In the middle of our chaotic and messy freezer cooking session last week!
Breakfasts
Bananas (grabbed on the way to church as we were rushing out the door; yes, aren’t we so organized?!)
Carrot Cake Waffles with Vanilla Whipped Cream (recipe coming later this week; I concocted it this past week using this recipe as inspiration and we all decided it was very yummy.)
Toasted bagels, scrambled eggs
Steel Cut Oats with dried cranberries
Cookie Dough Baked Oatmeal
Granola
Cinnamon Roll Biscuits, scrambled eggs, fruitLunches
Hamburgers, twice-baked potatoes, fruit salad
Hard-boiled eggs, pasta, peas
PB&J, carrot sticks, apple slices
Annie’s macaroni & cheese, peas
Tossed salad hard-boiled eggs, feta cheese, and dried cranberries
Leftovers x 2Dinners
Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake, tossed salad
Southwest Roll-ups, Mexican Rice, tossed salad
Corn & Cheese Chowder in Bread Machine Bread Bowls, sliced apples
Lime Chicken Tacos, Mexican Rice, steamed veggies
Dinner out
Dinner with extended family x 2Snacks
Chocolate Bottom Banana Squares
Fruit/veggies
Cheese/crackers15-Minute Freezer Cooking
(I’m trying something new this week and am devoting 15 minutes on Monday through Thursday afternoons to making one item for the freezer. I’ll be blogging about these mini freezer cooking sessions so you can see how it goes for me!)
Chocolate Bottom Banana Squares — Monday
Cookie Dough Baked Oatmeal — Tuesday
Lime Chicken Tacos — Wednesday
Homemade Baking Mix — Thursday
What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.
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{ 54 comments... read them below or add one }
I want to thank you for posting your menus every week. We didn’t use to follow a menu until recently, thanks to you. Now life is so much easier! Now I don’t have everyone asking me all day what we are doing to eat!
It makes such a fantastic difference, doesn’t it?!
My crew was so excited to see their favorite bacon, potato, cheese soup on the menu plan. Even the little kids ask for a second bowl. I LOVE being able to make some warm hearty dishes this time of year.
Last week I did the freezer cooking goals in short bursts by total accident. I cooked the chicken one day. I got a great deal on biscuits on clearance @ Raley’s (which I normally wouldn’t buy but for $.24 each I couldn’t make them for that), I cooked rice another day and compiled 3 different casseroles all on one night a different night. It worked out perfect and I still got everything off my list I wanted to do.
Here is our menu plan for this week.
http://www.financeswithfunk.com/2011/11/06/this-week’s-menu-plan-11611/
I agree! There is nothing like a good hearty warm dish when the weather turns chilly!
I just updated my Simple Recipes with a Southern Chopped Chicken Sandwich recipe that was soo good!
http://thirtythreemom.com/simple-recipes/
I just wrote an impromptu menu on the fridge this morning. My issue is that I don’t know how to make a lot of different foods. So I really like that you post to links of recipes.
Were you the one who posted the White Chicken Enchilladas. They are amazing.
Here’s my menu this week. It’s already a little off due to a death in the family, but that’s just how life goes http://jandjnewleaf.blogspot.com/2011/11/whats-for-eats-this-week.html
I took inspiration from your freezer cooking in an hour, so I’ll be curious to see how the 15 minutes goes. Yeah for creativity!
Here is what is on our menu this week:
http://www.momsplans.com/2011/11/menu-planning-november-6-2011/
Can’t wait to hear about how the 15 minute a day sessions go. I have just always tried to cook some extra (if I am baking a loaf of pumpkin bread – I will make two and freeze one or if I am making a roast – I will buy a really big one and shred the extra meat and freeze) 15 minutes sounds interesting and short enough to not seem overwhelming!
I love your breakfast ideas!!
