Make ahead and freezer meals

elaineandrews

Hi Everyone!

I work afternoons and often find myself running out to the closest fastfood place (which unfortunatly given the high density area I work means just about anything I want is all on the one street!). So what I need to do is make more meals ahead of time so I can just heat them up at work. I have a chili recipe and a a couple other soup recipies but I am looking for something more substantial (ok more like winter comfort food!) and something that is easily portioned out and frozen. What has worked for you?

Thanks!

Elaine

KristenF101

Lentil Soup!

treineck

Here's a picture so you get the idea - but the options are endless on what you can do in cupcake pans! Gottalovepinterest!

jasonp_ritzert

Crock pot + 6 chicken breasts + 1 can corn + 1 16 oz jar salsa + 1 can black beans = dinner and leftovers. I make this and can portion out how much I have and you can increase/decrease the amounts by approximation, no hard numbers here.

I also find that with my george foreman grilll, I can grill up a lot of chicken on a Sunday and refridgerate it for the rest of the week portioned out.

DesignGrrl

Lentil Soup!

I use this recipe [ http://www.hurstbeans.com/products/18/confetti-lentil-soupreme® ] with ground turkey breast and some frozen mirepoix mix along with tumeric, cayenne, garlic, pepper, cumin and it freezes well and reheats like it was just made!

skinnybitchbarbie27

I make a ton of stuff and freeze it! In my household it is only my husband and I so we normally make a lot of food to freeze it for later. The best thing I make that freezes well is chili. I make turkey chili with the beans and let it cool in the crock pot, put it in freezer safe dishes and keep it in the freezer. Whenever we need a fast dinner I just pop the container into the microwave and boom, hot chili.

There are a lot of things that I make that you can also take from the freezer to the oven. I premake lasagna and meatloaf into a metal pan and then pop it straight into the oven. The only difference is longer cooking time because it is frozen.

LacyJean1

I have the same problem. I have school in the morning and work in the afternoon/night time, and the temptation of fast food is horrible. I have learned that I can wake up about 30 minutes early to prep my meals and then throw them in the oven while I'm getting ready for work. I haven't thought about freezer meals, that is a good idea.

LosinItAll2012

I just made a "lean cuisine" type meal to freeze...cooked a full spagetti squash shredded...mix with a bag of frozen California Veggies, pasta sauce and chicken breast... Froze in portions to take to work for lunch! It was Delish!!!



oops... it's sideways... oh well... you see it!

Built_Strong

All of my meals are make ahead freezer meals.

I make a lot of slow cooked meats - roast beefs, chicken breasts, tenderloins.

I typically slow cook them, shred them, sauce them, portion and then freeze. I also make a lot of beef stews and chili - portion and freeze.

Car0lynnM

Pasta. Cook a whole box of pasta, and set out as many individual containers as there are servings in the box. Spoon out the pasta evenly in the containers, spoon a serving of jar pasta sauce on it, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, and put in freezer. Perfectly portioned individual lunches or dinners you just reheat in the microwave. I love doing this, since most Italian frozen entrees that you buy have waaaay tooooo much garlic in them for me.
Any other meal I'm making I just make 4 or 6 servings for just me and my hubby, and put the leftovers in individual containers. some go in the fridge, some go in the freezer. Some meals freeze better than others--trial and error.

obum88

Pick a day a week to cook lots of different things and keep track of the calories. Portion out and label then grab and go. Another strategy is salads or cooking lunch while eating breakfast.

ChinniP

I made this yesterday and portioned it out. Fab comfort food. Anyway I and my family loved it.

Curried pumpkin, beef and acorn squash

16 ounces chuck roast cubed and browned
2 cups cooked pumpkin (can used canned)
1 can coconut milk
2 cups acorn squash
1 cup diced celery
2 tsp curry powder (or to taste)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 TBS onion powder

Clean then pierce acorn squash and cook in microwave on high 5-10 minutes. While squash is cooking, brown beef in a skillet sprayed with Pam or other cooking spray. When squash is done, set aside to cool. Spray crock pot and mix together coconut milk, pumpkin and spices. Add browned beef and celery. Stir. Next, cut squash in half, seed, and remove skin. Skin usually peels right away from squash at this point. Then cube squash and add to the food already in crock pot. Cook in crock pot on low for 4 hours or more, depending on how tender you like your meat. Makes 6 3/4 cup servings. Serve over steamed brown rice.

I entered the recipe into MFP and it says per serving 200 cal, 22 carbs, 5 fat, 19 protein, 27 chol, and 253 sodium. There should be six servings total.

jessicamiller8884

We just cooked all of January's meals ahead from a fantastic freezer book called "30 Day Gourmet Big Book of Freezer Cooking" that I got for Christmas!

It lists the nutritional info, makes it easy to double, triple, etc based on your freezer space available. It's all common foods/recipes, much of what you proably already have on hand (We only went out and spent $50 extra on supplies), so I know it will save on the food budget too! Although, we had a ton of chicken, 93% beef, and ground turkey on hand already so that's not counting that.

http://www.30daygourmet.com/

So far we are loving the recipes -- on New Years Day we prepped lasgana, cheesy chicken penne, chicken pot pie, broccoli chicken alfredo, Orange Ginger Chicken, Chicken Snack Wraps, homemade chicken noodle soup -- all pretty kid friendly for our 2 toddlers also!

See if your local library has this or any other freezer cooking books, choose recipes, prepare and freeze and less stress on work nights! You can get together with some friends and do a "cooking day" too, and share the cost of the food and split it so you each have variety make it fun to prepare to have company!

Good Luck!

sunnyside1213

Lasagne works quite well.

mcmasden

Can you provide the recipe for me? I would like to try this - thanks!

treineck

Can you provide the recipe for me? I would like to try this - thanks!

who's recipe are ya looking for?

justtodayjen333

I like to use tortillas for some easy wraps -- freeze easily. If you wrap in a paper towel, you can pop in microwave for a few minutes. A few ideas --

--Make a dozen scrambled eggs, perhaps with some diced ham or another breakfast protein (I like my eggs with cooked onions, peppers, and mushrooms mixed in). Divide on 12 tortilla shells with .5 ounces cheese on each. Wrap and freeze.

--Burritos -- protein (beans or chicken or combination), .5 ounces cheese, salsa --wrap and freeze.

Jongooi

Here's a picture so you get the idea - but the options are endless on what you can do in cupcake pans! Gottalovepinterest!

Jongooi

Interesting! thanks for the idea!

bluelena

Thanks to Emilybites.com, I have ziploc bags in the freezer filled with sausage egg and cheese hash brown muffins, and individual chocolate chip banana baked oatmeal. She's. big fan of using the cupcake pans for portion control.

elaineandrews

Wow! Thanks for the ideas! Now to do some grocery shopping!