We have just finished another month of meals that I prepared ahead of time and I will continue to say that by Cooking for a Month, I have saved an amazing amount of time. If you’ve missed my previous posts on cooking for a month you can find them here:
Cooking for a Month Recipes and Grocery List
Cooking for a Month: Frequently Asked Questions
So this month, I added some new recipes, used some old ones, updated my instructions, and added a side dish, dessert, and snack.
Here’s a few tips that will help you understand how all this works:
If the title of the meal is light gray, just click on the title for the recipe. It will take you to another post in my blog or to someone else’s recipe.
Every recipe is in its “single” state. If it says “double” that means I doubled it when making it…not posting it.
Each of the recipes fed my family of six (which includes three teenage boys).
Baked Tacos (Double recipe-makes 2 dinners-store in freezer bag)
What you need per recipe:
2 lbs. ground beef, 1 small cans refried beans, 8 oz. tomato sauce, 1 package taco seasoning, 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese, 18-20 hard taco shells, (lettuce, salsa, sour cream etc. for serving)
To make this a freezer meal: Combine cooked beef, refried beans, tomato sauce, and taco seasoning together. Freeze in freezer bag.
On day of service: thaw meat mixture and fill taco shells. Top with cheese and bake according to directions.
Mock Steak with Mushroom Gravy (chicken) (Single recipe-makes 2 dinners-store in freezer bag)
What you need per recipe:
3 lbs. ground chicken or beef, 1 sleeve Ritz crackers, 2 cans golden cream of mushroom soup, flour, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder
To Make this a freezer meal: The link to this recipe contains the instructions to make this a freezer meal.
On day of service: Follow instructions in the above link.
Nachos (Double recipe-makes 2 dinners-store in freezer bag)
What you need per recipe:
1 lb. ground meat, taco seasoning packet, 1 can black beans, tortilla chips, cheddar cheese, and any other toppings you like for serving)
To make it a freezer meal: brown ground meat and season with taco packet. Combine with black beans and freeze in freezer bag.
On day of service: Thaw, heat, and serve with nacho chips and your favorite toppings.
Crock Pot Baked Potatoes
What you need per recipe:
potatoes (enough to feed your family) and all the toppings you like on your potatoes. I use: butter, sour cream, bacon, salsa, salt, and pepper
On day of service: Wash potatoes, you can wrap them in foil or not (I’ve tried both ways and they both work just fine), and cook in crock pot according to instructions at above link.
Make Ahead Pancake Mix
What you need per recipe:
flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, butter, salt, butter milk (or substitute) , eggs, freezer bag
I don’t make up these pancakes ahead of time but I do have the mix all ready to go.
On day of service: Combine mix and fry pancakes on greased griddle.
Tatertot Casserole (Single recipe-makes 2 dinners-store in foil pan)
What you need per recipe:
2 lb ground meat, 6lbs tatertots, 2 cans cream mushroom soup, 2 cans evaporated milk, 2 cans cream chicken soup
To make it a freezer meal: combine all ingredients in a foil baking pan, cover and freeze.
On day of service: Thaw and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
Chili (Quadruple recipe-makes 2 dinners-store in freezer bag)
What you need per recipe:
I halfed the ground meat and added leftover diced green peppers to it): 1 lb. ground meat, 1 onion, 28 oz stewed tomatoes, 30 oz. tomato sauce, 30 oz. kidney beans, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, freezer bag
To make this a freezer meal: I combine all ingredients (including cooked ground meat) in a ziploc bag and freeze.
On day of service: Thaw and heat in pot on stove until warm throughout.
Baked Egg Casserole (Double recipe-makes 2 dinners-store in foil pan)
What you need per recipe:
(I increased the bread from 7 slices to 11, and decreased the sausage or ham to 1 lb.)
12 eggs, 1 lb. sausage or ham, 11 slices bread, 16 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
To make this a freezer meal: Follow directions and do everything but bake. Place in foil pan, cover, and freeze.
On day of service: Thaw and bake according to instructions.
Crock Pot Italian Chicken (Single recipe-makes 2 dinners-store in freezer bag)
What you need per recipe:
3 lbs. chicken breast and bottle of Italian dressing
To make this a freezer meal: Place 3 lbs chicken breast divided into two freezer bags. Pour 1/2 bottle of Italian dressing over chicken. Seal bag and freeze.