We are having BLT mac & Cheese, Taco Soup, Crispy southwest burritos – you can see the lineup and recipes here:
http://www.lcvalleymom.com/2011/11/weekly-menu-plan.html
Here’s our menu for the week. We tried a new fish recipe that two of us voted very yummy. Next I make it I’ll need to bake some plain fish for the other members of the family.
http://www.wonderwomanimnot.com/2011/11/menu-planning-wo-11-6.html
um is silas standing IN the dishwasher? haha
My guy tries that anytime he sees an opportunity!
My little guy tries that too. I was going to laugh and tell Crystal that freezer cooking won’t be as frugal if the door breaks on her dishwasher! LOL Just teasing though…no snottiness intended!
I love that you shared your kitchen during freezer cooking! I’m so glad to see moms sharing pictures of messy kitchens and happy children. Also, the green rice casserole is fab. Thank you!
Our plan is here: http://www.womworkingmom.com/2011/11/wom-meals-our-menu-for-117-through-1120.html
I’m trying a new method for menu planning in the coming weeks. I’m working up to planning menus a month at a time. A little daunting, but exciting. Finally, best of luck with the 15 minute freezer cooking. I’m interested in seeing the results.
Here’s my plan, it’s nice and easy!
http://lindyandjeanne.blogspot.com/2011/11/menu-plan-for-this-week.html
do you mind sharing what salad you use on your salad or what you make?
Crystal-I’ve made your Cheesy Chicken casserole before. Do you think it’s freezable? My concern is the sourcream/greek yogurt getting lumpy or curdled.
My weekly menu is posted here http://thebusylittlebee425.blogspot.com/2011/11/weekly-meal-plan.html
I am interested to see how the 15 min freezer cooking goes.
It all sounds delicious! I love your freezer cooking sessions!
Here’s this week’s menu and my groceries:
http://purposelyfrugal.com/2011/11/07/groceries-and-menu-2/#.TrhdhkAWUmA
Here’s our menu for the week! Trying to eat out of the freezer and pantry all month!
I think the 15 minute sessions are a great idea. Can’t wait to see how it turns out.
Here’s our $100 Budget Weekly menu for six (including 3 teens):
http://thepeacefulmom.com/2011/11/04/100-budget-weekly-menu-11411/
and my daughter’s Simple Gluten Free Weekly Menu:
http://thepeacefulmom.com/2011/11/07/simple-gluten-free-weekly-menu-11711/
The Lime Chicken Tacos sound great! Here’s what’s cooking at our house this week: http://saveliveeatlove.com/2011/11/eat-this-weeks-menu-116/
We’re having a few new recipes here (thanks to Pinterest!): Italian Cream Cheese casserole with rice), Creamy Chilaquiles (with queso cheese!), Crispy Pizza Wraps, and more – all GLUTEN FREE!
http://ourfrugalhappylife.blogspot.com/2011/11/menu-plan-116-creamy-chilaquiles-crispy.html
Emily I can’t speak for he casserole you mentioned, but I freeze sour cream enchiladas, lasagna, and many other dishes with cream based products and cheeses. They come out perfectly.
So glad I’m not the only one who frequently finds a child standing on the open dishwasher door!
I’m going to try the corn chowder in bread bowls (but non bread machine recipe since we don’t have one).
We’re having cheesy beans and rice, runzas from the freezer, Philly cheesesteak with potato wedges, sweet/spicy orange beef from freezer and pizza from the freezer this week.
I couldn’t find anything at the stores on deep sales this past week. So I decided to make trays of Lasagna with the ground beef and cheese I already had at home. Used the Pasta coupon and made 4 large trays today, these are very very large trays. I shared one with a coworker and she shared fish with me!I put two in the freezer and we are serving 18 people tonight with two(I feel certain there will be leftovers)
I’m doing Loaded baking potatoes again and now the fish that we got from the friends. I had pork chops and chicken in the freezer so that with all the free fruit we have had lately will just about round out our week.
