Freezer Friendly Meals and Freezer Cooking Tips

This time of year I am always looking for ways to make dinnertime easier.  With our Fall sports getting ready to gear back up and with school on the horizon, it is a busy time for many families–including my own.  One of the ways I like to make dinner easier is to plan ahead and take advantage of these easy freezer cooking tips.

How many of you are familiar with Freezer Cooking or Batch cooking? How many of you actually do it? Freezer cooking is when you prepare a meal and then freeze it to eat at a later date.  Lots of moms do freezer cooking where you cook lots of meals all in one day and then freeze them, but lets be honest, I don’t have time to give up a whole day just to cook meals, no matter how easy it makes my life later that month.  Instead, I do my freezer cooking a different way so that it doesn’t take me the entire day.

Freezer Cooking Tips

Sometimes I do plan ahead and make a few easy meals that I know my family loves and freeze them but more often than not I just make extras when cooking and then freeze the extras.

For instance, I do this every time I make meatballs.  Instead of just making enough for one dinner I make between 3 and 1o lbs at a time.  I cook them as usual and then just let them cool and then pack them away in Ziploc freezer bags.

I also make batches of sauce and freeze them the same way.  That way when I need a quick and easy dinner I just need to pull the meatballs and sauce out of the freezer and we have a great, homemade meal in minutes!

• Make Ahead Freezer Meals
• Baked Lasagna
• 30 Minute Chili
• Meatballs
• Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup–freeze everything but the noodles.  Add noodles when reheating.
• Chicken Marsala–just follow the recipe to the point where you put the chicken in the oven.  At that point you can just freeze and when you are ready to eat it defrost and bake.

I do this for lots of meals, including breakfast.  For instance I pre-make muffins and breakfast burritos so I always have a healthy and quick breakfast on hand.

Make Ahead Breakfast Meals

• Banana Bread
• Banana Blueberry Bread
• Breakfast Burritos
• Blueberry Muffins
• Low Carb Egg Quiche

Does this sound overwhelming? It truly isn’t and once you get the hang of making extras or prepping a few meals in advance you will love the convenience of having breakfast, lunch of dinner at your fingertips every day. Freezer cooking is great because you can buy items when they are on sale or buy large quantities and make multiple dinners.  It cuts down on leftover waste as well and  on those busy nights where you would be tempted to swing through the drive through or grab dinner on the go you won’t have to because you have a meal in the freezer.

Looking to get started with Freezer cooking? These great books offer you some useful tips and great recipes:  Don’t Panic – Dinner’s in the Freezer: Great-Tasting Meals You Can Make Ahead and Once-A-Month Cooking Family Favorites: More Great Recipes That Save You Time and Money from the Inventors of the Ultimate Do-Ahead Dinnertime Method.

How about you? Do any of you do freezer cooking? Does it help you save money too?

Baked Meatball Recipe

Breakfast Burritos

Healthy Blueberry Muffins recipe