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Easy Freezer Meals

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The name of my cooking game is efficiency. I cook for efficiency only.

If your looking for Martha Stewart caliber dinners or dinners that would impress your all-natural-eating-yogi neighbor, you will not find that here.

If you are looking for simple efficient ways to feed your family then welcome to my blog and I am excited to share my time and money saving ways of prepping and freezing dinners with you.

**A note about me: I am a stay at home mom with four kids, three boys ages 5, almost 4 and 2, and a 7 month old daughter. My kids are all little so my dinners may stretch a little farther than yours because my young children eat like they have like tummies. And my sweet husband… I never put anything in front of him that he does not in return tell me, “this is the best dinner I’ve ever had, thank you for making dinner.” He is very gracious husband.

I cook for mostly children so almost everything on here is kid tested and approved.

In this post you will find two different sets of recipes. A starter freezer meal recipe list and the mother-load of recipes.

The starter list contains mostly crock pot recipes with simple ingredients to just get your feet wet in the world of freezer meal cooking. I even have included a list of ingredients at the end of this post.

The mother-load recipe list is if you are a go getter, sleeves rolled up and game face on ready to bust out an entire day of productivity. You will be tired but at the end you will be thrilled with all you accomplished in one day!

I prefer to shop one day and cook the next so I am only focused on one thing at a time. I do not feel any shame in putting a movie on for my kids or sending them out with their dad so I can get my cooking done. I also sacrifice my beloved nap on cooking day. Like I said: game face.

You will need: 

Plenty of Ziplock Freezer Bags (I double bag everything)

Sharpie 

Aluminum Foil Pans (I’ve heard from a friend you can buy these in bulk at Sam’s Club)

Saran Wrap or Wax Paper

Aluminum Foil

Cutting Board and good knives

Empty Dishwasher (I like to clean as I go)

Empty trash can (I don’t have time to waste taking out the garbage)

Apron (Check out ckstitches on etsy for cute handmade aprons from a friend.)

For Freezer Space:

I don’t keep much in my freezer except my dinners, Eggos (my middle two sons love Eggos), Chicken Nuggets, Popsicles, Uncrustables and steam fresh vegetables.

I have a freezer that is a pull out freezer underneath my fridge. I ditch all the bulky packaging of the Eggos, Popsicles, Uncrustables and those are all loose or in ziplocks in the top two drawers of my freezer. This leaves the two deeper bottom cavities of the freezer strictly for meals. You can also stagger when you buy your freezer junk. If you know your cooking at the beginning of the month maybe wait until mid month to restock your chicken nuggets and corn dogs when you’ve depleted your dinner stash a little.

Also, do not forget to press all the air out of your ziplock bags.

For Planning:

I have a dry erase monthly calendar on my refrigerator where I plan out all our meals. I have also found it helpful to plan in iCalendar on my iPhone or iMac. Then your planning is saved electronically.

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For weekly planning I have an old picture frame on my counter which I have put cheery scrapbook paper inside and scrapbooking sticker letters. I write out what we are eating weekly in dry erase marker on the glass.

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I pull meals from the freezer two-three at a time the day before I need the first one and keep them in the fridge.

For Fun:

I like productive cooking with a friend. Someone needs to pack up their stuff in a cooler and someone needs to share their kitchen but it is fun being productive and kicking mom life butt when you’re doing it with someone else.

Please share your pictures with me of your freezer meal cooking productivity on Instagram @rachelann314 . We can all kick mom life butt together and celebrate all productivity.

Cheers to cooking for efficiency. Recipes found in the links below. 

The Starter Recipes

Starter Recipes Grocery List

The Mother-Load

Starter Freezer Meals

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The Starter List = 17 Dinners


Smoked Mozzarella and Tomato Meatloaf (2 nights of dinner) 

Everything goes in ziplock. Double bag and label with sharpie. 

1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound lean ground turkey (I skipped this and doubled the beef)
1 sleeve low-sodium saltine crackers, crushed (I used breadcrumbs)
2 eggs, beaten
1 med yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced (or 1-2 tsp Garlic Galore blend)
1 tsp black pepper
4 Tbsp Wildtree Smoked Mozzarella and Tomato Blend or (you can use a package of Italian Dressing)

I will thaw this in the fridge and cook in the crockpot on low for 5-6 hours then top with ketchup for the last 30 minutes.

