freezer meal ideas

lishie · March 2015

My mom's having a knee replacement next week, and I wanted to spend some time this weekend making some meals that my dad can easily defrost for them once she gets home.

My dad's picky, and loves pasta, but I know that my aunts that live closer will be making and sending that to them, so I wanted to do something else.

Anyone have recipes that will freeze in a foil pan well and does well with a direct-to-oven transfer (or with minimal defrosting?)

lala5507 · March 2015

I've been trying out a lot of ideas to fill my freezer when the baby comes. Here are some of mine...

I really like these sloppy joes and they freeze well
http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2013/03/slow-cooker-ground-turkey-sloppy-joes.html

I also tested this out and I thought it was pretty good.
http://www.skinnymom.com/2013/11/11/skinny-cheeseburger-casserole/

Will your dad do meatloaf? You can make (not bake) a meatloaf and freeze it.

waltsgirl102503 · March 2015

Stuffed peppers? And like lala mentioned, meatloaf is good too - sometimes I make mine in muffin tins, so it's a smaller portion. (which might work well since it will just be your parents).

amyjoy18 · March 2015

Before DS was born I went on a freezer cooking binge. My favorite thing to do was to take whole bone-in chicken breasts and throw them in a freezer bag with a marinade (I mixed up 3-4 marinades, lemon/oregano; Kentucky Grilled; italian) all I had to do was pull it out the day before, let it unthaw, and then throw in the oven to bake. You could pair it with some Uncle Ben's Ready rice.

I also did wedding soup (broth, meatballs, spinach--but add the pasta and eggs after it was unthawed and ready to eat).

Chili

Chicken fried rice freezes well.

Pulled pork, bbq'd beef, or french dip meet freezes well--just need to add buns later.

ryanthegirl · March 2015

The Pioneer Woman's chicken spaghetti freezes wonderfully.

Mini chick pot pies in disposable muffin tins (or shepherds pie, etc)

Wedding Soup w/o noodles (add noodles when reheating)

Do you think your dad is comfortable with a slow cooker? I have a ton of those "bag" recipes that you just dump in the slow cooker and many of them do not need to thaw first.

lishie · March 2015

ryanthegirl said:
The Pioneer Woman's chicken spaghetti freezes wonderfully.

Mini chick pot pies in disposable muffin tins (or shepherds pie, etc)

Wedding Soup w/o noodles (add noodles when reheating)

Do you think your dad is comfortable with a slow cooker? I have a ton of those "bag" recipes that you just dump in the slow cooker and many of them do not need to thaw first.

Sadly, he's not comfortable with anything in the kitchen. But, if all he had to do is dump a bag in he may be able to handle that.

ryanthegirl · March 2015

It seems like these bag meals are always chicken but here's a link to a few:

http://newleafwellness.biz/2014/09/22/6-chicken-freezer-crockpot-meals-30-minutes/

This is good slow cooker casserole (broccoli, chicken, rice) http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/05/4-weeks-to-fill-your-freezer-chicken-broccoli-rice-casserole-day-14.html

On Pinterest (or google) I usually search Slow Cooker Freezer Bag and I get a lot of results. Most of the ones I"ve made have turned out pretty well.

There is a really good chicken and dumplings one here: http://crockpotgourmet.net/2014/05/19/freezer-meal-crockpot-chicken-and-dumplings/

erinandrick · March 2015

Hi. Former nestie here that rarely posts now but thought I could contribute to this discussion.

I'm currently going through cancer treatments and have tons of wonderful family and friends that are bringing us food weekly. My SIL prepped 5 crockpot meals in gallon ziplock bags. They are in my freezer and all I have to do is put them in the crockpot. She did chili, beef stroganoff, chicken enchiladas, meatloaf and Italian sausage. A lot of soups also freeze well and that might taste good to your mom. You could make a batch and put it into smaller containers so your dad could heat up a bowl at a time for her.

You mentioned your aunts will also be cooking for your parents. If you think many other people will take them food you might want to look into an online meal signup website. My sister set up mealtrain.com so that it's somewhat coordinated and we aren't overloaded with food at the beginning. Anyone that wants to contribute a meal just goes on the website and picks a date that works for them.

I'd also recommend stocking your parents up on meal sized plastic containers that they can divide up leftovers into and freeze. If it's just the 2 of them they might not be able to eat a big casserole completely themselves before they are done with it and would prefer to save some for later. That's what I've been doing as my husband travels and the kids don't always like the meal and I can't eat it all by myself.

Good luck to your mom - I hope her surgery goes well!