Blue Berry Pancakes for breakfast , homemade applesauce at for lunches, with hard boiled eggs (got tons of those too), Pumpkin just about everything and still zucchini everything, but we love these so we never grow tired of them. We can always eat leftover Lasagna for lunches, or I know one of my friends will want to swap more fruit tonight for some of the leftover lasagna. (I am hoping oranges as we have almost everything else) How is everyone else doing stock and menu wise?
I threw half of a jumbo pack of chicken breasts in the crockpot (cut in strips/pieces) with chicken fajita mix…..they are cooking as we speak
then I took the other half…and cut them in half and threw them in a pot and boiled them…then after about 30 minutes…I let them cool in the water…and shreded with two forks. I have more than enough to freeze for a meal (probably bbq chicken-another crockpot meal!).
I am watching to learn even more tips for freezing meals and making things ahead. I really don’t like to cook and am not very good at it either..so your tips and recipes really help me.
Thanks!!!
I am planning on making main dishes for the freezer for Christmas week when all the kids and grandkids are home. It made a huge difference for me last year and I got to spend alot more time with the family instead of cooking. I think I will include the Lime Chicken Tacos on my list. Thanks for the link!
Those chocolate bottom banana squares look so good! I might try to give them a shot this week. I’m finally back to posting menus after my daughter’s hip dysplasia surgery last week. I’m lucky my mom is here executing my menu – so I just have to plan!
Here’s what she’s cooking for me… I’m trying to keep it easy but still end up with a few planned leftovers in the freezer.
http://www.simplifylivelove.com/2011/11/weekly-menu-freezer-cooking-plan-117.html
Michelle,
I made the chocolate bottom banana squares last night (but as muffins) to give my hubby for breakfasts. They were FANTASTIC!!!
I can’t be the only one who finds it hilarious that this is Crystal’s version of “messy and chaotic”. And I don’t even have kids!
Also, re: the dishwasher door. One thing my mom did with my brothers and me, and what I’ve since done in my 3 years as a nanny, is use the open dishwasher door as a table for toddler lunches. It’s sterilized clean by the wash cycle, and then all the mess goes right back in the dishwasher and cleans itself. Hey, I turned out fine
Your dishwasher must work better than mine! (Actually, I’m sure it does — we finally gave up on it when the dishes started coming out dirtier than they went in.)
Here’s my menu this week: Lots of easy, quick, but healthy meals! And my husband even volunteered to take over a night! MindfullyFrugalMom Menu Plan
I am making CHICKEN ALFREDO BISCUIT BAKE this week! Super easy, super tasty! See that recipe and over 200 more, on my website, under What’s Cookin’ Recipes. All recipes are kid-tested and family approved!
What’s Cookin’ Recipes: http://jennifervandahmwhatscookinrecipes.blogspot.com/
Our menu plan is below…including a link to how I finally conquered making hard boiled (farm fresh) eggs so you could easily peel them!
http://www.hummingbirdhomemaking.com/2011/11/homemaking-menu-plan-and-intentional.html
Awww thank you SO much for including me
.
And now I’m off to hear about what these chocolate banana bottoms are… they sound like something I need in my life!
That Lime Chicken Taco recipe looks yum… have you frozen it before? I am in a freezer club and this looks like a good idea if it freezes well.
Love planning the weekly menu, it makes the days go smoother. As an added bonus while I am cooking dinner I often make a double batch. One for us to eat that night and the other one to stick in the freezer for a busy day later that month or to share with someone in need.
Here is our menu for the week:
http://www.blessingsmultiplied.com/2011/11/what%e2%80%99s-for-dinner-our-weekly-menu-plan-7/
Those roll-ups have become a staple at our house, so dang easy to toss into the microwave or oven from the freezer! I’m excited about the 15 minute freezer cooking, I know I find the idea of freezer cooking to be daunting when I know, really, it isn’t.
http://www.becauseimfrugal.com/2011/11/menu-plan-monday-11711.html
I feel like I am in a rut. I am exhausted at the end of the day from work, and my husband and I are opposite shifts. I am sick of fighting my almost 4 year old to eat. (though breakfast for dinner he ate in a heart beat!!) I am needing some quick easy meals. My husband told me to do some freezer cooking for the weekday to make my life easier, so I may have to try the 15 min freezer cooking…. well I will let you try it out first.
