"Domestic Goddess" Part 2: Attempt at Freezer Meals!

 

I am pretty proud of myself. I set a goal of 25 freezer meals to make before baby gets here and I officially have 10 of them done. Lets face it once my mom and mom in law leave I am not going to want to be cooking every night. I need easy peasy things that are kinda/sorta healthy (ok some are not at all but they will nourish a new mama and family). I will post the links for the first 5 that I've made and let you know what I did. I am not good at taking step by step pictures so there won't be many... :)

The first EIGHT meals I put together I just did in one big swoop a loop (some of these meals were posted in Part 1 of the "Domestic Goddess" series)

Tater Tot Casserole

Easy Fried Rice (I used ex lean ground beef)

Chicken Pot Pie

Honey Lime Chicken (this one is healthy yay I subbed agave for the honey)

I made two of each of the above meals. Then I decided to use one of the fried rices for dinner that night, and it was really good. We will see how it tastes when it's been frozen though (fingers crossed) so I had seven freezer meals. After reading all the recipes I checked what I already had to use. I had most of the meat I needed already so I just needed to get the other ingredients. I went to the dollar store to get the foil pans for the casserole and also bought freezer bags there which I will NEVER do again (the freezer bags) they were so flimsy I had to double up.

 

and I forgot to put a bunch of the other stuff I used out...FAILb nb

STEPS:

1. Check your cabinets and see what you have and what you need.
2. Make a grocery list and go shopping (duh)
3. When you're ready to assemble them get everything out (I put frozen stuff and meat back in the freezer/fridge until I needed it.) For the meals in bags label and write instructions if needed first before filling (also include date).
4. Go over your recipes and start. I started with browning the ex lean ground beef which I needed for two of the recipes. The night before I roasted the chicken breasts in the oven for the pot pies (then I shredded the next day). I also made the rice for the fried rice the night before.
5. Once all the meat/rice was prepared I started to put everything together. I started with the honey lime chicken since it was the easiest to put together. Then I did the tater tot casserole, then the fried rice and lastly the pot pies.
6. Make sure you get the air out of the bags so they don't freezer burn. Also the pans for the casseroles I wrapped with foil all around three times. Then labeled them.
7. These are good for about 3 months in the freezer. I have a chest/deep freezer in the garage that I put them in.

The next three meals I did today. I made a total of four but used one for dinner. These are called "dump meals." You basically just put all the ingredients in a freezer bag and voila! These took me about 15 minutes score!

French Onion Chicken

Cranberry Chicken

We had the french onion chicken for dinner and it was good! I really don't know how helpful this post was but I am feeling more confident with getting more meals put together before the big day! Do you all have any freezer friendly meals you'd like to share? Please let me know!!

Also, I won't be posting much the rest of the week. I may do a link up on Friday but we are going out of town for the 4th! Leaving tomorrow! So I hope everyone has a fantastic/fabulous/crazy Fourth of July! <3

 

 

 

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Domestic Goddess Part 1: Meal Planning

A couple weeks ago I mentioned that I would write a post about some easy dinners that I make. Well here it is finally! I kept putting it off until it came to the dreaded time to meal plan so I thought I would write a post and meal plan at the same time (score!) A lot of these I haven't made and will let you know. I'm trying them out because they are also freezer meals that I want to try first.

Let me tell you this whole stay at home mom who meal plans and makes freezer meals is completely foreign to me. I never thought I would be doing this! Serisouly, I would eat cereal every night for dinner if I could get away with it. But it makes life a lot easier if I have things planned out and freezer meals made ahead (I want to have like 25 stocked up) for after baby. So here we go I'm going to try this whole "domestic goddess" stuff out and let you know how it goes!! So here is the first part of my domestic goddess mini series I'm doing.

 

A lot of people use a calendar to meal plan like this meal on this night and so on. I've decided I'm just going to make a list of 10-12 meals per grocery shopping period (twice a month) and can choose from that list each day depending on how we feel. I will make my grocery list based off of these meals so I will always know that I have every ingredient I need. I don't have a meal for every night because I know we will probably go out or get take out once and I will make our favorite chicken and brown rice (just marinated chicken breast baked, brown rice and veggies) a few times. Also im sure we will grill steaks and burgers a couple nights. Now I realize there is a lot of chicken recipes on this list but that's what we like to eat in the summer.

My lovely grocery list :)

 

Spicy Sausage Pasta

Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Rice

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken (skinny taste)

This chicken and make brown rice on the side

Layered Enchilada Casserole

Brown Fried Rice (beef)

Cafe Rio Pulled Pork Salads

Honey Lime Chicken

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken/pesto stuffed shells

Cranberry Chicken

Healthy turkey meat loaf muffins

It's fairly easy to make most of these recipes healthier. You can sub plain Greek yogurt for sour cream (I usually do half and half.) I like to use whole grain brown rice it's much healthier for you, or whole wheat pasta. Also, I use corn tortilla's instead of flour.

I hope this helps with meal planning. I know I hate deciding what to cook for dinner! And I like things that are easy peasy, which all of the above recipes are...yee haw!!

Stay tuned tomorrow for a not so mommish post Wedding link up with the ultra fabulous Holly and Melanie!

 

 

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