Making Simple Freezer Meals

I took some time this weekend to make a few meals for the freezer.  We have been so busy lately during the week that once I get home from work, trying to make something healthy doesn't always seem possible with the limited time frame we have to work with. 

 

 

 So I made a few meals for the freezer to get us through the next few weeks!

 

- Chicken Salsa Pockets (Cooked Chicken, Salsa & Cheese wrapped in a Pizza Crust)

- Beef Taquitos (Beef, Beans, Rice, Salsa, Sour Cream & Cheese)

- Bean and Cheese Burritos (Refried Beans, Cheese & Salsa)

- Cooked Chicken Breasts (To use on Salads or in Casseroles)

 

I love having these quick things in my freezer to pull out and throw in the oven.  Even easier for me than ordering take out or a pizza (at least in the area where I live!). 

 

 

 

 

 

Menu Plan Monday: February 25, 2013*

I have declared the end of February and the entire month of March as:
"Use What I Have" months.

I have a freezer and pantry full of food, but don't often make sure to rotate as well as I should.  So this month, I am making an effort to use up a bunch of the stuff from both the freezer and the pantry to help clear out some room for new items that will be grown this summer.

I hope to get rid of a bunch of "freezer meals" that I already have stored (such as four containers of leftover chili, pre-made beef taco meat, homemade soups/stock and a large ham that may (or may not) be any good as it has been in the freezer well over a year.  We just don't eat that much ham.  Bacon, yes.  Ham, no.

So this week our dinner meals will look like this:

Sunday ~  Homemade Baked Beans (using dried beans from the pantry) - recipe to come!
                 Hamburger Patties (1/4 cow in the freezer)
                 Coleslaw

Monday ~ Hamburger Vegetable Soup (pre-made in the freezer)
                  Italian Breadsticks

Tuesday ~ Nachos & Fixings (taco meat in the frezer)

Wednesday ~ Mexican Stackers (using leftover taco meat from last night)
                       (hashbrowns, taco beef, scrambled eggs, cheese, black olives, sour cream & salsa)

Thursday ~ Scalloped Potatoes & Ham in the Crock Pot (package of ham in refrigerator)
                    Vegetable (from the freezer)

Friday ~ Homemade Pizza (shredded cheese from the freezer)
               Smoothies or Fresh Juice (juice to use up veggies/fruit from refrigerator)

Saturday ~ Curry Chicken
                   Brown Rice
                   Vegetable (from freezer)

Hopefully, after a couple weeks of focusing on using up what we have, our cupboards will start to look bare and I can start with buying on sale again to re-stock. 

This menu plan is shared at Org Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.  Head over to find lots of inspiration for your menu planning needs! 

Menu Plan Monday: February 4, 2013*

Do you know how much a Mom of a three year old and 8 month old can get done in a couple hours when the children go to bed at 6:30 on Sunday night?  A LOT.  Suffice it to say I feel like I can start my work week on a good note.  It always feels good to me when I can BREATHE.

One of the ways I help myself continue to breathe during the week is having a menu plan to work from.  All ingredients on hand and ready to go.  Makes getting dinner on the table after a long day so much easier.

This week we are planning on having:

Breakfasts

• Eggs on homemade bread, Fresh Juice
• Oatmeal (Hubby's Favorite), Orange Juice
• Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Fresh Fruit, Milk
• Plain Yogurt with Granola, Fresh Fruit, Green Juice

Lunches

• Leftovers
• Green Salads

Snacks

• Oatmeal
• Green Smoothies
• Cheese, Almonds, Carrot Sticks
• Fresh Juice
• Wine (okay this one is just for me)

Dinners

• Harvest Soup, Homemade Breadsticks (new concoction, Hubby said it tasted earthy, I took it as a compliment as it was full of lentils, wild rice, brown rice, great northern beans and spicy sausage)
• Chicken Pesto Pasta with Vegetables and Pine Nuts, Beets (Pesto from freezer - made in the summer when abundance of arugula was in our CSA box)
• Nachos and Fixings
• Waffles (Freezer) and Bacon, Fresh Fruit
• Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Tomatoes, Tomato/Garlic/Bacon Soup, Pickles
• Spinach & Chevre Pizza, Fresh Juice

This post is linked to Org Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.  Check out the hundreds of menus linked there for great inspiration to spruce up your menus!

Miscellaneous Monday

Another Monday and it is already October.  Where has this year gone???

