Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Do you have any suggestions?

Yes, I have blogged three times today. No, I am not ashamed!

Today I've been putting together some recipes that freeze well so I can make a bunch of meals before the new little guy makes his entrance into the world. I think in about a month I'll make the meals, but I wanted to start making a list now so I can slowly stock up on the non-perishable food items from the recipes so I'm not buying it all at once.

So, do any of you have good recipes of casseroles or other meals that freeze well, that are relatively cheap, and will feed a family for a few meals? I would appreciate any advice. I don't freeze meals very often, so I'm not experienced in the area! You don't even have to leave a specific recipe, I'll look it up if I have to! :)

Thanks!

10 comments:

Kim said...

Frozen pre-made meals, brilliant. I will have to write that down for things to do when I am pregnant. I love this homemade chicken pot pie recipe. It makes 2, and has reheating instructions at the bottom. www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Chicken-Potpie-3

If you need to make it quicker use frozen mixed veggies and canned chicken. To make it cheaper make your own pie crust. I hope this helps and the link works. This is one of my favorite dinners.

Cambrienelson said...

You can freeze Lasagna and spagetti (spagetti with the sauce on it). Also, meats that are in a sauce freeze pretty well. I like to cook a pork roast and then put bbq sauce on it and freeze it (it is good for sandwiches or quesadillas). Cooked hambergur is quick and easy for things like taco salad.
I froze like 5 months worth of dinners for steve when I found out I was pregnant with #2. Good luck!

David and Sarah said...

I don't know you and you don't know me. I'm really good friends with Jenni Bell, and being bored one day came across your blog. I love your sweet little family, you are down to earth. Its a nice change from most blogs I read. Anyway, this recipe is so yummy and lasts forever. You take ground beef put it in a pan Then mix up gravy and combine the two. Next you put mashed potatoes on top of that and then some cheese. Its very yummy and super filling! My mum always used her Sunday dinner left overs to make this.

Julie said...

Something that I used frequently when I was working were the Great Value frozen lasagnas at Walmart. They're relatively cheap and you can buy them in two sizes, so the smaller one would be perfect for your family. I think it's about 5 or 6 dollars. I can't make homeade lasagna cheaper than that, they're pretty good, comparable to the Stouffers, but almost half the price.

Steph said...

I hear ya! I'm all about freezing ahead of time as well. Too bad I could only fit about three meals before I filled both my little freezers. (I shop at costco so the rest of the space is taken up by giant bags of chicken and berries and whatnot).

Creamy chicken enchiladas are great and really easy. Cook up one or two chicken breasts. Combine one can of cream of chicken soup, half a carton of sour cream and one small can of diced green chilis (drained), and the chopped cooked chicken. Alternate layers of tortillas, chicken mixture and grated cheese, ending with cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, and obviously more if it's frozen.

Gourley said...

There is a book called Girlfriends on the Go that I got. You can get it on Deseret Book online or whatever. It's $20 but such a good buy!!! EVERY recipe in there is for freezing and every one is delicious!
One that is easy is Salsa chicken. Just put 4 oz cream cheese, 12 oz of salsa and like 3 or 4 chicken breasts (depends how big) and cook it in the crock pot on low for 8 hours and put it in tortilla shells. Easy to freeze and warms up in the microwave and a little different taste from usual enchilada
as and other stuff like that!!

If you want more seriously call me.
I'll give ya more- I only have that from memory! Hope you guys are doing so good! I'm excited for the new little guy!

Camille and Paul said...

I actually just tried a recipe this week that is almost exactly like the one that Amy told you about. I just did 4 (frozen chicken breasts), a jar of mild salsa, and 1/4 C of brown sugar. Cook on low for 4-5 hours, towards the end of the cooking, with about an hour left, shred the chicken with two forks.

I used this chicken to make Tacos, and also used it the next day to top a salad with the dressing you can buy at Costco...it is a yummy vinaigrette made in Utah. I am sure any dressing you like would work. You can also wrap it up into tortillas and make enchiladas using the sauce from the crock pot to drizzle over the top, pop in the oven at 350 for 10-15 minutes with cheese melted over the top.


Looks like you have a lot of Mexican type foods to choose from...I will try to think of some others that would be good! ;)

David and Kimber Strasser said...

I don't know you but me and my husband David were friends with Benji at BYU-I a few years ago. I think your family is so cute. Anyways, I read your post about freezing meals and I have an excellent book that is a good buy if you are serious about freezing meals. It is based on cooking one day and eating for a month, but it gives you recipes and instructions and everything you need to know to alter it to how you want to do things, like you can do a week worth of meals, two weeks or whatever. I used a few recipes before I had my #3 baby. It is a great book. I keep meaning to get back into it too, but haven't quite yet. Anyways you can find out more about this book and buy it the cheapest on the following: http://product.half.ebay.com/_W0QQprZ1138280QQcpidZ2436126 If you have any questions ask Benji how to contact us and good luck; I hope that helps.

Mardi and Jeremey said...

I heard Shepards Pie freezes well. I have the regular recipe, but I am sure if you freeze before you bake it, you just need to bake it longer. You could ever half the recipe for your family.

Ingredients:
5-6 medium potatoes
2 pounds ground beef
2- 12 oz cans and green beans (drained) or equal amount of fresh cooked green beans
2- 8 oz cans (the small ones) of tomato sauce
Graded cheese to cover the top of the casserole

Directions:
Cook, mash and season the potatoes (recommended seasonings milk,
whipping cream, butter, salt)
Cook and season the ground beef (recommended seasonings onion powder,
garlic salt or powder and pepper)

In a 9x13 casserole dish layer each ingredient. Ground beef to cover
the bottom, tomato sauce over the beef, then the green beans, top off
with the mashed potatoes. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees adding the
graded cheese after the first 20 minutes (adding it too early can burn
the cheese).

Oh! and Meatloaf would work too!

Janae Moss said...

Cafe Rio :)