I've always wanted to try my hand at freezer meals. Every so often I see a new post about "such and such number of meals in one day" and think to myself "Self, you really need to do that - it would be awesome." However, it's kind of intimidating time-wise as well as intimidating budget wise. But with Baby #2's arrival just around the corner, I decided that I wanted to stock up at least a few meals that I thought our family would actually eat and enjoy for after baby gets here. Instead of making a huge day out of it, I've started building up my freezer meal supply over the course of several weeks. About twice a week I've tried to plan meals that would be good freezer meals, then as I'm making dinner I just make twice as much and freeze half of it. It's worked out pretty well so far! Some recipes I've already used, like our favorite chicken enchiladas, chimichangas, and southwest soup, others I've found online and then made them for dinner while making extra to freeze. Hopefully I'll have a good combination of meals to use over the following months. Usually I would do a separate post for each meal - but I'm falling a little behind on my blogging and I don't want to lose these recipes. I think that I'll try to take a picture of the finished meal on the night that I actually make it and then post the recipe and picture then. Until then, I'll just keep the recipes all together here in one big post to draw from.
Savory Pepper Steak
Source: Mommy's Fabulous Finds
Ingredients
1½ lbs round steak, cut into ½ in strips
¼ cup flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 small onion, diced
4-5 garlic cloves
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 (16 oz) can Italian style tomatoes
1 tbsp beef bouillon
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp steak seasoning
1 tbsp steak sauce
Instructions
Toss steak in salt, pepper, & flour and add to gallon-sized freezer bag. In a med bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients, add to bag. Zip close and place in freezer. When ready to use thaw in fridge overnight. Empty contents into crock-pot and cook on low 8 hours.
Source: Mommy's Fabulous Finds
Ingredients
2lbs of pork ribs
1½ cups ketchup
1½ Tbsp seasoned salt
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup white vinegar
Instructions
Place pork ribs in gallon sized ziplock. Mix remaining ingredients together in a separate bowl and pour over ribs. Seal bag and place in freezer. Thaw over night in fridge. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-7 hours.
Chicken Fajitas
Source: What's for Dinner Facebook Group - Larissa Rees
Ingredients
2 peppers (one green and one red)
1 medium onion
1 ½ lbs chicken breast
½ cup chicken broth
Taco seasoning packet
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
Directions:
Slice peppers and onion into strips. Place peppers, onion, and chicken breast into a gallon sized ziplock. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bag and seal. Lay bag flat and place in freezer. On day of cooking: place frozen in the crock pot and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or low for 5-6 hours. Once cooked, shred the chicken and serve on warm tortillas with your favorite toppings.
Freezer-Friendly Pizza Pockets
Pizza Dough
Pizza Fillings
(ex: 1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cup pasta sauce
2-3 cups shredded cheese)
Other optional filling ingredients: diced black olives, pepperoni, diced green pepper, and/or diced mushrooms
To make dough: Mix yeast into warm water until dissolved. Add sugar, salt, oil, and flour. Mix well and dump onto a floured surface and knead for 3-5 minutes.
To make filling (I browned this while mixing up the dough): Brown ground beef with onion (and green pepper, if desired). Drain. Add pasta sauce and mix together. Add other optional filling ingredients, if desired.
To make Pizza Pockets: Divide dough into 15-20 pieces. Roll pieces into balls. Flatten balls into circles with rolling pin. Dollop a few tablespoons of filling onto dough circle and sprinkle with cheese. Fold over and seal tightly.
Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 500 degrees for 10-15 minutes until browned.
To freeze: Cool completely and store in an airtight ziptop freezer bag for up to 2-3 months.
To serve: Remove desired number of pizza pockets from the freezer and warm them individually in the microwave for about two minutes or until heated throw. Or, warm on a cookie sheet in a 350-degrees oven for 20 minutes, or until heated through.
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cup pasta sauce
2-3 cups shredded cheese)
Other optional filling ingredients: diced black olives, pepperoni, diced green pepper, and/or diced mushrooms
To make dough: Mix yeast into warm water until dissolved. Add sugar, salt, oil, and flour. Mix well and dump onto a floured surface and knead for 3-5 minutes.
To make filling (I browned this while mixing up the dough): Brown ground beef with onion (and green pepper, if desired). Drain. Add pasta sauce and mix together. Add other optional filling ingredients, if desired.
To make Pizza Pockets: Divide dough into 15-20 pieces. Roll pieces into balls. Flatten balls into circles with rolling pin. Dollop a few tablespoons of filling onto dough circle and sprinkle with cheese. Fold over and seal tightly.
Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 500 degrees for 10-15 minutes until browned.
To freeze: Cool completely and store in an airtight ziptop freezer bag for up to 2-3 months.
To serve: Remove desired number of pizza pockets from the freezer and warm them individually in the microwave for about two minutes or until heated throw. Or, warm on a cookie sheet in a 350-degrees oven for 20 minutes, or until heated through.
