I need freezer meal recipes!!

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sarahertzberger
sarahertzberger Posts: 534 Member
in Recipes
Does anyone do freezer meals, I'm wanting to start doing those to make dinner time easier and better planned, and they will be great when our new baby gets here we won't have to cook other than throwing something in the oven to heat!! If so, anyone want to share your recipes or tips for freezer meals with me? Thank you!!

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  • mebepiglet123
    mebepiglet123 Posts: 327 Member
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    I'm a shift worker and eat tea 2 nights of out 8 at work, during my days off I make extra of whatever we are having, and freeze it, put a note on it saying what it is and how many calories, and make a list so I can access list without having to rifle through my freezer.

    Try googling low fat freezer meals (I just did it and there are a few websites, that may give you some inspiration) or make your favourite foods and change it up with low fat replacements if a little high In calories.

    Good luck, planning is the key.

    Donna.
  • sarahertzberger
    sarahertzberger Posts: 534 Member
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    Thank you :-)
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    I don't so much do freezer meals as meals that are easy to get from the freezer onto the plate. Here are some suggestions:
    Make a lasagna pan of brown rice using Alton Brown's oven method and freeze it in 1/2 cup blobs to haul out and heat in the microwave whenever you need them. Cook a whole ham, chicken, pork butt, or turkey. Divide meat into meal-sized portions and freeze to be grabbed and nuked. A frozen blob of pulled pork, some frozen corn niblets, and a blob of frozen rice makes a meal. I also have some suggestions on my hobby cooking blog at http://heidicookssupper.com/blog/category/stocking-the-freezer/
  • KiwiJewels
    KiwiJewels Posts: 36 Member
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    What a shame you don't live in New Zealand - I've been singing the praises of a magazine we get here called the Healthy Food Guide. They've just done two articles recently called "cook once, eat for a week" where you prepare several "base" meals (a lot of which get frozen), split them up to be turned into various things, and then just defrost and add a couple of things and voila! a meal in a short space of time! If you are interested, message me your email address and I'll scan the relevant pages and email them to you :-) I just love that kind of thing! The other thing to look into would be a crockpot meal - put them together the night before, or in the morning, put them on to slow cook for the day, and they are ready when you come back at the end of the day :-)
  • FittyFitFitFit
    FittyFitFitFit Posts: 25
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    I'm a HUGE fan of the freezer meals. My latest favorite is this chickpea stew - smoked paprika flavor is to die for! Not sure of the cals - I imagine the chorizos are quite high calories but I only use 2 or 3 and the rest of the meal is pretty clean - usually add pumpkin and other veges I have about too.

    Ingredients
    1 cup dried chickpeas (use canned ones - way easier!)
    3 medium onions, chopped
    2 Tbsp olive oil (don't need this much - just a smidge to stop the onions sticking is fine)
    4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
    2 carrots, chopped
    2 tsp smoked paprika (I use one of hot and one of sweet)
    1 can (450g) tomatoes in juice (crushed is easier but whole will do)
    2-4 chorizos or other spicy sausages, sliced
    salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
    A good handful of parsley, chopped

    Peel the onions and chop them roughly. Put them in a heavy-based pot with the olive oil and let them cook over medium heat, stirring from time to time.

    Peel and chop the garlic and carrots and add them to the pan. Cook until the onions have colored slightly.

    Stir in the paprika, then add the chickpeas, tomatoes with their juice and chorizo. If you have cooked the chickpeas yourself, you can use some of the stock, or else add water. The amount will depend on whether you are making a stew, a soup or a dryish dish.

    Season to taste with salt and pepper, cover and simmer for 20-40 minutes. If there is more liquid than you want, remove the lid so it can evaporate, or else add more if you want a soupier dish.

    Stir through the parsley just before serving.


    Some other ideas I like and maybe you might too...

    - Quiches (can use filo pastry and make a sort of bacon, egg and vege pie thing)

    - Roast veges with herbs and onion and garlic and mix with low-fat feta and couscous

    - Mini pizzas

    - Bran and banana muffins

    - Any stew, curry, stir-fry type thing - like what others have said - if you cook it for tea - make extra and freeze it. :)
  • hballack
    hballack Posts: 114 Member
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    I am really interested in once a month cooking as well! I don't do it as much as I would like, but I'm planning on getting into it after I move next month. Not all "diet" recipes, but here are some of the links that I have bookmarked to try later:

    http://financialhighway.com/40-frugal-freezer-meals/

    http://joelens.blogspot.com/2007/01/freezer-friendlymake-ahead.html

    http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/09/slow-cooker-freezer-meals-make-8-meals.html

    http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pre-Packaged-Smoothies/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=pre packaged smoothies&e8=Quick Search&event10=1&e7=Home Page

    Here are some books on the topic as well:

    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=don't+panic+dinner's+in+the+freezer&sprefix=don't+pani,aps,239

    Right now my tactic is to just make a little extra and freeze the leftovers.

    If you want, send me a friend request and we can keep swapping recipes, but I probably won't be doing much freezer cooking for at least a month. Right now I've been just freezing some of my extra leftovers, like crockpot oatmeal and any homemade soups I made.

    Good Luck!

    Heather
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    bbq... leftover pulled pork, brisket, half chickens, they reheat splendidly
  • ice1200s
    ice1200s Posts: 237 Member
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    Get your crock-pot out. Just freeze what you don't eat that day. I run at least two of mine most every weekend.
  • gonnamakeanewaccount
    gonnamakeanewaccount Posts: 642 Member
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    This isn't necessarily a meal, but if you make your own marinara sauce, you can freeze it for future use.
  • VioletNightshade
    VioletNightshade Posts: 197
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    I keep my freezer stocked with frozen veggies and things like gyoza, chili, lentil soup, minestrone, sauces that I've made and put into icecube trays and then into baggies so I don't have to measure to make a meal, protein powder waffles, etc etc etc. Most of my food, save for a few bread items and fruits are either dried or frozen because I often don't have the patience for anything else.

    The way I do it, there's a bit of prep time right when you get home from the store, so papa might have to care for the little one while you're dealing with the meals or vise-versa, but it'll be worth it when you can throw together meals in a few minutes and have very little clean-up.

    I get a TON of portion sized tupperware containers that are dishwasher and microwave safe and then tiny ones for sauces, toppings or dressings and larger ones for things like ministrone soup which is one of those things that has like 100 calories in a serving, so you can take that out when you want a lot of something.

    My home-made freezer favourites are:
    chili (I make it vegetarian, which cuts down on calories)
    sizzling rice soup filled with a ton of other veggies as well (again, minus the meats, those can be cooked separately and added in for a quick meal, and the rice freezes lovely as well)
    minestrone
    spinach squares (for snacks because they're a bit high calorie but super yummy)
    gyoza, vegetables and rice (which you can package up ahead of time, just put a little water in the container, throw it in the microwave and it all steams up. I like broccoli, asparagus and brussels sprouts right now. A lot of places have frozen rice, which IMO is a far better invention than sliced bread)
    homemade eggrolls
    pizza pockets
    virtually any sauce can be made and frozen in ice-cube trays and thrown in a baggie or tupperware in the freezer to be thawed out later and used.
    stirfry with rice noodles (it's possible to do the stir fry ahead of time and freeze, same with the sauce, and then add the noodles when it's time to eat so they don't turn to an unfortunate mush)
  • banana_butterfly
    banana_butterfly Posts: 29 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1054240-burritos-to-stash-in-your-freezer
  • kenlad64
    kenlad64 Posts: 377 Member
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    Many great ideas that need to be looked into, .... Thanks everyone!

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