 

The Best Burgers EVER! (I divide and put into two separate bags making 2 dinners)

 Everything goes in ziplock. Double bag and label with sharpie. 

2 pounds ground beef
1 tsp Wildtree Chipotle Lime Rub (OR 1 tsp Cajun Seasoning)
1 tsp Wildtree Rancher Steak Rub & Seasoning or substitute Ranch Dressing Dry Seasoning package

I will thaw in the fridge and then patty the burgers and cook in the skillet. Last month I made these sliders with bacon and muenster cheese on top. Delicious.


Easy Crock Pot pulled Pork (I divide and put into two separate bags making 2 dinners)

Everything goes in ziplock. Double bag and label with sharpie. 

5-6 lb pork roast (boneless or bone in, either works!)
2 onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups broth (beef, chicken, or vegetable)
salt & pepper

Cook on high for 6-8 hours, or until it’s falling apart and easy to shred. Enjoy!
**If you are freezing this recipe, just dump all the ingredients into the freezer bag and freeze. Allow to thaw overnight in the fridge, then just dump in the crockpot and cook 🙂

http://www.whoneedsacape.com

 

Cranberry Pork Tenderloin (2 dinners)

Everything goes in ziplock. Double bag and label with sharpie. 

1 pork tenderloin (1 pound)
1 can (14 ounces) whole-berry cranberry sauce
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Sear tenderloin on all sides in a hot skillet. Then bake 45 minutes at 375.

http://www.tasteofhome.com

 

Applesauce Barbeque Chicken

 Everything goes in ziplock. Double bag and label with sharpie. 

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 t ground pepper
2/3 cup chunky applesauce
2/3 cup BBQ sauce (I used Brown Sugar/Hickory)
2 T brown sugar
1 t chili powder

Thaw
Bake 375 for 30-40 minutes Serves 4.
http://www.whoneedsacape.com

 

Chicken Tacos (2 dinners)

Everything goes in ziplock. Double bag and label with sharpie. 

3 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup taco seasoning

Dump into crockpot frozen
Add 1 cup water
Cook on high 4 hours

 

Beef Tortellini Soup (2 dinners) 

 Everything except tortellini and green beans goes in ziplock. Double bag and label with sharpie. 

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/slow-cooker-beef-tortellini-soup/f09fea6a-6916-4cf2-ac97-b494c1832bd6

1lb cooked ground beef
1large onion, chopped (3/4 cup)
1large carrot, chopped (3/4 cup)
1medium stalk celery, chopped (1/2 cup)
2cloves garlic, finely chopped
1teaspoons sugar
1can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
2cans (10 1/2 oz each) condensed beef consommé
1teaspoon dried basil leaves
2cups frozen cheese-filled tortellini
1cup Green Giant® Valley Fresh Steamers™ frozen cut green beans

Thaw. Place everything in the crockpot on low for 8 hours. The last 30 minutes add cheese filled tortellini and green beans.


Chicken Tortilla Soup (2 dinners)

Everything with the exception of corn tortillas and vegetable oil goes in ziplock. Double bag and label with sharpie. 

1 pound shredded, cooked chicken

1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes,
mashed
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile
peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
7 corn tortillas
vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn and cilantro. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
3. Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet.
4. Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup.

via allrecipes.com

Italian Marinated Flank Steak (I buy a package at Costco of two flank steaks and divide into two bags)

2 Tbsp Wildtree Italian Salad Dressing Mix (or Italian dressing mix)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2-3 Tbsp Wildtree Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil (or olive oil)
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 pound beef flank steak
1 medium red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
1 medium green bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
1 large yellow onion, sliced into thin strips

 

One Simple Way To Survive Preschool

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It happened on our eight minute drive.

DJ Shuffle was playing in the car as we drove down that one road on our way to preschool. I was half awake and mostly consumed with getting back home to get the end of the year teacher gifts in order.

What wasn’t on my mind was this was my last morning drive to preschool.

It wasn’t until our first stop light when I realized the last moment I was actually experiencing. The last morning to transport my son to school in the safety of my own vehicle before he transitions to the school bus.

My heart broke a little.

Just five years ago I was working as a first grade teacher figuring out childcare for my new baby and counting down the days I could be at home with him and pour into him before he went off to kindergarten.

Two moves and three siblings later here we are wrapping up preschool and I’ve realized that time is gone. Everyone tells you it goes by quickly but you can never know just how fast “the blink of an eye” is until you’ve experienced one for yourself.

