MEATBALLS 3 lbs. Ground Beef 1 can evaporated milk 1 cup oatmeal 1 cup crackers, crushed 2 eggs 1 large onion, chopped (save half for sauce) 1/2 tsp. garlic powder 2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. pepper 1 tsp. chili powder Mix above ingredients together and shape into meatballs. place balls in a large roaster or jelly roll pan. Sauce: 2 cups ketchup 1/2-1 cup brown sugar 1/2 tsp. liquid smoke 1/2 of chopped onion 1/2 tsp. garlic powder Mix sauce and pour over meatballs. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
Freezer Prep: Divide meatballs and sauce and place in two dishes (preferably 8x8 for two separate meals)) and freeze in one solid piece. Once frozen, transfer the solid meatballs with sauce to a gallon-sized bag. *Take out of freeze the morning you plan to make for supper and transfer frozen meatballs to an 8x8 pan to unthaw. I have found that if I put meatballs directly into the oven from the freezer for an hour, the outsides get done but the centers are partially raw. Serve with baked potatoes and a vegetable
TATOR TOT HOTDISH 1 lb. ground beef 1 onion, chopped 2 cans green beans 1 bag of frozen tator tots 1 bag of frozen whole-kernel corn 2 cans cream of chicken soup shredded Chedder cheese Fry hamburger and onion together. Put in a roaster and add green beans, corn and cream of chicken soup. Top with desired amount of Chedder cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until heated all the way through. Note: When I prepared this frozen recipe, I used 1 bag of frozen green beans instead of the 2 cans of green beans and then froze everything together. If I were to do this again, I would actually just fry up the hamburger and onion and freeze alone, then thaw out the morning I planned on making the tator tot hot dish. Once the hamburger was thawed out, I'd add all ingredients and bake.
Freezer Prep: Prepare recipe per personal preference. Transfer into a disposable 9x13 aluminum pan. Cover with heavy duty aluminum foil. With a permanent marker write, tator tot hot dish 350 1 hour If you're just freezing the hamburger and onion, you can use any plastic container, then take out of freezer the morning you plan to make for supper. Prepare rest of recipe before baking.
CROUTON HOTDISH 1 lb. Hamburger 1 small onion, chopped 1 cup celery water 1 can cream of celery soup 1 can cream of chicken soup 1 box (7 oz) crouton stuffing (I use chicken) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown hamburger and onions in a frying pan; set aside. Boil celery in a pan until tender. Drain water and mix in soups. In a greased 9x13 pan, layer meat, croutons, then soup. Bake for 1 hour. Shut oven off and let stand for 15 minutes.
Freezer Prep: Because this was a smaller recipe, I prepared hamburger and onion, put in a plastic container and stored in the refrigerator for later in the week. You can experiment with freezing but if I froze, I'd personally just freeze the hamburger and onion then add ingredients later. (All the frying is still done!)
AUNT BLONDIE'S BEEF STROGANOFF 3 lbs. hamburger 2 onions, chopped 2 can cream of chicken soup 1/2 cup beef broth 2 cups sour cream Brown hamburger and onions. Add rest of ingredients. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Pour over rice, potatoes or noodles (Instead of splitting this recipe in half, I planned to have leftovers.) Freezer Prep: I went ahead and froze this recipient in a 9x13 aluminum pan but was unsure how sour cream would keep. I added all ingredients accept the sour cream. When I took it out of the freezer, I baked until the hamburger was thawed out before adding the sour cream. Serve over your choice of rice, noodles or potatoes. Our favorite is Jasmine Rice!
LASAGNA 1 lb. hamburger 1 small onion, chopped 1 tsp minced garlic 1 (24 oz.) jar of classico roasted garlic sauce or any type you prefer 1/2 cup water 1 (15 oz.) container ricotta cheese 2 cups mozzarella cheese 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese 1 egg 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley or 2 tsp dried uncooked lasagna noodles Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until noodles are tender and cheese has melted. Note: This is originally a recipe for the crockpot, but it works just the same whether you're putting in the crockpot, freezing, or putting it straight in the oven.
