RECIPES | FREEZER MEALS

Hey friends! Happy Friday! Or should I say, Fri-YAY! 'YAY" because I am linking our most favorite freezer-friendly meals for you, and myself, because I always end up staring at Pinterest trying to remember what my family likes to eat. So, now I can have them all in one spot to visit anytime I need to, and so can you!

Freezing meals is something I started doing when I was pregnant with London. She was due in late December and I knew I would not want to be dragging her out in the freezing cold to go to the grocery store to cook. Every fall, ever since, I continually double up on my groceries to make twice as many meals. I cook 4-5 days a week, so that means each week I am making an additional 4-5 freezer meals. You do that for two months during the fall, you'll have 32-40 frozen meals! To put it in better terms, that means you wouldn't have to cook for a WHOLE MONTH+! 

Let me add, this is not one of those '50 freezer meals for under $100' thing. In our house, we choose to eat organic which is not exactly budget friendly. Trust me, you do NOT want to know what our grocery bill is each week for our little family of four. I also don't do these all at once. I double my recipes as I go. It makes it less stressful and they add up quicker than you may think.

STORING & ORGANIZING

Thankfully, we have a deep freezer in our garage that can store most all of our freezer meals, depending on how many I make and how many of them are in bags or foil pans. I try to make it a habit to put the newest prepped freezer meals on the bottom but only AFTER they are already frozen. Typically, I freeze them for a day in our regular freezer, and then transfer to the deep freezer. If you put freshly prepped meals on the bottom of all of the heavy frozen meals, you'll end up with a busted bag or squashed pan.
To keep up with our meals, I have a notepad of all the meals written down with tally marks of how many of each meal, along with the month and year it was prepared. That way, I can take a quick look and see what needs to get eaten first and what I have without having to dig through the freezer.

FREEZING TIPS

(Nothing really special, but if you are new to this, you may find it helpful.)

SOUPS:  I prepare and cook the soups completely, let cool to room temp, double bag them using the Ziplock Gallon Freezer bags and then right the instructions with a sharpie on top. If it is something like Chicken Noodle Soup-I will cook the noodles the day I plan to actually eat the soup, and then stir it in.

CASSEROLES/LASAGNA: I prepare according to the instructions but do not cook. Then when I am ready to have the meal for dinner, I will completely thaw it and cook it according to the recipe instructions. I freeze them in the foil casserole pans, wrap in foil, and then cover with plastic wrap.
PIES: I freeze the filling and when ready to eat, thaw completely, place in a dish with the crust, and bake according to recipe instructions.

CROCKPOT MEALS: I typically just throw all of the ingredients in to the Ziplock Freezer bag, double bag, and freeze. Then you can either prepare from frozen by cooking longer or (what I always do) thaw and cook according to recipe instructions.
BUFFALO CHICKEN FINGERS (listed below): I prepare right up until you put them in the oven, place in freezer bags. When I'm ready to make them for dinner, I thaw them completely and bake according to recipe instructions. I also use Franks Buffalo Wing Sauce instead of homemade.

RECIPES

Slow Cooker Sweet & Spicy Pineapple Salsa Chicken
Chicken Pot Pie
Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli
Chicken Noodle Soup
Vegetable Soup
Slow Cooker Honey BBQ Sandwiches
Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls
Homemade Chili
Slow Cooker Fire Roasted Creamy Tomato Chicken
Baked Ziti
Vegetarian Chili
Vanessa's Make Ahead Beefy Lasagna
Jo Mama's World Famous Spaghetti Sauce
Slow Cooker Sweet & Sour Chicken With Pineapple
Cajun Chicken Pasta
Buffalo Chicken Fingers

I hope you find these recipes to be as delicious as my family does. Over time, I have come to make my own little tweaks here and there to these recipes, so if you have any questions or concerns, please don't be afraid to leave a comment with your question here or on the original blog post.
Enjoy!