Here is my menu for the week!
http://raviandevie.blogspot.com/2011/11/menu-plan-monday-thank-god-for.html
I’m a little late getting my meal plan up as I don’t post it until Tuesday morning. If anyone is still reading
, here is our food allergy-friendly meal plan for this week plus a kid-friendly breakfast treat.
http://willingcook.com/breakfast-pigs-in-a-blanket-our-food-allergy-home-meal-plan/
For the cookie dough baked oatmeal – are you cooking small cups as the recipe suggests or are you increasing the recipe and baking it in a pan?? The baked oatmeal recipes you have been sharing are a big hit in our house and I would love to try this one but I don’t own the small cups and don’t want to go out and purchase them if I can use what I already have on hand.
I don’t have small cups, so I’m going to do it in a regular pan.
Please share how it turns out – she has some really good looking baked oatmeal recipes on her blog. I’m sure you will probably tweak…..
Do you have a muffin tin? You might be able to make it in there. I saw that on Pinterest, and I’m tempted to try it. Let me know how it turns out.
Here is a link to a menu I put together for the produce we get delivered weekly
http://www.iheartveggies.net/2011/11/prudent-produce-recipes-11711.html
I rarely do a big freezer cooking session, but I do tend to cook really large amounts of a dish and then I usually have at least two portions to put in the freezer. This weekend, the kids were at grandma’s though. I had a list a mile longer than the time I had for it, so I didn’t get to all the freezer meals I wanted….but I did make a big batch of chicken noodle soup for the freezer – recipe with pictures posted here:
http://www.iheartveggies.net/2011/11/make-it-yourself-monday-chicken-soup.html
And here is a menu around the items that are on sale at Hy-Vee this week
http://www.iheartveggies.net/2011/11/hy-vee-ad-1-day-sale-111211.html
I get three breaks from cooking this week
. Two birthday celebrations and since I’m hosting Bible Study tomorrow, my friend is bringing the dinner. Yay!
http://myfavoritefinds.blogspot.com/2011/11/menu-plan-week-of-november-5.html
I’m tempted by that oatmeal and I’m glad to see I’m not the only one with a kid who likes to stand on the dishwasher.
My menu plan for the week is super simple since I’m still recovering from last week!
http://cookingluck.blogspot.com/2011/11/this-weeks-menu.html
Cookie Dough Baked Oatmeal? That sounds AMAZING! Youcan see my menu here: http://sweetherseykisses.com/2011/11/06/weekly-menu-117-1114/
All this time you mention southwest rollups, I thought you were referring to tex mex egg rolls. I click on the link even though I had a bad experience trying to make those before (those wraps are really hard to work with) and find a burrito recipe. I can definitely handle that!
Little late.. but here is our menu
http://www.thegrantlife.com/2011/11/menu-monday-and-few-announcements.html
Going to have to try the chocolate bottom banana squares. They sound healthy.. got bananas
I didn’t think I was a freezer-cooker, until I thought about your 15 minute plan. I usually make 2 meals at a time, or cook up a lot of meat for use in the future. That totally counts! I think of it as “free dinner,” both because whatever I make ahead doesn’t have to factor into our grocery budget and because if I have a meal that I can pull out of the freezer and heat, I can use dinner prep time (4:30-5:30 around here, also known as Crazy Time) to play with my kids instead of shooing them out of the kitchen.
Yesterday I made two meal’s worth of Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas instead of one. Today I browned 3 lbs of beef and layered up a second lasagna for the freezer. It was a “shoo the kids out” kind of evening, but it was just ONE and it will serve our dinner for THREE additional nights.
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