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rachelflower

rachelflower

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Hey all...most of you know that baby #2 is going to arrive in the next couple of weeks...and my nesting instinct is in full gear!!!

My friend Monica and I are interested in making some freezer meals (hers...just for the convenience of her family of six; me...because I know I have a feeling that I won't have enough energy to cook for my family of three). I've been doing some online research and ordered some books from my library. So far I'm planning to make the following meals and freeze:
-my mom's sloppy joe recipe (the best)
-my mom's Swedish meatball recipe (my favorite meal)
-Firehouse white bean turkey chili
-lasagna
-meatballs/sauce for spaghetti and meatballs

Looking for other options...so calling on my CW friends to advise me. Links or copies of recipes you cook that freeze well would be greatly appreciated! :help2:
 
the hot turkey

left over turkey can of cream of mushroom, 1 can cream of celery, slow cooker it and it freezes very well.
Also just think of the ready made frozen meals.... almost anything can be cooked and frozen. Good luck.
 
I think if you take time to marinate and grill chicken breasts and or steak then freeze it will help you A LOT--along with browning plain ground beef and seasoning some as well
 
CHICKEN POT PIE

1 package of frozen peas and carrots
cut up potatoes (optional)
1/3 cup of butter or stick margarine
1/3 cup of flour
1/3 cup chopped onion
pepper and salt to taste
1 cup of heavy cream
2 cans of chicken broth (you will use 1 3/4 cups)
cut up chicken
Pie crusts (they are by the biscuits, cookies, bread sticks) They come in a package with two

1.) Poach chicken breasts in the chicken broth (boil the chicken ), time on this depends

2.) Remove chicken and cut it up, don't throw out the chicken broth you will use it in step 3

3.) Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour, onion, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly until the mixture is bubbly, then remove from heat. Stir in the 1 3/4 cups of broth (just measure it out from when you boiled the chicken) and cream. Bring it to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute.

3.) Stir in chicken, peas/carrots, potatoes

4.) Heat oven to 425

5.) Put pastry into pie pan, then pour the pot pie mixture into the pie pan

6.) Place the remaining pie crust over the pot pie mixture and pinch the edges together. I put foil around the edges because they tend to burn.

7.) Bake about 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Let it cool, cover it in saran wrap and then aluminum foil, then freeze. I actually double this recipe and make 3 pies, because there is a lot of "filling".
 
Pulled pork...no real recipe...cook a pork roast...let it cool...shred it...you can freeze it that way, or simmer it a while with BBQ sauce and then freeze.
 
Poppyseed Chicken
3 cooked boneless chicken breast halves (I just poach them in water for about 15 minutes)
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 carton of sour cream
I stick butter (don't use margarine)
1 tube ritz crackers, crushed
1 Tablespoon poppy seeds
1 package Uncle Ben's Ready Rice (Family Size)
(I use reduced fat soup, crackers and sour cream)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dice chicken and place in the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish. Mix soup and sour cream, top the chicken with the soup mixture. Microwave rice and mix in with chicken and soup. Melt butter and combine with Ritz crackers and poppy seeds. Top the chicken with cracker mixture. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Also reheats well after freezing.
 
You already have lasagna and meatballs, which it what I would suggest, plus others have already suggested precooking meat and freezing that.

Shepard's pie is another great one - don't have the recipe handy, but if you make it in tin pie plates you also don't have to do any dishes after you reheat in the oven. You have your meat, vegetables and starch all in one dish.
 
I freeze just about EVERYTHING and have not really had any problems. Soup is great...make a big old pot, freeze in a few bags.
 
What I did for a family reunion where there was going to be about 30 of us. I made chicken ahead of time in crockpot and shredded the pieces and took out the skin, bones etc and froze this in freezer bags.(about 1 1/2 cup of chicken per bag or 2 cups if you like a lot of meat).
Chicken Casserole
2 cups of instant rice (uncooked)
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 can of milk (use empty soup can) 2 cans of milk if you use 2 full cups of chicken
1 bag of shredded mild cheddar cheese 8 oz.

