Skip to main content

Back to School Prep: Our Family's Favorites

School is starting you guys. There is no stopping it. Along with school starting is the beginning of all.the.things. Bible study, meetings, practices, rehearsals...all of it. And life will get busy before we know it and dinner will get put on the back burner. Before you let that happen. I thought I'd share my family's 10 favorite freezer meals for you to make and have ready to go when life gets crazy.

These meals are not only our favorites, but for the most part, our kids will eat these with no fuss. Ever. The prep time for these should be less than an hour and the total cost for all necessary ingredients is probably less than $100 (realistically it's probably less than $70). Not bad for getting a head start on the back to school bizz-ness.

Meals:
Pulled Pork
White Chicken Enchiladas
Spaghetti Sauce
Peach Mango Salsa Chicken
Dirty Rice
Italian Sausage and Peppers on Hoagies
Greek Meatballs on Pitas
Sausage Bake
Butternut Squash Chili
Chicken Pot Pie

Pulled Pork


1 pork loin (2 lbs.)
1/2 diced sweet onion
1 Memphis BBQ seasoning packet
1/4 c brown sugar

 Add 1 cup of water before cooking, 8 hours on low

White Chicken Enchiladas

 1 can diced green chilis
1 can cream of chicken
8 oz. sour cream
1/2 bag of chicken breasts
Cumin
Salt and pepper

8 hours on low. Shred chicken, roll in tortillas you froze with this, top with extra sauce and cheese. Bake for 30 minutes at 350. Note: if you like your enchiladas spicier, add a can of sliced jalapenos.

 Spaghetti Sauce


1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 lb. ground Italian sausage, cooked
1 lb. ground beef, cooked
Garlic powder
1 bay leaf
Basil
2 Tbsp. brown sugar

8 hours on low. Serve over spaghetti noodles.

Mango Salsa Chicken

1/2 tub mango salsa
1/2 tub medium salsa
1 package cream cheese
2-3 chicken breasts

8 on low, freeze with tortillas. Roll into enchiladas or serve as tacos or over chips with all the fixings.

Dirty Rice

 1 green pepper diced
1.5 cups cooked brown rice
1 lb. cooked ground beef
1 Tbsp. Montreal Steak seasoning
Drizzle with EVOO

Thaw and warm in a frying pan.

Italian Sausage and Peppers Subs


1 lb. cooked ground sausage
1.5 green pepper chopped
1 red pepper chopped
1/2 bottle red wine
Drizzle with EVOO
Seasoning with Basil and Garlic

8 hours on low Serve in hoagies and top with parmesan.

 Greek Meatballs w/Pitas

3 lbs. ground beef
1 bunch mint, chopped
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp Oregano
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
1 egg
1/2 c bread crumbs

Hand mix, roll into meatballs, divide into two bags. Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes. Serve with Pitas and tzaziki sauce (which is just plain Greek yogurt with dill, lemon zest, and cucumber).



Sausage Bake

Freeze 1 bag of frozen broccoli with 1 package of smoked sausage. Take out of the freezer the day you are ready to eat it. Combine with cubed potatoes and other veggies if desired, drizzle with EVOO, garlic powder, oregano, sage, salt and pepper. Toss and bake. (Note: I have tried freezing the potatoes with this...it doesn't taste as good so I only buy the freezable ingredients and add the fresh ones later.)

Bake at 425 for 45 minutes - 1 hour.

Butternut Squash Chili

1 cubed butternut squash
1 lb. ground beef, cooked
1 packet chili seasoning
A few handfuls of chopped kale
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can tomato sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar

8 hours on low. Serve over cornbread waffles (prepare Jiffy cornbread mix and cook in greased waffle maker. The bomb.)

Chicken Pot Pie

1 can cream of chicken
1/2 carton of chicken broth
1/2 bag chicken breasts
1/2 chopped celery stalk
1/2 of the chopped carrots
1/2 of the cubed potatoes
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper

Cook 8 hours on low. Add 1/2 the bag of frozen broccoli during the last 30 minutes of cooking. Shred chicken. Add filling to the pie crusts that you will freeze with this. Bake according to package instructions.

