Last weekend was a crazy one. I had a to-do list a mile long, got really overwhelmed by it, and my very, very sweet husband helped me conquer it all.
On Sunday, my goal was to get some freezer meals in the freezer for after baby arrives. We succeeded in making them all within 3 hours…dishes and all!
First off, we got started on the shrimp creole from Add a Pinch. We had to start this one first since it required some simmering and I doubled the recipe since it looked so good!
While the creole was simmering, I got started on the Queso Fundido from Life as Mom. It was probably the simplest dish we did all day, but I can’t wait to dig into it later! All that was required with this meal was sautéing some onions and hot italian sausage, putting it in a bake safe and freezer safe container, topping with cheese, and freezing it! 😀
While I was busy watching the stove, my husband was busy cutting the gross fat pieces off of the 8 organic chicken breasts that we bought. I ended up only marinating 6 of the 8 breasts and used the other 2 breasts for the enchiladas (keep scrolling down for that recipe).
In two quart-sized freezer bags, I made the dijon marinade from Life as Mom and in the other bag I just squirted a bunch of Italian dressing in with the chicken. We labeled them and laid them flat to freeze! Easy peasy!
We’ll end up either grilling or baking these chicken breasts this summer. 😀
Next, we prepared the enchiladas. I quickly got started on the homemade enchilada sauce since it took some time to simmer. I also boiled the chicken, sautéed the vegetables, and got the pan ready for freezing.
The only thing I did differently from the original recipe was used diced tomatoes in the enchilada sauce instead of crushed. That was totally a pregnancy brain fart, but it actually looks quite tasty with it all chunky like that! Oh, and I added the shredded chicken to it too, for added protein.
I had also made these cinnamon roll muffins from Taste & Tell for breakfast on Saturday. I adapted the recipe and used half whole wheat flour and half unbleached all-purpose flour, and used light buttermilk instead of the full fat buttermilk.
I also made just 6 of them and put them in a giant muffin pan for baking. Mmm, were they good!!! We ended up having four of them leftover, so I topped them with some of the glaze and frozen them in containers.
I did the same things from the biscuits I made on Sunday morning. (recipe to come…it’s my ALL-TIME new favorite biscuit recipe)
Freeze away!
Next, we quickly whipped up this Fiesta Black Bean Soup. So fast, so easy.
Then, I simmered some pizza/marinara sauce from Good (Cheap) Eats, on the stove for a bit. I doubled the recipe and filled two quart sized bags with the sauce and laid them flat to freeze.
Meanwhile, I prepared the pizza dough (keep scrolling down).
I used Love & Olive Oil’s recipe for frozen pizza dough for these. I adapted it slightly using unbleached all-purpose flour and a butt-load of Italian seasoning instead of her suggested seasonings. Needless to say, the dough smelled incredible!
I split the dough into two balls, wrapped them in plastic wrap and quickly put them in the freezer!
Everyone has told me how much I’ll appreciate having some healthy homemade freezer meals to have when I become a new mom. Now, I guess we just have to play the waiting game and wait for this baby AND wait to try all of these awesome freezer meals!
And for those who want to make these things as well, I’ve made a grocery list for all of these meals. Click on the image to print just this list.
I also used these freezer labels from Pinch a Little, to tape onto my containers for later.
These are the instructions for each meal for after they are frozen:
Shrimp Creole
- Thaw in the refrigerator.
Queso Fundido
- Thaw in the refrigerator.
- Bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes.
- Serve with your favorite tortilla or tortilla chips.
- Top with salsa and sour cream.
Marinaded Chicken (Dijon & Italian)
- Thaw in the refrigerator
- Grill or bake as desired.
- Serve with your favorite vegetable.
Enchiladas
- Thaw in the refrigerator.
- Bake at 350°F, covered for 30 minutes.
- Bake for uncovered for another 10 minutes until cheese has melted.
Cinnamon Roll Muffins
- Heat from frozen in the microwave for about 1.5 minutes.
Biscuits
- Toast in the toaster oven until warm and slightly browned.
Fiesta Black Bean Soup
- Thaw in the refrigerator.
- Heat in a pot until hot.
Pizza Sauce
- Thaw in the refrigerator.
- Spread on pizza dough or heat and top pasta.
Pizza Dough
- Thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
- Allow it to sit at room temperature for 2 hours to rise before baking.
- Roll out the dough into a circle.
- Top with toppings.
- Bake at 400°F until browned and bubbly.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this post and maybe you’ll end up making some of these great freezer meals! 😀
Great post! All these are such great ideas for freezer meals! I’m always looking for good freezer meals for nights when I don’t feel like cooking.
Looks awesome!! I might steal a few of these recipes if I can find time to make them this week before the baby comes 🙂
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this post! So many of my friends are having babies this year, and I’m constantly trying to figure out what to make (besides the usual go-to meals I’ve made a hundred times). This is awesome – I will definitely be forwarding it on to friends as well! 🙂
How great! When I was about to have my second kiddo I went on a cooking spree like this in preparation and it was so helpful! I have sworn that I am going to do it again, just as a time saver during the busy sports season.. thanks for the great ideas!
I’m really impressed that you have all that room in your freezer for that! Mine is always packed. It’s sad. I especially love the biscuits and cinnamon rolls! I can’t wait to see your biscuit recipe.
The baby is almost here! YAY! I’m so excited for you. 🙂
I’m impressed you had the energy to make all of that! I always meant to make meals ahead but never did. It’ll make your life so much easier!
I would suggest you be careful if you are planning to nurse the baby. All the things that you can eat now, can cause really upset bellies when it comes through your milk. I had no idea with my first and couldn’t figure out why she was so fussy ALL the time. Finally with my third I gave it all up (for just a short time) and I had the happiest, perfect baby ever!!! Suggestions to give up or limit: ANY dairy, tomatoes, greens, beans, onions, spices and worst of all (for me anyway) caffeine! I hope this can help you! And who knows, maybe you will have a good baby and not have to give it up. I really just wish I would have known with my first….
You are so prepared – impressive!! I was never very good about doing freezer meals before hand – but then again, I’ve never really had the freezer space! It all looks so good, and I’m glad you tried the muffins!
You are going to be one rock star mom! I am so impressed and pretty jealous of all those delicious meals you have lined up! I may sneak on over to your kitchen:-)
I would love to hear how your frozen pizza dough turns out. Last time we made dough it was too much for the two of us but I was hesitant to freeze it (even though I freeze everything).
i love freezer meals – we always have some in the freezer to pull out for those busy weeknight dinners. all of this sounds delicious – i think i’ll make a bunch of freezer meals tomorrow night now! =)
Wow, awesome job on the freezer meals! I will tell you, I didn’t make nearly as many meals as you but they have been a life saver these last couple weeks. As much as I loved the meals though, I really loved having some baked goods in the freezer and granola bars and I wish I had more because they’re awesome for grabbing in between meals when you’re starving and only have one hand to grab something – I don’t have much of those kind of things left, hah. You will LOVE these meals once baby arrives 😀 They look great!
This is such a great idea. I’m not even a mom or mom-to-be and I can use these. They all look great!
Hey I’m always looking for new freezer meal ideas so when I can across this link on Pinterest I was so excited! We are a family of 4 how many servings are in each of these meals as planned? I just want to make sure to have enough.
Thanks!
All of the meals are 4-6 servings with the exception of the marinated chicken. You’ll just have to marinate more than 2! 😀 Happy Cooking!