Freeze and Eat Meals?

Mrs._F

My new fill-time job is making it a little harder for me to keep up with my domestic goddess duties.  I need to start making dinner the second I get home for us to eat at a decent hour and have a little time after to spend together and relax.

So I'm thinking it's time to start doing some cooking ahead on the weekends together, and freezing portions for the week.  This way I won't have to cook every single night, and we have a better alternative than take-out.

But I'm not sure what meals freeze best.  Anyone have some tried and true suggestions?  I'd really appreciate any help!!

2brides

I hear you about having to start dinner the instant you get home.  This is such a big struggle for us - especially with the kids.

 L doesn't like casseroles, lasange, etc so those types of things are out for us.  One thing I do freeze is meat. I will go to Costco and buy a pack of chicken breasts and a pack of flank steaks. I drivide the breasts up into Ziploc bags of 2 or 3 and then dump in a marinade (I buy 4-5 varieties so we have something to choose from.)  Push the air out, zip up, write the type of marinade and date on the front, and freeze.  The night before (or sometimes even that morning) I will pull a packet from the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge while we are at work.  When we get home I can throw it on the grill or in the oven while I pop in a bag of steamable microwave veggies and perhaps some boil in a bag brown rice.  Takes no more than 30 minutes - and that is if I am moving slowly!

The grill is my friend in the summer. I put meat and veggies on at the same time and it is pretty fast - with very little clean up. And I love grilling with a beer. Mmmm.

 The other thing we do is to buy rosissterie chickens and use them for several meals.  We can get them from Costco for $5 and we do sandwiches, tacos, BBQ, etc with it.  There is actually a cookbook with 100s of recipes for rotisserie chicken.

I have a great turkey chili recipe from WW that would probably freeze well - we just tend to eat the whole thing when we make it!

Once in awhile we get our arses in gear to use our crockpot. But we do all the prep work the night before (and then put the crock in the fridge for the night) so all we have to do is take it out, put it in the cooker, and go to work in the AM. Make sure to use the crockpot bags for easy clean up.

We also do a lot of salads in the summer. We jazz them up with fresh berries rather than the traditional veggies, add goat cheese (well, I do.), craisins, etc. This is fast (especially if you don't have to dice 1001 veggies!)

Good luck. I  know how hard it is.

bluedaisyus

we make lasagna in a big batch, eat some, and separate the rest out into a couple of portions to freeze for later. you can cook it first, or get it ready in a pan and wrap it up tight to cook later if you've got some smaller ones you don't use regularly--just be careful if you cook it first to let it cool all the way or you can end up with a soggy mess. we also make meatballs and cook them up, then freeze them in baggies. just take them out the night before, throw them in the crockpot with sauce when you leave for work in the morning and let it simmer all day. cook up some pasta when you get home and you've got a great, tasty meal.

do a google search for once a month cooking and you'll find all sorts of recipe ideas for cooking ahead and suggestions of things that freeze well.

they make this little vaccum pump that you can get at the grocery (we have a reynolds one), along with special bags, and those are great for getting air out and fending off freezer burn. we got the pump for free with some sample baggies, but i've seen lots of coupons for them in the paper. they're a little more expensive, but if you watch for coupons and sales it's not too bad and it really does help.

ctbride08

Here's a list of some things i make ahead and freeze:

- lasagna

- meatballs (turkey balls)

- mac and cheese

- chili

- chicken or turkey pot pie

- shepard's pie

- soup of any variety

- taco meat/sloppy joe meat

- caseroles of pretty much any type (A's fave is a spinach/broccoli/chicken one)

- pizza dough which can be used for a quick pizza or calzones

- sweet and sour chicken (for some reason this is one of the only chicken recipes i have found that freeze well)

 

rikkiandjulie

I'm really bad about freeze and eat, but when I'm working we use the crockpot about 5x a week, and freeeze left overs, or use it for lunches. The lunch part is most common.

 I use this website she's never let me down, and most of it is relatively healthy, and all is gluten free.

 

crockpot365.blogspot.com

Mrs._F

Thanks for all the great suggestions everyone!!

Searching "once a month cooking" yields tons of results!

Elise - Would you mind sharing your sweet and sour chicken recipe?  Something I've never tried, but would love to make. No hurry - whenever you get a chance.