You’re not crazy; you read the title correctly. This post has nothing to do with World Languages, but it DOES have to do with teaching! While y’all are home twiddling your thumbs over break (ha, ha), why not stock up on some freezer meals to make your life a little easier once the new semester begins next week?
I have been making freezer meals since I began teaching, although I did a lot more if it once I started having kids of my own. I love cooking, but with all of the things that teachers need to do outside of class, it was often hard to put together a ‘real meal’ on weeknights. It also doesn’t help that my husband is a total foodie and HATES leftovers/eating the same thing two days in a row. Freezer meals help me to serve my family with real, foodie-approved meals without having to actually prepare food every night of the week. So today, I am sharing my husband-and-kid-approved freezer meal list (see the notes below each recipe to know which recipes are foodie tolerated and which ones receive full-on approval)! It’s not that long because (1) there are a LOT of recipes that I’ve tried and didn’t make the cut and (2) we don’t eat pork, which eliminates many otherwise really good freezer meal recipes.
If you are just cooking for yourself or for two people, just divide each recipe into smaller portions (I used to prepare freezer casseroles in aluminum bread pans when it was just Matt and me). If the meal is made in a freezer bag, definitely be sure to lay it flat when freezing to preserve space in your freezer. And if it’s a casserole, cover it with plastic wrap before you put foil on the top (and then remember to remove the wrap before replacing the foil and baking). I have freezer meal parties with a few friends every couple of months, and that is a super fun way to put together a bunch of meals! Just have one person create a menu for the day and develop a shopping list for everyone (assigning some ingredients that everyone would share to individuals; ex: not everyone needs to bring salt or eggs–just have one person buy those items that can be shared). Over the last week, I’ve just been making double recipes of all of our meals and freezing one of them for when the new baby arrives sometime next month. Today, though, I made four meals using stew meat
Bon appétit! Click on the image below to access my Freezer Meals Evernote notebook:
Thank you for sharing this. I am also a huge fan of freezer meals and was planning on putting together a bunch this weekend before we go back to school. This gives me a few more to consider.
Please share favorite recipes!!!!
Thanks for this Martina! I need to try it. When I lived in Vegas there were companies that you went to with friends and created a month’s worth of food to freeze. I always wanted to do it, but never actually did! Great ideas and the recipes look awesome!
You are amazing- I LOVE all of the ideas that you share, I have purchased many of your TpayT sets and I so appreciate you taking the time to share your go to recipes as well!! I have 3 kiddos myself and I love to cook but as you said, some nights are NUTS so I am excited to try a few new ideas! THANK YOU!
This is extremely helpful! Blessings as you prepare for the new baby!!
Muchísimas gracias por compartir, Martina! My sisters and I get together about every 3 months on a Saturday to cook up a bunch of freezer meals. It’s so nice to not have to spend much higher time prepping dinner after a day at school, when I just want to snuggle my 2 kiddos! We will add your recipes to our options! One of our favorite websites is skinnytaste.com. Have you heard of it! Your foodie husband would definitely approve!
YES! I love Skinnytaste, too!
You are so wonderful to think of sharing this! You are right – planning ahead will make the rest of the week go smoother. Mil gracias y suerte con el bebe!
I love you!
I’m so disorganized that I’m just around to reading this! 🙂 I know I need to try doing this consistently, because teaching is so exhausting. Just reading this made me think, “I just love this woman! I want to be her friend!” I thank you for all you do from the bottom of my disorganized, ADHD-impaired heart!
You are like my total super-hero. What color is your cape, girl? I’ve done freezer meals for years, but these sound delicious.
What do you freeze them in? I think this would have prevented me from gaining the 24 lbs I gained last year. I would just order out when time was limited. SMH