Are you ready for another week of filling your freezer? This week, we’re tackling dinners.
Here’s my plan for making Freezer-Friendly Dinners this week. Remember that you are more than welcome to substitute any or all of the recipes listed to make this what best fits with your budget and family’s preferences:
Freezer-Friendly Dinner Recipes
Tuesday — Double Recipe of Barbecued Meatballs
Wednesday — Double Recipe of Lasagna Casserole
Thursday — Double Recipe of Pizza Dough
Friday — Double Recipe of Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
Monday – Double Recipe of Italian Chicken
Grocery List
(I rounded up on the amounts needed, just to be safe. You probably have many of these items already on hand. You’ll want to double-check that you have the correct amounts, though.)
5 pounds ground beef
5 cups flour
6 eggs
2 cups milk (I’m using milk instead of evaporated milk in the Barbecued Meatballs)
2 cups quick oats or old-fashioned oats
4 onions
2 cups ketchup
1 jar spaghetti sauce
2 15-oz. cans diced tomatoes
16 ounces of dry pasta (we prefer rotini pasta, but any kind will work)
2 bottles of Italian Dressing (or your favorite homemade Italian Dressing)
12 chicken breasts (boneless/skinless or bone-in — can also substitute two whole chickens, if you prefer)
Chicken (enough for 4 cups chopped chicken)
3 bags of frozen broccoli (or 8 cups fresh chopped broccoli florets)
4 cups cottage cheese or ricotta cheese (we prefer cottage cheese and it’s typically much cheaper — especially if you can find it marked down!)
16 oz. mozzarella cheese
16 oz. cheddar cheese
2 cans cream of chicken soup (or make your own cream soup)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (or make your own cream soup)
Liquid Smoke, optional
5 cups uncooked brown rice (or white rice)
Staple Ingredients
Salt/Pepper
Chili Powder
Garlic Powder
Parsley
Yeast
Oil
Sugar
Freezer Storage Items Needed
Foil
Plastic Wrap
10-12 large ziptop freezer bags
2-4 glass or aluminum pans (to freeze Lasagna Casserole in, and Barbecued Meatballs, if you prefer.)
Something to label packages with (marker to write on bags, labels, and/or tape)
Click on the “Print This” tab at the top of the list to generate a printer-friendly list. (If you’re reading via email or a feed reader, you may need to click through to the post to print the list.)
Thank you for the freezer lists (recipes and amount totals). Being SAH mom I often feel guilty when I don’t have time to make dinner or just too tired to do so. But being back in college (I go to school online) I often go to do my homework as soon as my husband comes home from work to watch. (The kids are 3 and 4 so I don’t get much homework done during the day). I’m going to start the freezer cooking lists so that even when I can’t make a meal b/c of schoolwork or other reason, I can. Thank you so much for your inspiration in so many areas. Your website really is a blessing!
Thank you for the recipe links this week Crystal. Loving the series!
With the lasagna, do you bake it according to the directions, freeze it and then bake it again when you’re ready to eat? Or do you prepare it, immediately freeze it and then bake it when you’re ready to eat?
Thank you so much for this freezer cooking series! I’m pregnant with our 2nd child and I dont ever feel the greatest during the evenings, which keeps me from cooking, so making up these meals to freeze really helps out a bunch!
Thanks so much for putting this all together for all of us! Wish I could follow along with you day-by-day but I’m a little ADD lol. Making banana bread today, and I wanted to “make” the Italian chicken last night, but no salad dressing, so instead we have Teriyaki chicken chillin’ in the freezer 🙂
Keep up the great work!
So excited t see your list tonight. IV been printing everything off to short through and do this hopefully in June when things slow down a little. Plan on trying recipes in the mean time. Thanks so much for doing this.
This is my new favorite lunch recipe, and it’s freezer friendly! I know the title sounds funky, but you’ll want to give these a try!
http://diywithjen.blogspot.com/2012/05/apple-spinach-chicken-nuggets.html
I was anxiously awaiting this week’s plan today! 🙂 I think you have more great meal choices. I’ve been wanting to try meatballs for awhile now. I am going to back up to last week and make some of the meals from last week first. They look so delicious. Thanks so much for doing this series!
Not much room in my freezer but I have made my menu plans to use some of the items I already have. Today I made vegetable soup to use up some veggies and leftover roast beef. I also dried my strawberries in the dehydrator to see if I like them better than frozen. Jury is out on that one because they really were a pain to do (the pieces are either too dry or not dry enough). I ended up putting the dehydrated pieces in a freezer container in the freezer so they will keep. I did get two baskets of strawberries in one small container so that helps save space.
