Good food and a warm kitchen are what makes a house a home.

Rachael Ray

If you’ve been following along for any amount of time, you know that I am on a journey to go back to the roots of our great-grandmothers in the kitchen. I am passionate about home cooked meals with good, wholesome ingredients, and I truly enjoy cooking. I am also a very busy stay at home mom and wife to a blue collar man who works wild hours and a lot of them. All that to say, I also know the importance of a quick and easy meal and how necessary they are, and so my love of freezer meals was born.

The first time I dipped my toe into freezer meals was before my oldest daughter was born. I knew my time with extra help at home was limited and I wanted to make things as easy as possible for myself when my husband went back to work, so I spent a whole day in the kitchen and put together a couple weeks worth of dinners for the freezer. When I say it was life changing, I am not exaggerating! I have been hooked ever since, and I want to share with you the joy of a freezer meal.

Why Freezer Meals?

There are a few reasons I choose to incorporate freezer meals into our routine. First, we are busy and on the go a lot. My oldest daughter is just starting her Jr Rodeo adventure, she is in cheerleading, and t-ball with more sports and activities to follow, I’m sure. We like to visit local parks, go on short little hikes, and just generally enjoy the outside. Having a freezer meal to just pop in the oven or slow cooker is a huge help! It enables us to still eat a nutritious home cooked meal, but I don’t have to spend my day in the kitchen making it happen. In the summer when the garden needs a lot of attention, it also allows me that extra time to tend the plants.

In the winter, when life slows down a little, I tend to use freezer meals as a mommy “day off”. I can still provide my family a wholesome meal, while not making a big mess in my kitchen and that is always a win with me. I also use freezer meal days as a day to restock the kitchen with snacks, seasoning mixes, and our baked goods such as sandwich bread, English muffins, and bagels. If I can shift my kitchen focus from a large meal to a restock day, it keeps me on track with keeping those things out of my shopping cart at the grocery store.

How To Get Started

There are two different ways I stock my freezer with freezer meals. The first is to plan out what meals I want to put in my freezer, shop for all of the ingredients, and then take a whole day to get them done. It is a long, exhausting day, but I always feel so accomplished when it’s done and my freezer is full.

The second way I will stock up my freezer is by doubling a recipe when I make dinner and serve one to my family that night and put the other in the freezer for a future dinner. Each way works wonderfully, but I do prefer to just make a day of it and get a bunch of meals done all at once.

Some of My Favorite Recipes

When you are deciding what to make for your freezer meals, stroll down the freezer aisle at the grocery store for inspiration. Pretty much anything you see in there can be done in your own kitchen. I have, of course, had some flops when it comes to freezer meals, and some things that just aren’t our favorite as a freezer meal. You’ll have to decide for you and your family what works best and what some of your favorites are, but here are a few of mine:

• Lasagna This is a crowd pleaser every single time. This recipe makes a large amount, so if you are a smaller family, split it in half and have two freezer meals!
• Five Cheese Ziti Modeled after my favorite thing on the Olive Garden menu, this is another pasta dish that is very filling and the whole family will love. Pair it with some grilled chicken and you have a hearty, well rounded meal.
• Aloha Chicken is a marinated meat that will make dinner time the fastest and most yummy ever! Served with sides or grilled up to top a rice bowl, it is very versatile. This marinade recipe also works amazing with pork chops!
• Sweet and Sour Meatballs I like to take a couple pounds of ground beef or turkey and make meatballs, then bake them covered in this sauce. Once they cool, wrap them up and put them in the freezer. When you go to serve them to your family, just pull them out and let them thaw over night in the fridge. The next day you are just really heating them up so dinner will be done quickly with no mess!

No matter how you choose to do it, or what recipes you decide to use, I hope you will try some freezer meals in the future!

~Tara