Put in a 13 x 9 rectangle pan on 400 for 1/2 hour or until cheese is browned a little bit. You are basically just heating everything up. Be sure to take chicken out of freezer the night before.
Very easy and everyone likes this in my house. Hope that helps
 
Queen4 said:
What I did for a family reunion where there was going to be about 30 of us. I made chicken ahead of time in crockpot and shredded the pieces and took out the skin, bones etc and froze this in freezer bags.(about 1 1/2 cup of chicken per bag or 2 cups if you like a lot of meat).
Chicken Casserole
2 cups of instant rice
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 can of milk (use empty soup can) 2 cans of milk if you use 2 full cups of chicken
1 bag of shredded mild cheddar cheese 8 oz.

Put in a 13 x 9 rectangle pan on 400 for 1/2 hour or until cheese is browned a little bit. You are basically just heating everything up. Be sure to take chicken out of freezer the night before.
Very easy and everyone likes this in my house. Hope that helps
Click to expand...

That sound good....just making sure....instant rice goes in uncooked or cooked.
 
Slow cooker italian beef freezes great, as well as meatloaf. Good luck! I think Money Saving Mom blogged about this from time to time - might want to see if you can find any good info at that site in the archives.
 
toger said:
Pulled pork...no real recipe...cook a pork roast...let it cool...shred it...you can freeze it that way, or simmer it a while with BBQ sauce and then freeze.
Click to expand...

Toger I've had a taste for bbq pulled pork for days now and you just put me over the edge! :drool:
 
rachelflower said:
Hey all...most of you know that baby #2 is going to arrive in the next couple of weeks...and my nesting instinct is in full gear!!!

My friend Monica and I are interested in making some freezer meals (hers...just for the convenience of her family of six; me...because I know I have a feeling that I won't have enough energy to cook for my family of three). I've been doing some online research and ordered some books from my library. So far I'm planning to make the following meals and freeze:
-my mom's sloppy joe recipe (the best)
-my mom's Swedish meatball recipe (my favorite meal)
-Firehouse white bean turkey chili
-lasagna
-meatballs/sauce for spaghetti and meatballs

Looking for other options...so calling on my CW friends to advise me. Links or copies of recipes you cook that freeze well would be greatly appreciated! :help2:
Click to expand...
You are in the same boat I am, due next Thursday!! We just did the same thing.

Lasagna

Taco hot dish - 1lb cooked beef, 1 16oz bottle of taco sauce, cooked rotini noodles...cook at 350 I believe for like 30-45 min. Freeze. Then when going to eat crush tortilla chip on top and sprinkle shredded cz on top and bake again to re-heat

Tator Tot hot dish - 1lb cooked beef with 1/2 cup cooked onions, one can of french style green beans layered on top of beef mix, frozen tator tops on top of green beans, then can of watered down mushroom soup with *beef grease (*optional) poured on top of the tator tots. Bake at 350 for 30-45 min as well. Freeze.

My mom is also making a big pot of her wild rice soup and freezing it for us. And then she decided to make us hot beef for sandwiches to freeze as well.

Hope those ideas help a bit. Don't know where I'm going to put all this frozen food as we only have one fzr chest and it's full of deals! :)
 
Jenerben said:
Taco hot dish
Tator Tot hot dish
Click to expand...

Are you from WI or MN? That's the only place I've ever heard the term "hot dish"...although I did start saying it after I spent a summer with my Auntie Clara in Marshfield...
 
I would agree that almost any meal freezes well. I freeze a lot of spaghetti sauce. The only thing I think I ever remember freezing that didn't turn out well was stuffed green peppers. I didn't like the texture of the peppers.
 
toger said:
Are you from WI or MN? That's the only place I've ever heard the term "hot dish"...although I did start saying it after I spent a summer with my Auntie Clara in Marshfield...
Click to expand...
MN, Mankato to be exact! LMAO!!!
 
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