I am looking forward to this weekend in the woods.  It helps that an extra day off from work doesn't hurt too!  Eddie has his four month well baby visit on Thursday so I am excited to see how he is progressing.  I don't read books on where he should be developmentally because I don't need that kind of stress, so I simply use the appointments to make sure he is on track with milestones.  Of course I think he is a genius baby! 

I did get a lot accomplished this weekend including a great visit with my Mom and Great Grandma on Saturday.  My house is almost clean, the laundry is never ending (I think I did close to 10 loads this weekend and still didn't get it all done) and I feel fairly refreshed!

As a note to myself, here is the dinner menu plan for Monday through Thursday:

Mon:  Coconut Chicken Soup, Green Salad with Balsamic
Tue: Miso Chicken Wraps (Grandma Connie over for Dinner)
Wed: Chinese Chicken Salad (to use up remainder of head of cabbage...) Bill's Bowling Night
Thurs: Scalloped Potatoes and Ham (Crock Pot), Broccoli (Eat before leaving for the Woods)

I got the basement fairly clean on Sunday morning (still need to clean the shower and take apart the dryer and vacuum out the lint that has collected inside it and the exhaust line) and daydreamed about purchasing my new washer and dryer.  The one I want is HUGE and could do almost two times as much in one load as I can currently do (current washer overflows when I fill it all the way) so it would be so nice to be able to do less loads per week! 

We found Libby five new pairs of shoes this weekend from my cousin's garage sale!  My Aunt JoAnn purchased them for her as an early birthday present so she is all set for winter now!  (We even found one really cute pair for Eddie too)  Plus Libby absolutely loves one of the pink pairs of shoes.  Now she has a dancing dress AND dancing shoes!  So cute!

JoAnn also gave me my birthday present early (I am her God-Daughter so she always gives me gifts at my birthday and Christmas, even though I tell her it is not necessary).  She always comes up with the coolest ideas for gifts.  This year I got fresh lettuce greens with a whole bunch of assorted salad toppers and dressing.  She said that one of these nights her garden is going to have a hard freeze, so she wanted to bless me with some fresh greens before that happened!  I also walked away with a package of pork chops, pint of vegetable soup, half pint of jalapeno jelly and some dried lavender and homemade soap.  She calls her house the "Plantation" because she has so many gardens and spends so much time preserving her harvest.  It is really quite the set up and she has an abundance of great produce to share.  Her son Chris lives with her and helps out a lot so it isn't just her doing all the work.  Chris is really into "saving the world" (as JoAnn calls it) and is the king of re purposing and reusing things.  Even their raised garden beds are made from branches and fallen trees.  It is very cool.

The best part about the whole weekend?  Playing in the leaves with Libby at Great Grandma's house.   She loved it (and so did I)!

Making the Effort to Get Heathy through Food

Because of our illnesses not letting up, I am making more of an effort to make sure the foods we put into our bodies are nourishing, whole foods that can help us to heal instead of hinder those efforts.  With that in mind, here is what I am planning on making for us to eat this week.  Hopefully all will go well and these foods will help our bodies (and keep William's healthy)!

Breakfasts
Oatmeal
Plain Yogurt with Fresh Strawberries or Blueberries
Green Smoothies (Frozen Fruit, Spinach, Water, Ground Flax Seeds or Chia Seeds)

Lunches
Green Salads with Chicken and Vegetables
Snack Platter (Cheese, Fruit, Raw Veggies, Almonds)
Leftovers

Dinners
BLT Sandwiches, Carrot Sticks
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken a la King over Biscuits, Broccoli
Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Vegetables, Green Beans
Beef Tacos or Taco Salad & Fixings (I am craving taco salads in the worst way!  I ate three last weekend...)
Leftovers
Homemade Pizza (Spinach & Goat Cheese is the plan)

Snacks
Cheese, Carrot Sticks, Almonds
Guacamole & Chips
Apples with Peanut Butter
Dark Chocolate (small piece after dinner)

Beverages
Water, Water and more Water!!!
Orange Juice (Libby and Bill only)
Fresh Juice (I have the following to juice: apples, oranges, carrots, ginger, pears, grapefruit, lemons, limes)
Green Smoothies
Protein Shakes

Menu Plan: October 10, 2011

This week will be fairly simple meals as most of the items already have something prepared for them.  I made the quinoa yesterday, the beef for the tacos, stackers and pizza was browned last week and frozen and the Wild Rice Soup is already completed and in the freezer from the last time I made it.  It sure makes it easy when I can rely on pre-made items during the week.  It makes me feel even better if those items are healthy pre-made items that I know exactly what is in them!  Eat well = Feel well!

