Kid-Friendly Freezer Meal Recipes

January 2014 - Kid-Friendly Freezer Meals

I am going to have a baby in the next few weeks and once he arrives, I will have four kiddos age six and under.  I have been getting things in order for our new arrival and in addition to cleaning out things and washing baby clothes, I thought it would be a good idea to make some meals in advance and have them ready in the freezer.  I was first introduced to this idea when one of my good friends began selling Homemade Gourmet about five years ago when I was expecting my second child.  Homemade Gourmet doesn't exist anymore, but I got in touch with one of the Homemade Gourmet superstars and she was generous enough to provide me with some of her freezer recipes.

So, it took me three days, but I was able to pick some recipes, put together a grocery list, and get 13 meals into the freezer that will be ready to be cooked in either the crock pot or oven once baby arrives.  Some people were asking for the recipes so I thought I'd share them here.  Please keep in mind that these are not entirely fresh foods and I was trying to choose meals that my kiddos would enjoy, too (I'm sure all mothers can relate to this)!

I made 2 meals of Asian pork chops/loins, 2 meals of honey & spice glazed pork, 2 chicken pot pies, lazy lasagna, taco soup, alfredo chicken with broccoli, World's Best Chicken, Asian chicken, cheese ravioli bake and margarita chicken.

=========================================================================

Asian Pork Chops/Loins

• 1 lb pork chops/loins
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (I used low sodium)
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 cloves garlic (or garlic powder)
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger (optional)

Write "Asian Pork" and today's date on a gallon-size freezer safe zip lock bag with a marker - sharpies work great - and then put a note about cooking in slow cooker for 6 hours on low.
Add all ingredients except pork to the freezer bag and seal, then squish them around to mix.
Once al ingredients are mixed, place the pork inside, push out as much air as possible and seal the bag & try to coat the pork with the mixture.  I have read that people serve this over rice and some people use 1/2 cup measurements for the sauce instead of 1/4 cup measurements to have extra sauce for the rice so you may want to experiment a little.
Place the bag in the freezer and just pull it out the night before and put it in the refrigerator.  If you forget, you should also be able to get the frozen pork out the next morning and place in the crock pot for 6 hours.  Enjoy!

=========================================================================

Honey & Spice Glazed Pork

• 1 lb pork chops/loin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

As above, write "Honey & Spice Glazed Pork" on a gallon-size freezer safe zip lock along with today's date and place in freezer.  Once you are ready to cook, place in crock pot on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 3-5 hours or slightly longer if placing frozen pork directly into crockpot without thawing.

=========================================================================

Chicken Pot Pie (recipe makes 2 pot pies or even a little more)

• 2 cups cooked shredded chicken (boneless, skinless chicken breasts roasted for one hour @350 in oven covered) - could also use rotisserie chicken or the little packs of pre-cooked chicken near deli meat
• homemade gravy made from homemade chicken stock (or could use 2 Campbells chicken/turkey gravy in jar)
• 2 top & bottom piece pie crust (so 4 crusts total) - I used the frozen pre-made ones but could make your own
• frozen hash browns (diced) - 16 oz bag
• frozen mixed vegetables or frozen peas/carrots or whatever vegetables you like - 12oz bag
• onion, 1/4 cup diced small (optional)
• salt & pepper to taste - if using Campbell's gravy, you may want to go lightly on the pepper

Take pie crusts out of package.  If you have purchased the ones in the tis take one tin out and thaw on the counter.  Turn the second tin upside down as it thaws.
In a large bowl, mix the shredded chicken, hash browns, vegetables, onion (opt), gravy and salt & pepper.
Add pot pie ingredients into pie tin with crust.
Take the upside down pie crust and carefully place it on top of the pie.  Spread it out and pinch the two pie crusts together on the seams.
Poke a few holes with a knife or fork on top of pie.
Label gallon-size freezer zip lock bag with "Chicken Pot Pie", instructions like "bake at 350 until top is golden brown, approx 45-60 min" and today's date.  Place pie inside bag, seal, and put in freezer.

