Homemade Freezer Meals

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/quick-easy/make-ahead-recipes

 

Try peppers/italian sausage/onion/tomatoe w/green chiles. I usually crockpot it during the day served with white rice.

I think it would hold well in mason jars with the rice in too.

 

That's correct. Of course, Ziplock freezer bags are a hell of a lot cheaper, haha!!

 

^That sounds great. I eat ALOT of rice. Just recently ordered some premium short grain from Amazon. Price per ounce was the same as the small bags of brown rice so figured Id give it a try.

Just had the burrito. Man, what a difference between a store bought frozen burrito. I feel embarrassed I haven't properly used my freezer. I always thought it was there to keep liquor cold and my ice cream frozen

 

Sub'd.

 

Its one of my favorite meals now. Xaks had posted it in the foodies bs thread somewhere if you search.

You mean its not? Ive been doing it wrong and you forgot my frozen pizzas

Either way im keeping an eye on this thread, maybe i can convince the gf we should start doing this. Although its easier to feed 1 than 2

 

True. Although they're certainly easier when it's hot and muggy out. Nothing sucks more than standing in front of a pot of boiling water for hours when it's 90 degrees and 1000% humidity

 

Feeding two shouldn't be that hard. Mainly freezer space. The crock pot meals I posted earlier would be perfect for two.

 

If you've got a slow cooker (crock pot), these are some great recipes. I use all of them on a fairly regular basis (with some variations for spices). They all freeze well for eating later, except for the recipes that call for a whole chicken (and in that case you can strip the bird down and freeze the meat & boil the carcass for soup stock).

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooked-barbecued-chicken

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/meatloaf

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooked-brisket-beans

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-40-cloves-garlic-1

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-pulled-pork

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/lemon-rosemary-chicken-0

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/stovetop-red-beans-rice

 

Its hard when the one doesnt like leftovers/hates eating the same thing multiple times.

 

I crock often, eat one or two helpings and freeze the rest for lazy nights or work lunches. You can also make freezer prepped meals (roast, veggies, broth, spices) in ziplocks for quick crock pot meals ahead of time. So much cheaper, pretty healthy, and the ladies love a man that can kitchen.

 

Finally did chicken Alfredo tonight. The peas and carrots made a big difference and will be used again. I made 8 meals total and had one for dinner. Cost per meal was $2.25. The ball freezer pint and a half jars are the perfect size for me. Add a piece of garlic bread and its a good sized meal. I was stuffed off the alfredo alone.

 

Yep! I posted a link on this earlier. I plan to do the 7 meals in under an hour. I have a crock pot and used it once or twice. Mainly because it was massive...now I realize that's a good thing.

 

Made burritos again. By far one of my favorite. I calculated cost to be around $1.90 a burrito. I just do beans, ground beef, cheese and black olives. I used a 4lb package of ground beef and one big can of beans. I should have used more beans and that would have lowered the cost I think. I am going to be making lasagna in the next few days. The chicken Alfredo is coming out well. The noodles are a tad too soft after warming up in the microwave though.

This "goal" of mine is already working as it should. Everytime I am running late or feeling lazy, I just take out a few pb&js. No need to waste money at mcdonalds.

 

How many burritos does that make you?

 

I got 14 total. Had two tonight but should have just left it at one haha. I normally heat one up for lunch or a quick snack.

 

Hmm, i may be trying this. Need to start getting back in shape and this would help not eating so much junk for lunch

 

I make par baked homemade pizzas, vacuum seal and freeze.

A single batch makes 2 large or 8 personal pizzas. I typically make 5 batches of dough at once, let it rise then cut off baseball sized chunks for around 40 small personal pizzas.

I roll out the dough, and throw it alone on a hot stone in the oven around 450 degrees. I roll out another one and when it goes in the oven the other comes out and onto a pizza pan, stacked with parchment between each and into the freezer. When all the dough has frozen, I take them out one at a time and top them with sauce and cheese then carefully re-stack them in the freezer. When they are all hard as a rock they get vacuum sealed.

40 personal pizzas usually last my wife and I 2 months, and they end up being at or less than $1 each. Since the crust is par baked, you can throw it right on the oven rack without a pan to cook.

3

 

Yup! I still crave fast food on occasion but I feel much better after eating one of these meals. I just need to expand my cooking knowledge now and try new recipes. It also helps to determine the cost of each meal. I still cringe when I see I paid $20 - $30 for the ingredients until I see how much each meal cost. So far I haven't gone over $3 per meal which is awesome. I am doing pb&js again tomorrow and will be calculating the cost of those. I think its roughly 30 cents a sandwich .

 

Sweet! I was thinking about doing pizzas! I have a bread machine and used to make dough in that. I'll have to bring it out and give it a shot.