Freezer Meals

[moodlymoo]

I have a massive back and pelvic surgery coming up the day before thanksgiving

and no help since my husband left 2 weeks ago. I am in serious need of recipes I can make and throw in my freezer for myself and 4 kids. I have found a few on the internet but they all seem to be the same. I need healthy recipes that dont have to contain meat. So far I have tamales, a few different soups, enchiladas, I made pasta sauce, taco meat, and a pot pie. Please help me out!

 

[Pumpkinpup]

Veggie Lasagne

Box of Barilla no boil lasagne pasta
2 eggs
1 15 oz container ricotta cheese
16 oz shredded mozzarella
2 medium zucchini squash or one small egg plant
2 cans hunts spaggetti sauce

1. Slice veggies thin and set to side
2. combine ricotta and eggs and stir well
3. spread thin layer of sauce on bottom of deep baking dish
4. put 4 uncooked sheets of pasta on top of sauce
5. add layer of ricotta mixture
6. layer of veggies
7. layer of mozzerella
8. then a layer of sauce
Repeat layers 4 through 8 until you are about 1 inch from top of dish.
Be certain the sauce is your final layer and then sprinkle well with mozzerella
Bake covered with foil for 50 minutes at 375

 

[Pumpkinpup]

Hope all goes well. Hang in there sweetie!

 

[Pumpkinpup]

Shepards Pie

1 LB lean ground pork, beef or turkey
1 large can mixed veggies
1 16 oz bag shredded cheddar
4 large potatoes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
butter
sour cream
salt and pepper

Brown meat
Boil potatoes and then mash with butter, sour cream and salt/pepper to taste (Mashed Potatoes)
Combine veggies and soup
In bakin dish layer meat on bottom, then veggie mixture, top with potatoes and sprinkle cheese on top.
Bake for 45 minutes at 350 until cheese is lightly browned

 

[jcatblum]

Check out once a month mom & money saving mom. Both of those sites do freezer cooking. Around here the favorites are enchiladas, pizza pasta casserole & pot pie & a few others. All of my recipes come from those sites or food.com

I have taste of homes freezer cooking book, most of the recipes are probally not what I would consider healthy though.

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

Quiche!

This is just a guideline, very adaptable! I make one per adult and split one between the kids (ages 6 and 7) and it all gets eaten in one meal. Everyone gets their own flavors, so no one complains. Pepperoni and olive; chicken, sundried tomatoes, and broccoli; pesto chicken and onion; sausage and bleu cheese... all work well (and ALL in my house get spincach, kale, or chard whether they like it or not! I sneak in greens everywhere i can and they don't mind them here!) and even people who don't like quiche like my 'recipe'. Its also a great way to clean out the fridge, you can put in almost anything.

You need:
shredded cheese
veggies and/or meats
eggs
milk
seasonings
frozen hashbrowns, shredded baked potatos, or tater tots for the crust

How to Do it:
Grease a pie tin and form a crust out of potatoes about 1/4" thick. You can mix in shredded cheese and minced onions and garlic if you like- it's good!
Bake this potato crust until it starts to get brown and crispy. I usually do 400 degrees for as long as it takes me to prep the rest of the ingredients, than a few minutes on broil.
Meanwhile chop/shred/precook your veggies, cheese, and meat, and mix up your seasonings in (a french toast-like consistency of) eggs and milk. It takes roughly 3 eggs for one regular sized quiche.
When your crust is browned, pull it out, turn the oven down to 350-375, and layer in your meats and veggies- put flat things like spinach and pepperoni on the bottom, chunky things next, then cheese on top.
The ladle the goo on. In general, as long as you have enough to begin to see it around the edges of your filling, it will be enough. You can always add MORE, but my crowd are not big egg eaters so I keep it minimal; just enough to hold it all together.
Then just bake it until the middle doesn't jiggle when you gently shake it side to side (at least 30 minutes, but the rest depends on how thick it is)
You can freeze in pie tins or in plasticware. Its a little better fresh, but it isn't bad reheated.

 

[BettyR]

OH MAN THAT SUCKS!!!!

How old are your children?

When my twin girls (the babies of the family) started JR High I went back to work. I used to write detailed recipes for fairly simple meals like Tuna Noodle Casserole, Spaghetti and Meat Sauce, Chili Cheese Dogs, Tacos, Taco Soup, a roast seasoned and stuck in the oven with some veggies..... and leave it for them with the ingredients in the frig. The two older kids a boy and a girl both had after school jobs so they couldn't do the cooking but the two younger kids came home on the bus 3:30 every day. They had plenty of time to cook supper and have it ready when the rest of the family got home. They learned how to cook, LOL we had a few interesting meals at first LOL, but they got better and now they are both really, really good cooks and they both love to cook.

 

[moodlymoo]

Quote:
13,11,6,& 4

 

[jcatblum]

Quote:
13,11,6,& 4

Mine are 11 &13. My 13 yr old can cook almost anything, breads, cakes, casseroles, most meats-- with help of a good thermometer. 11 yr old tries, she can do simle things, most everything out of an old Betty Crocker cookbook she has mastered. I would have the kids make a list of what they want to cook while you are down & stock the pantry with the ingredients. They will do fine! You need to worry about keeping yourself strong & healthy. Kids can live off ramen noodles & cereal if they need too.

 

[KenK]

I started cooking when I was ten. Could put a simple meal on the table at that age, hamburgers, spahgetti, chili and the like. My niece and nephew are 15 and can't make a PB&J sandwich. : (

As mentioned above lasagna freezes very well. If you don't trust the kids with a big pot of boiling pasta water you could cook spaghetti and put that in the bottom of a casserole and top with any number of sauces and freeze that. Otherwise, just reheat a jar of sauce to go on freshly cooked pasta.

A broccoli and rice casserole freezes well, don't really have a recipe but mix cooked rice and lightly steamed broccoli with some cheese sauce and mix it all together.

Some more will come to me directly.