=========================================================================

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

• 8oz (or more) chopped broccoli (I used frozen)
• 2 jars alfredo sauce
• 1 onion, diced
• 1-2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts

Place all ingredients in labeled freezer-safe gallon zip lock bag, push most of the air out and seal.  Mix ingredients together by squishing bag between hands and place in freezer.  Bake at 350 for approx an hour or put in crock pot for 4-6 hours and serve over noodles.

=========================================================================

World's Best Chicken

I removed this recipe - it was really gross!!! :(

=========================================================================

Cheese Ravioli Bake

• 2 - 9oz packages of refrigerated ravioli (any kind you like) - I used a larger frozen package
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella or Italian cheese

Place all ingredients in labeled freezer-safe gallon zip lock bag, push most of the air out and seal.  Mix ingredients together by squishing bag between hands and place in freezer.  Bake at 350 for approx an hour.

=========================================================================

Taco Soup

• 1 large can tomato juice
• 1 packet of  taco seasoning
• 1 packet of  ranch dressing
• 1 lb browned ground beef
• 1 onion
• 1 can each:  corn, chili beans, black beans, & pinto beans

I took a "picky eaters" class with a registered dietician/personal trainer about 4 years ago that was designed to help parents with ideas that encouraged young kids to try new foods & be more mindful about their eating.  One of the things I learned in the class is that the liquid in canned beans (not necessarily the beans themselves) can cause gastrointestinal problems (trying to figure out a nice way to put this)...  So, one way to reduce the potential gas problems is to open the cans and dump as much of the liquid as possible.  Our instructor even suggested filling the cans with water and rinsing the beans while still in the can so I did this with the black beans and pinto beans.  If you like the extra juice or flavor then skip this but I thought I'd share this little tip since there are a lot of beans in this recipe.  I didn't rinse the chili beans, though.

Okay, I was worried I would run out of room in the freezer bag so just placed all ingredients in labeled freezer-safe gallon zip lock bag EXCEPT for tomato juice and made a note on the freezer bag to add tomato juice in pantry.  Push out as much air as possible, seal, mix with hands and place in freezer.  When ready to make this, add ingredients to crock pot and add tomato juice, cook for 4-6 hours.

=========================================================================

 Lazy Lasagna

• 1 container of cottage cheese
• 2/3 of a box of cooked pasta - I use bow tie pasta a lot
• 1 jar of spaghetti sauce
• 1 lb of browned ground beef (or turkey or sausage)
• 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

Place all ingredients in labeled freezer-safe gallon zip lock bag, push most of the air out and seal.  Mix ingredients together by squishing bag between hands and place in freezer.  Bake at 375 for approx 30-45 minutes or until bubbly or in crock pot for 4-6 hours.  Probably can also bake at 350 until bubbly, too.  When I make this when not putting into the freezer, I usually just add 1 cup of cheese and bake for about 30 min and then put the rest of the cheese on top and bake for another 5 minutes or so.

=========================================================================

Margarita Chicken (one of my favorites)

• 4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cups of margarita mix (non-alcoholic)
• garlic powder - I probably use about 1 teaspoon
• garlic salt - probably 1/4 teaspoon, I am not big on salt
• onion powder - probably 1/2 teaspoon or so
• update - I also like to add about 1-2 cups of water to ours now to tone down the sweet margarita taste.  Could also do just 1 cup of margarita mix and 1 cup water.

Place all ingredients in labeled freezer-safe gallon zip lock bag, push most of the air out and seal.  Mix ingredients together by squishing bag between hands and place in freezer.  When ready to make, place contents in glass baking dish and cover with aluminum foil.  Bake at 350 for an hour and check to make sure chicken is no longer pink.

=========================================================================

Cooking times are approximate and some of the measurements are approximate but at least it will help you get started.  You may also want to consider using the crock pot liners for easy clean up. While working on these recipes, I bought my ground beef in a bulk size so I just browned 3 pounds at one time and ended up freezing one pound of ground beef already browned so hopefully this will save a little time in a future recipe.  I am also going to buy some frozen loaves of bread dough to have on hand that I can bake in the oven to serve with some of the meals.  My mom uses Rhodes frozen dough and our family loves it.  These are just a few recipe ideas but there are a ton of freezer recipes on Pinterest and I'm sure lots of other websites as well if you want to do a little searching.
Will try to pick up the blogging again once school is out.  Best wishes & stay warm!!

Emily