So I finally jumped on the freezer cooking bandwagon. I’ve done freezer cooking before, but not this many meals at once. I tried to keep things as simple and frugal (I spent around $50) as possible. I feel so accomplished knowing I have a freezer full of meals to use over the next few weeks. So here are the recipes for the 12 easy freezer meals that I made in 2 hours:
Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup (make recipe x 4)
Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken (make recipe x 2)
Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken & Veggies (make recipe x 1 and split into two bags)
Creamy Baked Pasta (make recipe x 2)
Chili Mac Casserole (make recipe x 2)
I’m pretty picky when it comes to slow cooker and freezer meals. Normally, it seems like they’re all centered around expensive meats that you still have to add side dishes to make a meal, so I picked two meatless casseroles and for the rest I used frozen chicken breasts (do not thaw!). Here’s a picture of everything before I got started. As you can probably tell I bought almost everything from Aldi and used some things (potatoes, peppers and corn) from my garden.
*I just want to add that everyone has access to a different set of resources so do the best you can with what you have! Also, I was able to do this in 2 hours because I’m used to making most of these recipes, but if they’re new to you then it may take a bit longer the first time.
The only pre-cooking required for the recipes that I chose was boiling the noodles. So I put the water on while I was gathering all of my ingredients and labeling my freezer bags. Once I got everything together, I chopped my onions and put the Chicken Taco Soup and Teriyaki Chicken bags together.
Then, I chopped the veggies for the BBQ Chicken & Veggies and made those bags. Then I drained the noodles and put the Creamy Baked Pasta and Chili Mac Casseroles together. PHEW. Here are the recipes that I used:
Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken and Veggies (makes 2 meals)
2 green peppers, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
3 onions chopped
6 red potatoes, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
4 frozen chicken breasts
1 15 oz. can of tomato sauce
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 bottle of BBQ sauce
(Split ingredients into two bags and freeze)
Cook in slow cooker on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours
(Recipe from here.)
Teriyaki Chicken (make recipe x 2)
3 frozen chicken breasts
1 cup Teriyaki sauce
1 cup water
2/3 cup brown sugar
3 cloves of garlic
Cook on low for 4-6 hours.
Serve over rice.
(Recipe from here.)
*This recipe ended up being pretty runny because I reduced the amount of chicken from the original recipe. So I added cooked rice and veggies after it was done to make it a complete one bowl meal. These extra ingredients are not on the shopping list below.
Chicken Taco Soup (make recipe x 4)
2 Frozen Chicken Breasts
1 Can Black Beans
1 Can Corn
1 Can Rotel
1 Onion, chopped
1 packet taco seasoning
1 packet ranch dip mix
Cook in slow cooker on low 8 hours.
Creamy Baked Pasta (make recipe x 2)
16 oz pasta, cooked and drained
1 jar pasta sauce
8 oz tub sour cream
1/4 c parm. cheese
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 cup shredded mozzarella
Saute Onions
Mix all ingredients in pot over medium heat until all ingredients are combined.
Pour in casserole dish. Sprinkle cheese on top.
Bake @ 350 for 30 min (45 min – 1 hr if frozen)
(My Recipe)
Chili Mac Casserole (make recipe x 2)
16 oz pasta, cooked and drained
1 can chili beans
1 packet chili seasoning
1 onion, chopped
1 can Rotel or stewed tomatoes
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar
Mix all ingredients in casserole dish.
Sprinkle cheese on top.
Bake @ 350 for 30 min (45-1 hr if frozen)
It was quite a bit of work, especially since I chose to do it alone with a toddler and baby in the house, but it was definitely worth it! I will probably do this again sometime soon.
NOTE: For safety reasons all meat should be fully thawed before placing in the slow cooker.
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