Freezer Meals!

One of my favorite "secrets" to the life of the busy mom is freezer meals. I had not discovered these until I became a mom, but any fixer of meals can benefit from how easy they make dinner time! I wish I had known more when I was just a working wife and then perhaps, I would've cooked yummy, healthy, homemade meals a little more often. Now that I'm 2 weeks away from having Baby #3, I've finally made the time to research and prepare them. Better late than never! And I can't wait for that moment to arrive when I'm exhausted and need to get dinner on the table, and I can look in my freezer and choose from a variety of homemade options. Here are two of my favorites (found several years ago from TheBusyBudgetingMama.com) and slightly altered to fit my needs. I've made all three of these before and they are fabulous!

Curry Chicken
2-3 Chicken Breasts (cut into smaller pieces)
1 jar (16 oz) salsa
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp. curry powder

Put all ingredients into freezer bag and write on bag:
- Cook low 8 hours.
- Serve over basmati rice & with a side of garlic naan (Indian bread which is YUMMY! & found in the bakery section
at Kroger)
- Option: add sour cream to reduce heat

This is also a great meal to just make on the go and throw in your slow cooker. In fact, I most frequently make it fresh, not frozen. In this case, I cook it 3-4 hours on high, or until I can tell that the chicken is done. I also usually double all the ingredients to make multiple meals out of it. It requires so little, you might as well make it last! I've also read it's a good idea to place your freezer meals in the fridge the night before you plan to use them, so in that case, I would imagine you may not need to cook it as long either. I will let you know!

Chicken & Dumplings
2-3 chicken breasts
2 cans of condensed cream of chicken soup
2 medium gold potatoes (chopped)
half a bag of frozen peas & carrots
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp. butter
can of biscuits (not added, save for when you make!)

Put all ingredients (except biscuits) into freezer bag and write on bag:
-Place in slow cooker and cover ingredients with water
- Cook on High 4 Hours
- Take can of biscuits, open, and cut each biscuit into 4ths. Drop in slow cookers and stir around. Cook for 30 more minutes.

Pulled Pork
1 onion, chopped
1 pork shoulder ("pork butt"), 5-7 lbs
salt & pepper
2 cans Dr. Pepper
2 tbsp. brown sugar

Add everything into your freezer bag. Write on bag:
-Add 1/4 cup water when you cook.
-Cook on High 3-4 hours

I will say, I have made the pulled pork MANY times, but not from being frozen. It seems like a huge pork butt that is 7 lbs. will not fit into a freezer bag, but you can let me know! I made this recently fro my family and because it makes so much, I put a ton of it into a freezer bag for once baby comes. That way it's already actually made and just has to thaw. The last time I made it, my pork butt was a little over 7 lbs and took several hours longer than the 3-4 hours written in the recipe, so keep that in mind. You'll know it's ready when you take two forks and try to shred the meat. If it doesn't just "fall apart", then it's not ready.

I hope these are helpful and please give me feedback on what works for you!

xoxo,
Lizzie