SUYL - Freezer Meals

Today I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner for Show Us Your Life... This week is all about Freezer Meals.

I love, love, love freezer cooking. About a year ago, one of my best friends and I got really into freezer cooking. Every 6 weeks or so we would get together and cook all day long. We learned a lot of good techniques/recipes from doing this. Life got busy and we haven't had a freezer day in probably about a year... BUT.. life is so much simpler if you keep your freezer stocked with a few things. 

I think one of my favorite freezer ideas is simply cooking up meats. I would cook several pounds of ground beef and portion it into one pound servings (most recipes call for 1 lb.). This makes cooking so much faster if your meat is already cooked and it cuts down on dirty dishes.. just thaw your meat during the day and when you get home you can throw together your dinner.

I also liked to keep taco meat prepared in the freezer. Simply cook your ground beef like normal, add in taco seasoning, salsa and anything else that sounds good (black beans, green chilies, etc). When you have your meat finished, portion into 1 lb. servings. This makes for a super easy night... thaw your taco meat, grab some tortillas and make this guac!

Chicken is another great meat to freeze. I would either boil or bake chicken breast and shred  for casseroles, enchiladas, etc. I usually shredded about 3-4 breast and bagged them up to freeze. Tip: Pour a little bit of the chicken broth into the freezer bag of chicken and it will stay moist.

My next favorite thing to freeze is twice baked potatoes. I used this website for the twice baked potatoes and also tips for cooking meats. We baked our potatoes while cooking other meals and that saves time. When the potatoes are done, simply scoop the inside of the potato out and place in a large bowl. Once all potatoes are scooped, add in sour cream, cream cheese, butter, cheddar cheese ad mix. Fill each potato with the filing and wrap in saran wrap. I always stuck mine right into the oven frozen and baked them on 350 for about 20 minutes or so until they are warm.

A few of my favorite recipes that we cooked are MEAT LOAF MINI'S (which go great with a twice baked potato that I mentioned above), BLUEBERRY MUFFINS, Chili (just use your favorite chili recipe and freeze in containers) and CHICKEN ENCHILADA SOUP (just about any soup will freeze great).

One of the best things I learned was that SO many of my favorite recipes that I use regularly could be frozen.  Casseroles, soups, tacos, burritos, enchiladas, chili, twice baked potatoes, muffins, etc.... All of that can be frozen. 

I recommend this cookbook...

THIS website is a life saver!! It tells you how long you can store things in the freezer (it also tells you how long for the fridge as well). I have referred to this site many times.. Be sure and label your freezer meals/meats with the date.

I think that is about everything I know when it comes to freezer cooking.. Be sure and link up with Kelly at Kelly's Korner to share your favorite freezer recipes!

Have a great weekend!!

love, Darian