Brown beef and onion. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Drain. Add spaghetti sauce & water; simmer for 5 minutes. Mix ricotta, mozzarella cheese, 2 Tbsp. Parmesan, egg and parsley. Pour 1 cup meat sauce into a 4-6 quart slow cooker. Cover with 2 cups meat sauce and layer, rotating between noodles and cheese mixture. Break noodles to fit. cook on low for 4-5 hours or until noodles are soft. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup mozzarella and remaining parmesan Freezer Prep: Prepare recipe per directions above and place in a 9x13 aluminum pan. Cover with heavy duty aluminum foil. With permanent marker label, Lasagna 350 1 hour
PIZZA Note: There are two different ways you can make the crust for your pizza. You can buy a packet of dough mix that you simply add water to (yielding 1 pizza) or you can make your dough homemade. When I was growing up, my mom bought the packets of dough for the convenience of it but for this recipe I will include exactly what I did for my first set of freezer meals. My mother-in-law's pizza dough recipe: (I doubled and it yielded me 3 medium pizzas) 1 Tbsp. yeast 1.5 Tbsp. sugar 1 cup warm water put ingredients together, set aside for 5 minutes. 1.5 Tbsp. oil 3 cups flour 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp oregano 1/8 tsp. garlic salt
Mix ingredients together, then combine with first three ingredients and let rise for 5 minutes. Roll out and place on a greased pizza pan. Poke dough with a fork and bake at 350 degrees toward the bottom of your oven, for 10 minutes or until bottom of crust is light brown. Toppings: sauce, mozzarella cheese + your choice of meat & toppings (ground pork sausage or hamburger pepperoni peppers olives pineapple) Freezer Prep: Prepare your desired crust and follow baking directions. After 10 minutes following crust recipe above, take out of oven and let cool before adding sauce and other toppings. Cover with siren wrap and freeze. Bake on the top rack until the cheese has melted and the bottom of crust is golden brown. *Pizza done this way is something you get good at over time. I'm still getting the hang of it, so don't beat yourself up if
beat yourself up if it's a total flop! Like anything, it takes practice.
HAMBURGER PATTIES Form 2 lb of hamburger into patties. Divide with wax paper. Stack in empty bread bag and freeze. Yield depends on how thick you make your patties taco meat 1 lb fried hamburger, add taco seasoning. Freeze in plastic container
MOM'S SOFT SANDWICH BUNS BONUS RECIPE! This recipe is my favorite bun recipe! I make up a batch and then freeze for hamburgers or sandwiches. Adapted for the bread machine, but you can mix by hand as well or with a kitchenaid Mixer. 1 1/4 cups warm water 1 egg, beaten 2 TBSP butter, softened 1/4 cup sugar 3/4 tsp salt 3 3/4 cups bread flour 1 1/4 tsp yeast 1 TBSP butter melted for top of buns (opt) Place ingredients in bread machine and select dough cycle. Check after 5 minutes of mixing and add 1-2 TBSP of water or flour if needed. When cycle is complete, turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Punch down, divide dough in half. Roll each portion to 3/4 inch thickness. Cut with 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter. Place on lightly
greased baking sheet. Brush tops with melted butter. Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about an hour) Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden Yields 18 buns
Danielle's Special k bars bonus recipe! This is the best special k recipe you'll make! 1 regular size box of Special K 1 1/2 sticks butter 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 1/2 cups corn syrup 1 1/2 cups peanut butter Put cereal in a large bowl. And add rest of ingredients to a 4 cup glass measuring cup or microwave-safe bowl. Microwave until melted and melt in 3 minute intervals, stirring every 3 minutes. When melted, pour over cereal and stir. Turn into a sprayed or butter-greased jelly roll pan. Roll with a greased glass until even. Topping: 2 cups milk chocolate chips 1 cup peanut better Melt in microwave and watch carefully or it will burn. Spread on bars. Cool bars in fridge for
20 minutes then take out and cut with a pizza cutter. Place back in fridge until firm. Note: I will never tell where I got this recipe from but the reason it is so good is because there is peanut butter in the cereal mix. After making a batch for Christmas gifts this last year, I found the secret to making it even better! Chunky peanut butter. After making a batch of these special k bars, I always individually wrap with siren wrap and store in the freezer. It's a great addition to my husband's lunch!