I’m not going to tell you how fast it goes by. You’ve heard that before. What I am going to tell you is a story of the most important thing you can do for your preschooler and it has nothing to do with play dates, alphabets, numbers or trendy pottery barn monogrammed backpacks. 

On our last drive to preschool I turned DJ Shuffle down and I just did the one thing I can do for him as a mom on my way to school.

I asked him, how can I pray for you today?

This one phrase has gotten us through the last two years on that eight minute drive to preschool. Sometimes he is not sure how to respond so I ask if there is something he is worried about or something he is working really hard at learning. 

Then, I pray in the car. Then and there.

We have prayed for his safety. We have prayed for his social relationships. We have prayed he would obey his teacher. We have prayed he would have self control over his body. We have prayed he would count his teen numbers correctly and learn to color his entire coloring page. We have even prayed he would remember not to color on other’s clothes with markers.

On our last drive to preschool he just replied, “Mom… Today, I’m just really nervous about kindergarten.”

(Sigh and small tear.)

Me too.

I told him we would have all summer to pray about that and for today we can just ask God to help us enjoy what he has for us this day.

So we did. We forgot about what lies ahead and focused on that last day. That last blink of an eye and we covered it with prayer. 

The prayer is both for me and my preschooler. 

That little prayer in my minivan on my eight minute drive to school helps me remember that I am not the one controlling his “blink of an eye”. 

So whatever transitional stage you may be in as a parent, remember to pray. That blink of an eye should be covered in prayer. You all know and have heard before it goes by too fast. 

Cover it in the simplest way. Cover those mornings and those “blink of an eyes” in prayer. 

Parenting in The Pew Part 2: Where We’ve Been And Where We Are Going

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This is Part Two of my Parenting in the Pew Journey. If you missed Part one find it here: Part 1: The Journey And The Destination

Part Two: Where We’ve Been And Where We Are Going
When we think of training worshippers as a journey, it is important to use your end result or outcome to help you develop achievable expectations. It helps to start with the end in mind. Just like a wise teacher or a smart business person starts with the end result we too should think about what kind of worshipers we want our kids to be 20 years from now.

For us our destination is two fold.

We want our children to understand worship is not about them or what they “need” from church and we want our children to develop into active listeners.

So the objectives I am working on look like this:

Worship is about God.

I want my children to be active listeners in church.

These two objectives shape everything on a Sunday morning for me. Everything.

Objective 1: Children will understand worship is about God.

This means worship is not about my kids and their entertainment. I have learned this the hard way. Mountains of coloring books, sticker books, matchbox cars, mazes. I spent almost four and a half years lugging around huge bags of activities until I realized those heavy bags were not only making me sweaty but those bags were working against my most valued objective.

Twenty years from now I don’t want worshippers that spend the service only doodling in the bulletin or playing tic tac toe with their brothers. The heavy bag was working against my first objective because I was showing my kids that I valued their entertainment over my first objective.

Worship is not about my children or their entertainment.

Worship is about God.

I have learned the hard way that coloring books and activities to entertain my kids during the service are actually working against me on the journey to my final destination.

Objective 2: our children will work towards active listening in church.

My goal is not, I want my children to be still and quiet statues in the pew. I can look still and quiet while I am counting all the tiny holes in the speakers up above the PowerPoint screen.

My long term goal is to have active listeners at the end of this journey. So if my children need to wiggle or make a joyful noise unto The Lord, as long as they are actively listening, I really don’t care anymore. I have small kids. We wiggle and we don’t completely know how to whisper.

I can give myself and them grace in this. Active listening and participation looks different in a five year old than it does in an adult. Honestly, visualize a kindergarten classroom compared to a college classroom or even an eighth grade classroom.

Currently, I am teaching active listening through recording tally marks. This keeps my sons busy and aligns with my two objectives.

On Friday I preview the sermon topic, look at the songs we will sing and I help my boys think of names of God they might want to listen for during the service.

They listen for the names of God during worship and tally them either on the iPad or on paper. In the beginning, I would give them a tootsie roll or a lollipop when the made it to five tallies. I needed them to see the reward quickly at first, Then I increased the reward to ten tallies and then twenty.

Recently I have found myself hardly giving out any prizes at all as they learn to just listen without the motivation.

My hope is this will turn into listening for different words, topics and eventually main ideas and note taking.

I use a free tally app on the iPad.

