Freezer meals
About once per quarter, I buy chicken breasts and ground beef in bulk (when they’re on sale), and make up meals to store in our freezer for busy weeknights. Recently, I made 2 Baked Zitis and 1 Lasagna. Sometimes, I make up chicken enchiladas, tex-mex chicken, and poppyseed chicken. I use disposable pans from the dollar store to minimize clean-up and so I’m not using all of my dishes in the freezer. I label them with the name and date, so I know what’s in there. It makes life SOO much easier during busy times of the year. Knowing that I have a real meal waiting in the freezer keeps us from eating out all the time, helps us stay on budget, and is just comforting!
If I have leftover ground beef, I might also make up chili or go ahead and season and cook the ground beef and then freeze in a Ziploc freezer bag (with the date and title) to mix with spaghetti sauce for a quick spaghetti night later on.
For the chicken, the easiest thing to do is to put chicken breasts in the crock pot with a jar of salsa emptied on top. Let that slow cook all day, and then you have great pull-apart meat for your chicken enchiladas and also for any other Mexican dish you might have. You can freeze the chicken meat in a Ziploc bag in good portion sizes for your family with the name and date on the bag.
We use the freezer for so many things- fruit, muffins, vegetables, desserts; I’m sure you do too- what are your favorite go-to meals, and have you thought about freezing them ahead of time to simplify your days?