Dinners
Monday: Quinoa with Pine Nuts and Kalamata Olives
Tuesday: Beef Tacos
Wednesday: Mexican Stackers
Thursday: Wild Rice Soup and Sandwiches
Friday: Taco Pizza
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Beef Chili

Lunches
Leftovers
Sandwiches & Vegetables

Breakfasts
Eggs & Toast
Green Smoothies
Oatmeal with Fruit

Menu Plan Monday: January 24, 2011

Make sure to check out all the great menus at Org Junkie's Menu Plan Monday!
This will be our last weekly meal plan for a few months as I am going back to monthly planning for February and March.  More on that next week in addition to my plans for our baking day marathon!  It sure makes weeknights easier for this busy family to have some pre-made meals in the freezer to rely on.  Plus, I know that they are healthier than the pre-made meals you can buy at the store.  And these days, trying to get anything other than bread or crackers into Elizabeth is exhausting so having these meals to rely on is saving this Mommy's sanity!

Breakfasts
Peanut Butter on Whole Wheat Toast
Fried Eggs on Whole Wheat Toast
English Muffin Sandwiches (Bacon, Eggs, Cheese & Hot Sauce)
Alpine Breakfast (Sausage, Pancakes or Waffles, Eggs, Hash browns, Bacon)

Lunches
Leftovers from Dinner
Salami & Ham Sandwiches with Lettuce & Tomatoes, Carrot Sticks

Dinners
Tuna Melts with Tomato Slices & Cheddar Cheese, Homemade Baked French Fries, Cooked Carrots
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, Biscuits
Meatloaf, Sauteed Vegetable Medley, Baked Potatoes
Spinach Lasagna, Lettuce Salad
Homemade Pizza, Lettuce Salad
Enchilada Casserole (Beans, Rice, Chicken, Cheese), Lettuce Salad
Quinoa Chicken Stew, Biscuits

I did end up making 3 quarts of chicken stock on Saturday.  I have tried all the tricks to get it to gel, but no luck.  At least it still tastes really good!  I will have to tweak the recipe again next time.  For my $3.50 chicken (Manager's Special at the grocery store, already cut up) I got enough for 3 meals of chicken meat, and 3 pots of soup.  Last time I bought a quart of a good quality chicken stock at the store I paid almost $3.50!  This may have to become a regular purchase for us.

This week I also need to bake a few loaves of bread to put in the freezer and get planning for the baking day.  We also are out of treats at home, so maybe something with a little sugar will be making its way into the oven.

Menu Plan Monday: 01/17/11



 It sure has been a long time since I have posted a weekly menu plan.  But I know that I need to get back into the habit of making one and sticking with it.  This week our freezer (the one underneath our refrigerator) broke, so we are eating up a lot of the pre-made items from there.  Especially since all of them wouldn't fit in our small chest freezer! 

Breakfasts
Fried Eggs, Whole Wheat Bread
Cinnamon Bread, Greek Yogurt
Scrambled Eggs, Hash browns, Turkey Sausage
Pancakes, Eggs, Turkey Sausage
Cold Cereal & Milk

Lunches
Turkey, Ham and/or Salami Sandwiches on Whole Wheat Bread with Cheddar, Lettuce and Tomato
Beef Stew and Biscuits
Spicy Lentil Soup and Biscuits
Southwestern Lettuce Salad with Chicken

Dinners
Vegetarian Crust less Quiche (hash browns, vegetables, cheese, eggs)
Beef Chili with Cheddar, Sour Cream and Onions, Rosemary Olive Oil Bread
Swedish Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes with Sour Cream Gravy, Green Beans
Beef Lasagna, Lettuce Salad or Green Beans
Homemade Pizza
Tator-Tot Hot dish
Pork Tenderloin, Baked Potatoes, Mixed Vegetables sauteed with butter

I also baked a chicken this past weekend and will need to incorporate that into our meals somehow (or take the meat off the bone and freeze it for future soup) as I plan to make chicken stock next weekend with the bones. 

Make sure you check out I'm An Organizing Junkie for this week's great meal planning ideas!