Freezer Meals Made Easy – Part 2

As promised in part one, here are a few of our favorite meals/snacks that we have had success freezing and eating after:

Muffins.  My first success in the freezer department was taught to me by my incredible mother.  Essentially, you make whatever muffin batter you like and then fill up a silicon muffin pan.  Cover the pan with plastic wrap and put in the freezer overnight.  The next day, quickly pop out the frozen muffin batter discs and wrap individually in plastic wrap.  Store in a freezer bag.  When you want to bake the muffins (be it just one or a whole dozen), pull out a frozen muffin, unwrap it, and pop it back into the silicon muffin pan.  Let it thaw for about an hour before baking.  One of our seasonal favorites that we eat year round:

Pumpkin Muffins

• 2  cups sugar
• 3 1/2 cups sifted flour (I do 2 1/2 c wheat, 1 c white)
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 cup applesauce
• 2 cups canned pumpkin
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 1 cup chocolate chips (12 oz and no nuts)

Sift together all dry ingredients. Make a well, add remaining ingredients. Mix until smooth. Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

Granola Bars. I’ve wanted to make homemade granola bars forever.  After a bunch of research I settled on making Clean Eating Homemade Healthy Granola Bars (I did NOT name them).  The author of the recipe is sooo thorough and has tons of step-by-step pictures to go along with her detailed instructions that I’ll just send you over there to find success.  As for the freezer part, I throw about half the batch in a freezer bag and pop in the freezer.  They freeze really well, and taste just as good frozen if you aren’t patient enough to let them thaw.

Burritos. We make the full recipe of Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken for dinner and eat it with rice, chips, and cheese (another favorite that is easy to make!).  We leave out some for leftovers, but it makes so much that I take about half of what is left and make burritos.  I take a square of aluminum foil, place in a wheat tortilla, and fill it with cheese, rice, and chicken.  I wrap up the tortilla and then the aluminum foil and place in a freezer bag.  We then pull out a burrito or two for lunch or dinner and throw it in the oven to warm up.  Two dinners in one!

Hamburger Patties.  This recipe made 14 hamburger patties which I put right in the freezer with layers of wax paper.  Andrew and I decided that next time I will put an additional sheet of wax paper between every two patties so that it is easier for us to separate for dinner.  We just cook these in a pan on the stove and they turn out great.  Add some homemade sweet potato fries and we have the perfect dinner.

• 2 lbs beef (I actually used turkey)
• 1 egg
• 3/4 c. dried bread crumbs/oatmeal
• 3T evaporated milk
• 2T worchestchire sauce
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 cloves minced garlic

Mix together all ingredients together.  1/4 c. per patty and flatten between wax paper.

Slow Cooker Bolognese. This is another quick to prepare crockpot meal that makes lots of food.  After dinner, we freeze the leftovers in either a Tupperware container or freezer bag for another meal or two later, leaving some out also for leftovers.

These are just a few of our tried and true freezer recipes, but hopefully between these and the guidelines from part one, you could easily begin to add freezer meals to your routine without having to spend lots of money or turn the entire kitchen into a war zone.  If you have any freezer recipes of your own I’d love to hear them!