meals-ground-beef-pot-pie/
Egg and sausage casserole.
Chalupa casserole
Tetrazzini
Meatloaf
As you can see, I didn’t post my recipes for some of these because people always have their own favorites. I am nearly done with baked goods and will start on the other dishes as my garden starts taking up less of my time. It is a lot of work at the onset but if it can give me an extra 30 minutes a day to focus on my new baby and babies sisters then I think it is worth it. Hope this helps in your freezer meal adventures!
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