menu for my first batch of freezer meals 1 batch meatballs/2=2 meals 2 tator tot hot dishes=2 meals 1 crouton hot dish= 1 meal Beef stroganoff=1+ meal 3 lasagnas=3 meals 3 pizzas=3 meals 2 lb. hamburger patties=1+ meal taco meat= 1 meal =14+ meals
Shopping list for my first set of freezer meals (based on menu above) Meat: 5 3 -lb logs of hamburger or 15 lbs. (meatballs / 2 =3lb. tator tot hot dish x 2 =2lb. 1 crouton hot dish = 1lb. beef stroganoff =3 lb. 3 lasagnas = 3lb. 2 lb. hamburger patties = 2lb. 1 lb taco meat = 1 lb. 1 lb. of your choice of meat topping for pizza (I use pork sausage) Bulk items: -Onions Side items: -bag potatoes (if you want a baked potato with your meatballs) -Jasmine rice or noodles (for stroganoff)
Things you might already have in your kitchen: -onions -potatoes -eggs (you need 5) -garlic powder -chili powder -salt -pepper -dried parsley -(sugar, oil, flour, salt, oregano, garlic salt, if you don't buy the packets of dough for pizza crust) -dried parsley Things you probably don't have in your kitchen: -minced garlic -3 jars pasta sauce (your preference, for lasagnas) -parmesan cheese -3 (15oz.) containers ricotta cheese -2 boxes lasagna noodles (I divide and go until I run out of meat sauce for three lasagnas) -3 packages dried pizza crust (if you don't want to make it homemade) -yeast (2 Tbsp) if you don't buy dry packets of pizza crust -pizza toppings of your choice + 1 jar of pizza sauce + 1 bag of mozzarella -hamburger buns -4 cans green beans (2 bags frozen)
--1 can evaporated milk -7 cans cream of chicken soup (4 for tator tot hot dishes, 1 for crouton hot dish, 2 for stroganoff) -liquid smoke -ketchup (2 cups) -beef broth (1/2 cup) -oatmeal (1 cup) -saltine crackers -1 box crouton stuffing (I use chicken) -celery -fresh parsley (if you don't want to use dried parsley for lasagnas) -2 bags frozen tator tots -2 bas frozen corn -1 bag of cheddar cheese (I divide in 2 for tator tot hot dishes) -container of sour cream -packet of taco seasoning -your choice of condiments for tacos Other: -Six 9x13 disposable aluminum pants (come in a pack of 10 at Wal-mart) -Three medium-sized pizza pans (.88 each at Wal-mart) -roll of heavy duty tin foil -gallon-sized ziplock bags
step-by-step instructions if you're new to preparing freezer meals Tator Tot (2) / Crouton (1) Hot dish 1.) Lay out two 9x13 tins, if using frozen green beans for tator tot hot dish. Two plastic containers if you prefer the canned green bean option and are simply freezing the fried hamburger and onions. 2.) Fry 3 lb. hamburger with 3 chopped onions. 3.) Once fried, divide in 3. Place 2 lb. in the two 9x13 tins (or plastic containers.) Place remaining lb. aside for crouton hot dish for tonight's supper or later in the week. 4.) If you prefer the canned green beans, put the 2 plastic containers in the freezer. 5.) If you're using the frozen green beans, add remaining tator tot hot dish ingredients to the two 9x13 pans. Cover with tin foil, label and place in freezer. = 2 meals total
6.) Boil 1 cup of celery. Add remaining crouton hot dish ingredients to remaining cooked hamburger. Cover and place in fridge for late (tonight's supper maybe.) I've never froze the crouton hot dish recipe, but if I did I would simply freeze the fried hamburger and onion, thaw when I planned to make it and then add rest of ingredients. =3 meals Beef stroganoff 7.) Lay out one 9x13 pan. 8.) Fry up 3 lb. hamburger with 2 chopped onions. 9.) Transfer cooked hamburger/onion to pan. Mix in rest of ingredients, excluding sour cream (see beef stroganoff recipe freezer prep.) 10.) Cover with tin foil, label and put in the freezer. =4 meals total 3 Lasagnas 11.) Lay out three 9x13 pans
12. Fry 3 lbs. hamburger with 2 chopped onions. Add garlic, spaghetti sauce, water (triple amounts.) In a separate bowl add ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, egg, and parsley (triple amounts.) Note: Unless you have a huge frying pan, I'd triple the meat sauce ingredients in a pot. I thought of this after I made a huge mess trying to fit it all in the pan with the 3 lbs. of hamburger! 13.) Make lasagnas in 9x13 pans. Cover with tin foil, label & freeze. =7 meals total Meatballs 14.) Follow meatball recipe & freezer prep. =9 meals total Pizzas 15.) Fry 1 lb. pork sausage and place in a dish.
16.) Prepare pizza crust per directions (package or homemade.) Top with your choice of toppings. Cover with siren wrap, label & freeze. =12 meals total Hamburger patties & Taco meat 19.) Divide 3 lb. log (2 lb. to make into patties, 1 lb for taco meat) and begin frying taco meat. 20.) While it's frying, begin making hamburger patties, divide with wax paper until 2 lb. is gone. 21.) Add taco seasoning to meat. Place in plastic container. (Taco meat will keep in the freezer but I go by how long my fresh tomatoes will last.) Put in microwave on defrost, then warm before serving. 22.) Place divided hamburger patties in a bag (I use an empty bread bag.) Put in freezer. =14+ meals.