Grocery List:
Meat |
1 pork loin (2 lbs.)
2 bags of chicken breasts
2 lbs. ground Italian sausage, cooked
6 lbs. ground beef, cooked
1 package of smoked sausage
1 lb. ground beef, cooked

Produce |
1 sweet onion
3 green bell peppers
1 red pepper
1 bunch mint
1 lemon
1 celery stalk
1 small bag of the carrots
2-3 red potatoes of the cubed potatoes
1 bunch kale
1 cubed butternut squash

Seasoning |
Cinnamon
Oregano
1 packet chili seasoning
1 Memphis BBQ seasoning packet
Brown sugar
Cumin
Salt and pepper
Garlic powder
1 bay leaf
Basil
Brown sugar
Montreal Steak seasoning
EVOO
1 egg
Bread crumbs

Canned |
 1 can diced green chilis
2 cans cream of chicken
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 carton of chicken broth

Refrigerator/Freezer |
8 oz. sour cream
1 tub mango salsa
1 tub medium salsa
1 package cream cheese
2 bags of frozen broccoli florets
1 package ready-made pie crusts

Dried Goods |
1.5 cups cooked brown rice
1 box spaghetti noodles
Hoagies
1 package pitas
1 box jiffy cornbread
2 packages of tortillas
1 bag of pretzel rolls

Other|
1/2 bottle red wine








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

30 Gluten-Free Crock Pot Meals that Won't Break the Bank

In honor of my dad, this round of crock potting is gluten-free. Over the summer my dad was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and when I found out, I cringed for him. My dad, like me, loves food - all kinds of food but especially pastas, pizzas, bread. How on earth could we take out so many delicious foods that fall under the category of "gluten" and still be satisfied? Apparently it's not as hard as I thought. These recipes are REALLY good, completely satisfying, super easy, and very affordable. I did 30 meals for $168 (this includes a strainer I needed plus disposable trays for the two freezer meals). Keep in mind these recipes are NOT Paleo or AIP. They are simply GLUTEN FREE. That also doesn't mean fat-free or calorie-free. Sorry, folks! ;) You also won't find any cream of whatchamacallit or seasoning packets. Not because I'm completely opposed to them (though I do know they are highly processed and not good for us), but because most, if not all of them...
41 comments
Read more

How We Painted Our Cabinets {and Totally Transformed Our Kitchen}

About 9 months ago I took the plunge and painted our kitchen cabinets. I feel like this is the DIY project that most people are afraid to tackle because, hello! It is the kitchen. So much time is spent in the kitchen and it really is the focal point of the home – if it’s done sloppy, wrong or doesn’t turn out as expected it would be a huge headache and a lot of money to fix. However, this is probably the best DIY project our family has done. Not only did it make a HUGE impact on our home and main living space but it was extremely cost effective at only $150. Once upon a time, our kitchen looked like this: Now it looks like this: It was pretty yellow before. Maple was everywhere. Maple cabinets, maple floors. I walked in this room and it felt like it was constantly glowing (even after I painted the walls a beautiful shade of “perfect greige”). Anyhoo, I knew I wanted a white kitchen. I feel like white cabinets appear decade after decade. They are timeless and cla...
7 comments
Read more

A Humble Encourager

"Going from 2 to the 3 was the absolute hardest ," say so many mamas to the mama pregnant with her third baby with a plastered smile on her face. And it makes sense - you go from man-to-man defense to zone-defense. You run out of hands that can grab on to kids. The parents are officially outnumbered. I get it. It's a fair warning. I don't mind people telling me this because I think it's probably true. I don't think people purposely say it to instill fear or anxiety but sometimes I think people (myself included) can get so hung up on the hard, worn-out and exhausting parts that we forget to glorify the good stuff and give credit to God. Last week I was reading Titus. It is a tiny book squished in the middle of the New Testament. Chapter 2 is about teaching and it breaks it down into groups: older and younger men, and older and younger women. Verses 2:7-8 says: "In your teaching show integrity, seriousness, and soundness of speech that cannot be cond...
3 comments
Read more