New chest freezer! HEALTHY FREEZER MEALS?

MissShyloh
MissShyloh Posts: 39
edited January 1 in Recipes
Yay we just got a chest freezer so that we can stock up on things while they are on sale more! woot!

I am slowly getting into doing freezer meals and once a week/one in a while cooking.

What are some tasty, awesome, freezer meals you prepare?

Replies

  • MissShyloh
    MissShyloh Posts: 39
    bump?
  • magj0y
    magj0y Posts: 1,911 Member
    #1 food saver
    You can cook up or marinade a lot of your meats to quicken the dinner process. put them in the bags and they will last way longer.
    **Such as individual/ servings for 4 meatballs, pre-made stuff for chicken enchiladas

    if you're going to make casseroley dishes such as baked penne (I highly suggest this one as you can add in the spare veggies)
    under cook the pasta. Same with rice.
    chili rocks and freezes well.

    sorry, all the suggestions I have!
  • piratesaregrand
    piratesaregrand Posts: 356 Member
    My freezer is full of the quinoa mac and cheese recipe that's floating around here and this chilli

    http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/02/turkey-chili-taco-soup.html
  • Skatha89
    Skatha89 Posts: 49 Member
    I will be watching this thread since I'm due with #2 in 7 weeks and need to do some freezer cooking.
  • MSam1205
    MSam1205 Posts: 439 Member
    I make all my soups ( split pea, navy bean, chicken (freeze without pasta) in extra large batches, and then freeze in containers or ziploc type bags (I'll do some individual servings so that I can take to work) I"ve also frozen stuffed peppers, pasta sauce, and baked pasta dishes (lasagna, baked ziti) chili's, curries and stews. I also marinate my chicken before freezing, makes it easier later! I love my chest freezer!

    My local store had roaster chickens on sale for .50 cents a lb and two of the three are sitting in my freezer, waiting on a cooler day to sit in my crock pot!

    Great investment and it encourages cooking at home more, which can relate to losing more weight!
  • Illona88
    Illona88 Posts: 903 Member
    You can pretty much freeze any meal, as long as it's not a salad or vegetables that can't be reheated (endive, spinach, green cabbage (reheating produces nitrite, bad for you)).
    Stir fried veg can get a bit soggy when reheating, but it's still doable.

    Pasta dishes, mashed potatoes, cooked veg, chinese meals, all meats/fish, curries, soups, chili, stews, pies are all good.

    I would recommend stocking up on cheap food containers. Will save you on bags in the long run and it's also sturdier and easier to label.
    You can also make a big pan of gravy or any other marinade and then freeze it in an ice cube tray to get handy dose cubes. Once it's frozen you can put the cubes in a bag and use the tray for something else.
  • gc2951
    gc2951 Posts: 30
    Go on Amazon.com and find the book, "Once-a-Month cooking"by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg. It is chock full of recipes designed to be frozen. There is a chapter of low calorie meals. Depending on the size of your family, it may be less than once a month. There were 3 of us and I divided the meals so that I only cooked once every 2 monthes! When you work, this is really a life saver! Some days you may have to cook noodles or rice but most go straight into the oven or microwave and cook while you relax or play with the kids. Worth the $12!
  • hauer01
    hauer01 Posts: 516 Member
    I freeze EVERYTHING! I have about 6 different soups in my freezer, already cooked, in individual portions. I have mini turkey meatloafs, mini tacos, mini lasagna's. I don't have time to cook during the week, so I pre-make everything on the week-ends and always freeze a few portions so that in later weeks, I can have variety.

    I also pre-freeze a lot of veggies. You know how you make soup or something and you buy all the carrots, celery, onions, etc and there is always extra that are not needed at this time? I just chop them up too, lay them out of a cooking sheet in the freezer for about an hour, then toss them in a freezer bag. The next time I need those ingredients, they are already diced up and ready to go in the freezer. Really cuts down on any waste, which saves a ton of money.
  • lamilli09
    lamilli09 Posts: 354 Member
    First of all -- onceamonthmom.com will be one of your new favorite sites. They plan out several monthly food menus (traditional menu, diet menu, vegetarian menu etc.) with meals that are all freezer-friendly. (I do love the Southwestern Eggroll recipe).

    Also, a lot of the Skinnytaste recipes freeze fairly well...

    Also, I freeze EVERYTHING. Lasagna, soup, chili, tomato sauce --- you name it and I'm making a triple batch of it :)

    Good luck!
  • MissShyloh
    MissShyloh Posts: 39
    thank you everyone for the ideas! Can't wait to get started
  • tawnajean
    tawnajean Posts: 20
    I like to put a big package of bnls/skls chicken breasts in my crockpot with taco seasoning and a tiny bit of water and cook low 4 hours. Then shred it and put it into freezer bags to use later for tacos, echiladas, BBQ chicken sandwiches, etc. I also cook ground beef or ground turkey in big batches on the stove and freeze. Meatballs and matloaf are great to make ahead too! It really helps to have the meat already cooked. Gives me a big jump start on dinner!
  • jenfitnessmama
    jenfitnessmama Posts: 138 Member
    I keep my freezer stocked up with homemade spaghetti sauce! Only takes a day to thaw out in the fridge and bagged pasta is always cheap! It's great for when I'm craving pasts but am too lazy to make it fresh. :P
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