I’ve enjoyed this series even though I’ve yet to participate in any of the freezer cooking. I’ve seen several recipes I’m itching to try, particularly the waffles. I’m asking for a waffle iron for my birthday coming up in 2 weeks.
Could you use the meatballs without the BBQ sauce…for example with spaghetti sauce instead?
My only complaint with this series….I do my grocery shopping over the weekend….and you post the shopping list on Monday! 🙁
But at least I’ll have a list to go by whenever I decide to do these reicpes. Thanks for the inspiration.
Mmmmmmm….. these recipes sound delicious!
How do you find the strength/discipline to follow through w/ freezer cooking on a consistent basis?
I’ve not disciplined myself to do so as of yet. I do so enjoy reading about your freezer cooking experiences, however.
Is it really that well worth the effort? (time saved, easy clean-up after each meal, etc.?)
Keep the recipes/idea coming!
Thx!!! 🙂
I’m freezing BBQ pulled pork and Baked Ziti w/sausage and peppers this week. Baby should come between now and next week, so I’m doing a double inventory to make sure I have enough meals.
I made all my freezer meatballs last week, but I don’t freeze them with sauce. Sometimes I do BBQ meatballs, sometimes sweet and sour, sometimes spaghetti, and sometimes I’ll use them in place of ground beef for chili and lasagna. I’ve found that freezing them plain makes them much more versatile. Making and freezing the sauces separately makes it even easier!
Oh Crystal..you Rock..I haven’t done freezer cooking forever and was just going to start getting back into it..I get your newsletter but haven’t paid attention to that portion of it..duh!! Thanks so much for all the recipes and ideas..I’ll definately be using them!
In the next day or two I will be posting some easy peasy recipes for homemade “junk food” ie.. bagel bites, taquitos, hot pockets…would love to share if you want 🙂
I was anxiously waiting for this post to see what you were doing. My list is ready, but my energy is NOT. Hehe. Looks like I am doing some of the same dishes. YAY!
What are the portion sizes ? how many do the meals feed? thanks , Nikki
You’re so organized and your blog has been an inspiration to me over the past 3 or so years since I found you! thank you thank you 🙂
My husband and I have agreed that freezer cooking just isn’t for us. I hate the way almost everything tastes from the freezer. I don’t care what others say, I can always tell it’s been frozen previously. And yes, I use freezer-friendly recipes and wrap them very well. And no, it just doesn’t work for us. 🙂
However, I have been working on making mixes and breads ahead of time, and I was really surprised that I was able to make 4 mixes for pancakes in about 8 minutes last week. Such a time saver during the week!
We’re eating from the pantry for the next ten days, but I’m going to try making the pizza dough with you and freezing it. We love your recipe and use it once or twice a month, so I’m interested to see how the dough turns out after being frozen.
I’ll be curious to see what you think!
Have you ever tried doing partial recipes for the freezer? Such as cooking up ground beef or chicken or marinading meat and freezing? I’d love to know if you still think you can taste the difference.
Cookie dough is another thing that I think no one can tell a difference whether it’s fresh or frozen. But maybe some people can?
Oh and I saw this idea on Pinterest last week and I’m itching to try it:
http://pinterest.com/pin/248612841900042909/
{Has anyone done something like this before? I’d love to know if it worked for you or not!}
I don’t like meat cooked, frozen, and then reheated, either, but I do LOVE to have cookie dough in the freezer. It works like a charm and it’s so convenient to pull them out if people come over or you just want some fresh cookies;)
I put the cottage cheese and an egg in the blender with a little chopped parsley. It gives it more the texture of riccota, without the imcreased cost.
What a brilliant idea; I love it!
Storing cottage cheese in the freezer also gives it the texture of ricotta cheese. Add a pinch of nutmeg to the cottage cheese for your Italian dishes–yummo!
I am wondering if, in the future, you would consider including in your post information about what you would serve with these meals. Particularly, the meatballs? Thanks.
We usually serve meatballs with some type of potatoes (baked, mashed, twice-baked), fruit, steamed veggies or a salad, and sometimes some type of bread or rolls.
Crystal,
Do you cook the meatballs before freezing them? I’m wondering how they hold up, either way…
Thanks!
Jessica
I’ve done both. If you want them to taste really fresh, I’d recommend not cooking them before freezing them.
They’re also good with brown rice or quinoa and green beans or some other veggie.
Looks like some great recipes this week. I may have to use a different recipe for a few days as I don’t want to bake during our sudden hot weather. I am sure I can find something to add to the freezer though. Thanks for the great plan for dinners for the freezer.
Thanks for all of the freezer recipes. Yesterday we made breakfast burritos, lunch burritos and pizza pockets…this plus all of the frozen homemade baby food means the freezer is full now! (In a condo, so no extra freezer.) 🙂