Monday, November 24, 2014

Freezer Meals For The Win!

So as many of you know, I am expecting a baby in 6 weeks! I'm SO excited and my head has been buzzing for months trying to make sure I get everything accomplished for when the baby arrives. If you know me at all, then you probably know that I am a planner and an organizer. I like to think and plan ahead, so that things run more smoothly. So when my sister-in-law told me that she wanted to help me make a bunch of freezer meals for when the baby comes, I was totally on board! She is (in my opinion) an expert on the freezer meal front and wanted to show me the ropes. (Her blog is http://shalahgale.wordpress.com if you want more details!) I was excited to minimize the cooking after our child is born and for the convenience that these freezer meals would provide, but I was also a little overwhelmed at the idea of making so many meals and preparing them for the freezer. Turns out, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought and dare I say it, I may even repeat the freezer meal process again in the near future!

First, I did a lot of research on the different meals I wanted to make. Turns out, you can freeze almost anything! I found some blogs with freezer recipes and I also found this link to be very helpful (http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2013/08/50-easy-freezer-meals.html). I am a huge fan of any Six Sisters Stuff recipe, so I was excited to see that they had freezer meal options as well.

Then, I compiled a list of 8 different meals and figured out which ingredients I needed. I already had a lot of it on hand which was very helpful! Always check your own fridge before going grocery shopping and you will be amazed how your shopping list dwindles. I chose to print out a list of the ingredients I needed, so that I could keep it all straight. It helped me to have a list in my hand that I could check off during my shopping trip.

Once I had my list of ingredients, I headed to the store. First, I went to Aldi to buy my produce. Then I went to Kroger for the rest of the ingredients. I took my husband with me and that was very helpful. We knocked out the shopping trip fairly quickly and it was nice to have an extra set of hands. I also picked up gallon size zip lock bags and disposable cooking trays to store the meals in. You will need foil, a sharpie and cling wrap if you don't already have that on hand.

The next day, my sister-in-law visited and we started our freezer meal adventure! We divided the recipes up and got to work. Many of the recipes only require assembly before they are ready for the freezer, while others require you to actually cook the meal first and then freeze it. I took on the cooking portion while Shalah began assembling the uncooked meals. With each meal we completed, we labeled the bag or cooking tray with the date, the name of the meal, and the cooking instructions. This system worked really well for us and we ended up knocking out 8 different recipes in about 4 hours total. I would definitely recommend having a partner help you out unless you want to be in the kitchen all day!

The preparation and time that went into making the freezer meals was definitely worth it! I ended up with almost 20 meals (each meal made at least 2 portions) and I only spent $130 total! At the end of the experience, I couldn't help but think I will be doing this again in the future. It's very cost-effective and will be extremely helpful for a new first-time working mommy.

The 8 recipes I ended up making were:

1. Chicken Pot Pie
2. Spaghetti Sauce
3. Slow Cooker Sweet and Tangy Meatballs
4. Meatloaf
5. Ham and Cheese Potato Casserole
6. Slow Cooker Black Bean and Corn Salsa Chicken
7. Taco Soup
8. Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

If you are interested in any of these recipes, please let me know and I would love to pass them on!

Here are some pictures from our freezer meal day! We had a blast!








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