On day of service: Place frozen chicken and dressing in crock pot and cook according to instructions or thaw and bake in oven according to instructions.
Egg and Cheese Burritos (Single recipe-makes 24 burritos or 2 dinners-store in freezer bag)
What you need per recipe:
30 eggs, 24 burritos, 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, (1 lb sausage, optional)
On day of service: wrap each burrito in paper towel and warm in microwave for approximately 1 minute or until warm throughout.
Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup (Double recipe – makes 2 dinners – store in freezer bag)
What you need per recipe:
carrots, onions, celery, pasta, chicken, chicken broth, cream chicken soup, freezer bag
To make this a freezer meal: cook and shred chicken. Combine carrots, onions, celery, pasta, and chicken and place in freezer bag. Freeze
On day of service: Empty contents of bag in crock pot and add chicken broth and cream chicken soup and cook according to instructions. Add noodles in the last hour as per instructions in recipe.
Freezer Macaroni and Cheese (Double recipe – makes 2 dinners – store in foil pan):
What you need per recipe:
16 oz pasta, 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese, milk
On day of service: Thaw and bake according to instructions.
Easy Freezer Beef Enchiladas (Double recipe makes 2 dinners – store in foil pan)
What you need per recipe:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef, 1 small can refried beans, 1 packet taco seasoning, 1 small can enchilada sauce, 12 flour tortillas, 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, foil pan
On day of service: Thaw in fridge and bake according to instructions until heated through.
Creamy Crock Pot Potato Soup (Quadruple recipe – makes 2 dinners)
What you need per recipe :
30 oz. shredded frozen hashbrowns, 28 oz. chicken broth, 10.75 oz can cream chicken soup, dried minced onions, 8 oz. cream cheese, 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
On the day of service: This recipe is just one that can be thrown in the crock pot, so I just keep the hashbrowns frozen until I am ready to use and then combine the rest of the ingredients on the day we are having this for dinner.
Homemade Frozen Pizzas (Single recipes – makes 4 foil pan pizzas or 3 large cookie sheet pizzas…that’s two meals for our family – store in foil pizza pans)
What you need per recipe:
flour, sugar, yeast, oil, salt, pizza sauce, 4 cups mozzarella cheese, your choice of toppings, foil pizza pans
On day of service: Bake according to instructions.
Chicken Fried Rice (Single recipe – makes 2 dinners – store in foil pan)
What you need per recipe:
4 cups frozen peas and carrots, 1/2 small onion, parsley flakes, 3 lb. bag rice, 1 1/2 lbs chicken breast, olive oil, 8 eggs, soy sauce, pepper, foil pan
To make this a freezer meal: follow instructions on recipe then place in foil pan, cover thoroughly and then freeze.
On day of service: Thaw and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until rice is warm throughout.
This month I added a:
freezer side dish: Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes
dessert: Make Ahead Brownie Mix
snack: Homemade Granola Bars (Big Batch)
So there you have it… another month of meals. I can hardly wait to cook again for next month! Remember, if you have questions about how long this takes, if it saves money and time, or you are interested in more recipe ideas, just click on my “Cooking for a Month” tab at the top of this page or click here. You can also follow my Pinterest Freezer Meal Board.
Happy Cooking,
or
Follow along:
How did you count the carbs/ serving size for you newly diabetic son? I know making homemade meals is always a challenge for me:(
As far as my Cooking for a Month post… we finished most all of those meals BEFORE the diagnosis. I haven’t cooked for next month yet because I’m still working on the menu. I am trying to calculate carbs/serving size before I make the stuff so it will be easier for him and me when I go to serve it.
I am using going to use this link to help me calculate the carbs for next month’s meals. http://tracker.diabetes.org/?utm_source=Offline&utm_medium=Print&utm_content=myfoodadvisor&utm_campaign=MFA&s_src=vanity&s_subsrc=myfoodadvisor
These are wonderful dinners. My hubby would like a few of those. I do the monthly menu too!! Thanks for some recipes. Pinning to my recipe board
do you have the grocery list for this posting? thank you