I wish I would've taken pictures, but once your in it, you are in deep. And boy was it messy. My kitchen could not handle that much food at one time, so I went to my Mom's. It is so nice to have a huge kitchen and another set of hands to help you. By the end, my feet were killing me. My mom fed me lunch and sent me home with all of the dishes left in her care. She seriously is the best.
I price matched grown beef earlier this week, 90/10 for $1.99 a pound (I got 4 pounds) and bought a huge roast that I also price matched for $2.99 a pound. I got lucky when I went shopping this morning and Winco had chicken breasts for $1.79 a pound. Everything else, I bought at regular prices. I was super impressed that I only spent $100, and I got 25 meals out of it all.
I used disposable 8x8 pans that I found at Winco, 3 for $.89, and freezer bags.
Meal #1 Hales Family Cheater Lasagna (I made 2 of these)
This is my go to meal for babies, neighbors, and when I need something quick and easy.
1 lb ground beef, browned with 1/2 an onion
Spaghetti sauce of your choice
1 container sour cream
1 container cottage cheese
Garlic salt
Regular size package of egg noodles
Shredded cheese
Chop up your onion, and cook with your ground beef. I always rinse my meat when it's finished, then add spaghetti sauce to your meet. Boil your egg noodles. When the noodles are finished, add in sour cream and cottage cheese. I used about 3/4 of each container, but you can use more or less. I filled 2 8x8 pans. Layer noodles, meat, noodles, and then sprinkle cheese on top. If you aren't freezing, bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Meal #2 Shepherds Pie (From this recipe I got 2 dinners)
The next few recipes came from Six Sisters' Stuff. These were all really easy! This link comes with a shopping list for all of the ingredients if you like all 8 recipes. I just picked the ones that I thought were best for Bob and I.
Meal #3 Black Bean Taco Soup (Split this recipe into 2 freezer bags)
Meal #4 Chicken Broccoli Alfredo (1 dinner)
Meal #5 Chicken Cacciatore (1 dinner)
Meal #4 Cilantro Lime Chicken w/ black beans and corn (1 dinner)
This one I am super excited for. While my mom was preparing it, we both wanted to have it for lunch.
Meal #5 Ham & Potato bake (1 recipe made 2 dinners)
This came from my Mom's stash of recipes. A long time ago she went to a presentation on making freezer meals, and this was one that looked easy enough... haha! (I left the recipe at my Mom's so I am just guessing on sizes.)
32oz bag of hash browns
1 package of cream cheese
2 regular size cans of cream of celery
1.5 cups of cubed ham
1 cup of cheese
Mix softened cream cheese with the cream of celery, add in ham and cheese. Break up hash browns and mix. I put this in two 8x8 pans.
Meal #6 Baked Penne with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Recipe made 3 dinners)
This one might be a new favorite!!! My mom did all of the work on this one and after we did a little taste testing. The sauce was so good, I don't know anything better than pasta with sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms. *** We used 1% milk for 5 of the cups and had left over cream from another recipe so used that for the 6th cup. (Recipe calls for 6 cups of whole milk.)
My friend Becca did a bunch of freezer meals a while back and posted them on her blog. When she reminded me of them, I asked for her favorites, and those were the ones I made. I'll post the recipes below, because it's kind of small print on her blog.
Meal #7 Teriyaki Chicken (Divided this recipe into 2 freezer bags)
Teriyaki Chicken
4 chicken breasts
1 red onion chopped
1 bag of baby carrots cut in
½
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans of pineapple, drained
salt & pepper
½ cup teriyaki sauce
Add ½ cup sauce and cook on low
for 8 or high for 4, serve with brown rice
Meal #8 Pulled BBQ Chicken (Divided this recipe into 2 freezer bags)
Pulled BBQ Chicken
6 chicken breasts (I used shredded chicken that we had cooked in the crock pot)
2 green bell peppers chopped
finely
1 red bell pepper
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
4 cups of BBQ sauce
Cook on low for 8 hours and
serve on a bun
Meal #9 White Chicken Chili (Divided this recipe into 3 freezer bags)
I love Our Best Bites! This is one of my favorite soups. I left out the cilantro and will add when I reheat.
Meal #10 Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas (2 pans were made with this recipe)
These are also a family favorite. They are super easy to make too.
Meal #11 Roast (2 dinners from 1 roast, I think it was about 4 pounds)
Roast, carrots, onion all in a ziplock that I will throw in the crock pot.
If you have any questions, let me know.
At least I know we won't be starving for a while after the baby comes! It makes me feel better knowing that not all of our dinners will be cereal and sandwiches.