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Not every week is perfect. Just on Easter Sunday my three and five year old where having a whisper fight whether or not to have eyes open or eyes closed during the congregational prayer. In these moments it helps to take a big breath and see the larger picture. One slip up on Easter might help you give yourself and your kids a little more grace when it feels like one step forward and three (or four) steps back on the journey.

Ah. And grace. There is abundant grace. I just read this Timothy Keller quote, “God does not give us hypothetical grace and a lifetime supply. He gives us what we need one day at a time.”

Ah. One Sunday at a time in the pew. God gives me the grace I need one Sunday at a time in the pew. And God is giving our kids the grace they need one Sunday at a time in the pew.

One Final Piece Helping Us Get To Out Destination
Location, Location, Location. We take a front row seat. If my conviction on worship is “worship is about God” we will have a front row seat.

I am a big Dave Matthews fan, like it or not, and when I go to a Dave concert it is all about DMB. I am going to sit as close as to the front as I can because I want the best experience I can have. Same with Reds games. No one calls the box office and says, “I would like to sit as far away from the action as possible.”

Location helps. We sit in the front so my small kids can see everything and do not have to squirm to see over rows and rows of people three times their size.

Also, in regards to location, sit in front of people who like you having your kids in the pew with you. I have developed a great friendship with the family that sits behind us. They know what I am trying to do and can fill in for me even when I am not able to be at church. My friend has even been ready to record a tally mark or her hands have been open for a quick pass of the baby when a curve ball comes my way.

Remember. This is a journey. Keep the destination in mind. Location. And grace.

“God does not give us hypothetical grace and a lifetime supply. He gives us what we need one day at a time.” -Timothy Keller

While on this parenting in the pew journey there is the grace we need. One Sunday at a time.

The Tremor Of Her

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I miss her.

Every day.

Every moment.

When I see my sons holding my baby daughter’s face in their little toddler hands – When I am holding a grudge against my husband and digging my heels in the sand because I am right about where that couch should go and he is wrong- I miss her.

mom

Recently I have noticed little ways of how I seem to be becoming more and more like her. How even though she is gone I can feel the tremor of her in my moments. Every day.

Lately I have found myself saying and doing things the same way she used to. When you are younger you never think you will become your mother. But you do.

Her voice tremors through mine even when I least expect it.

Even though I miss her, I believe she lives on in me and I am thankful to be able to share her wise and crazy quirks with my sons and my daughter with hopes they will someday feel the tremor of her in their stories as well.

mom2

That secret stash of chocolates I have in my pantry reminds me of her. She used to hide snickers bars in the freezer.

She used to sing “another one bites the dust” when one of my siblings fell asleep. When I was a child I thought this was a cruel way to respond to your babes falling asleep but now I find myself bom-bom-bomming along to that same tune as my children nod off in the evening.

The words, “I’ll give you something to cry about” have come out of my mouth when my children are crying because they can’t find their eyebrows or their bath time is too wet. Again, cruel words I swore I would never say now make a completely acceptable and appropriate phrase to pass on to my children.

I have dinner on the table almost every night at 6pm on the dot. This annoyed me as a child but now it is a part of the rhythm and routine of my daily life.

I feel the tremor of her when I make her poppyseed bread at Christmas.

I feel the tremor of her when I huddle all my kids and my husband together for a “hunga bunga” which is a completely embarrassing group hug where the whole family jumps up and down while chanting “hunga bunga.”

I play rummy like her and taught my husband. I despise cooking and do anything I can to make it as easy as possible.

Every birthday party is special for my kids just like she made birthdays special for me.

I am grateful for a season where I can move beyond the feelings of sadness and anger that go along with my grief. In the seasons of sadness and anger it is too hard to find the simple and joyful ways how the fourteen years I had with her have impacted me for a lifetime.

I know through the years the Lord will continue to reveal more ways of how she is a significant part of my story.

mom3

I am thankful my children can experience their grandmother through the simple ways she lives on through me and I pray even though they never knew her my kids will feel the tremor of her in their stories for years to come and maybe years from now they will bom bom bom along as their own children “bite the dust” for the evening.

BreastCancerRibbon

My mom lost her seven year battle with breast cancer sixteen years ago this week. If you have a memory of her please share it here in the comments. I know it would bless my siblings and I greatly to hear about more joyful memories of her and you might help us discover more ways we can feel the tremor of her in our lives as adults.