I’m not calling you a dummy. It’s just that I *am* a dummy and I was able to manage these freezer meals so that should be very inspiring to you. I am not great with food, you guys. There is a list of things I can successfully make every time and it is short. If it were an iPod it would be a shuffle. And I don’t want to get into a debate about feminism or gender roles, but cooking is kind of a huge part of being a Mormon mom – especially a SAHM. I have felt a lot of guilt about it in the past. I mean, the Beard’s entire family are all wizard chefs and I regularly struggle to just make a normal dinner for us.

Now we do share the load, which is incredibly helpful. The Beard loves to cook and is SO SO good at it so he makes 1-2 dinners per week. Every other week or so we do a CDP (Classy Dinner Party) with our best friends the Findeis’, but the other nights… well. Let’s just say we eat out wayyy more than we should and I end up eating popcorn for dinner wayyyyyyyyyy more than I should.

Anyway. I’m home now. We want to save money and eat healthier – and I want to develop this skill! I’m not sure crock pot freezer meals even qualifies as a baby step… but it’s not Beto’s drive through. I wanted to make a bunch before I had Reese but I was too intimidated. The moms who do that are like hardcore couponing moms, right? Turns out you don’t have to be. I decided to give it a try when my sister-in-law Haley was due with little Ruby Slippers and I straight up LOVED IT. So I’m back at it again to make some for my bestie cousin Chelsey who had her little (big) man Miles last week!

You guys know me. You know I’m not a Grade A Homemaker or even a Grade C Homemaker. But these were easy, fast, and actually really good. They made eating at home way more fun, and I really felt good about it. And I’m not a great chef, homemaker, blogger, or photographer. These recipes are basic and found/modified from Pinterest. I’m sure there are better recipes and ways to do it cheaper. All I’m sayin is I really enjoyed this, and when I did a Twitter poll last month of posts that would be fun to read several people also mentioned food/diet posts even though it wasn’t part of the original poll. Alrighty then. Here goes!

Easy Freezer Meals

1. Find the meals you want to make – ask friends who make them, find ways to turn your favorite meals into freezer meals, or scour Pinterest. It helps if you can line up some common ingredients that can be used in multiple meals – spinach, carrots, spices, etc. But at the end of the day I really just picked things that A. looked easy and B. I would actually WANT to eat. I doubled everything – one for a friend and one for me. So easy.
2. Write, plan, shop. Write out each recipe on a piece of paper – you don’t want to be flipping back and forth between pins and websites, trust me. Check your fridge and then lay out a big shopping list. I prefer to do one huge shopping list, but if you’re a smarty pants and use coupons/shop multiple stores for deals you can do your shopping over a few smaller trips. Do you, baby. Don’t forget to get big gallon freezer Ziplocs, black sharpies (I like the click top retractable ones for this), and some aluminum pans if you like. I also like to buy frozen or nonperishable sides to go with stuff – like a box of spanish rice to go with tacos, frozen garlic toast to go with Italian chicken, etc. When I take dinners to pregnant girls or ward people I usually throw in some drinks and a package of cookies too. PRO TIP: make it all disposable so they don’t have to wash & bring it back to you.
3. Create your workspace. I cleaned off my kitchen counter and dinner table, got Reese happily stationed in her high chair with a book, pulled out all of the ingredients and tools, and queued up my audiobook (currently Scarlet by Marissa Meyer). She’s still cute and distracting, but at least she wasn’t emptying my tupperware drawer while I tried to chop onions. 
4. Label your freezer bags carefully. Especially if you are giving them to someone else! When I took them to my sister-in-laws I also wrote a post-it note of all of the meals and the sides that went with them to put on her fridge since it’s easy to forget what’s in your freezer. Maybe that’s just me.
5. Chop all of your fruits & veggies, open up all of the cans. It’s obnoxious to have to stop and do that 5x during assembly.
6. Choose the simplest meal first and start filling your freezer bags. I do the meat or large items first, then the veggies and stuff, finally the liquids and spices. I learned the second time around that it’s easiest to use small prep bowls and mix up all of the spices and dry ingredients together and THEN pour them in the bag. It’ll be more even and not clumpy.
7. Lay them down as flat as possible and remove all of the air before sealing. Obviously the roast and big things like that are never gonna lie flat. It’s fine. Just get the air out and store them in your freezer.
8. When you want to use them, pull them out the night before to thaw in the sink, or flash thaw them in some lukewarm water for a bit before dropping them in your crock pot. PRO TIP: I like to use the crock pot cooking bags so I don’t have to soak and scrub the crock pot every time. I just drop it in the dishwasher and call it good!

Voila! Just like that I had 8 freezer meals DONE and ready to rock in under two hours. I think I’m gonna do this once a month or so and keep trying a new recipe or two each time. If you have a tried-and-true recipe for a bomb freezer meal please send it my way!

These are the recipes I used – the chicken enchiladas are actually my favorite but I’m making them tomorrow for us and a compassionate service assignment in the ward. They’re my favorite meal to make & take since they’re way easier to make for a crowd than for two.

Chili Lime Pork Tacos

• 2 lb Pork Tenderloin
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp cumin
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper (or other preferred spice)
• 3 tsp garlic powder
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes (Lime Juice + Cilantro flavor)
• Juice of 1 lime

Cook low 8 hours. Serve with tortillas for tacos/burritos, over nachos or over salads. (I usually include a box of Spanish Rice and a can of refried beans, maybe some chips & salsa too.)

Italian Chicken & Veggies

• 2 lbs frozen chicken breasts
• 16 oz bag of “California” frozen veggies, or chop your own – broccoli, cauliflower & carrots
• 3 tbsp EVOO
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tsp each: onion powder, thyme, basil, oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Cook low 6 hours. I like to put this over a light pasta like linguini with alfredo or a light marinara. It’s also great on its own!

Beef Roast

• 2 lb boneless chuck shoulder
• 1 lb carrots
• 1 lb potatoes
• 1 lb celery
• 1 small chopped onion
• 3 tbsp evoo
• 2 tbsp red wine
• Seasoning packet – roast or beef stew flavored

Cook low 7-8 hours. Check frequently to make sure it’s not getting dry. Add a bag of frozen rolls for a side.

Sausage Tomato Tortellini Soup (**Our Favorite!!)

• 1 lb Spicy Ground Italian Sausage
• 24 oz jar of tomato pasta sauce – I just choose a really basic marinara, nothing fancy
• 15 oz can of cannellini beans
• 3 handfuls of baby spinach
• 1 lb carrots peeled & sliced
• 1 small chopped onion
• 4 chicken bullion cubes

Add 4 cups of water and cook low 6-8 hours. 30 minutes before serving add 19 oz bag of dried or frozen tortellini. I like to get the frozen garlic cheese Texas Toast to go with this one.

Chicken Enchiladas (makes 2 trays)

• Cooked chicken – get a rotisserie chicken for speed, or crock pot 2-4 chicken breasts with some chicken stock and a taco seasoning packet for 6 hours
• 16 oz sour cream
• 2 large cans of green enchilada sauce
• 2 cans diced green chiles
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 4 cups “Mexican Blend” (or your preference) shredded cheese
• 1 can rotel tomatoes
• Package of large flour tortillas
• Aluminum baking pan

Shred cooked chicken and place in a large bowl. Add 3/4 container of sour cream, 3/4 of the cilantro, one can of enchilada sauce, both cans of green chiles, the can of rotel, the garlic, and 2 cups of the cheese. Mix it all together until well dispersed. Pull out baking trays (I use aluminum disposables for neighbors/friends, and use a glass pyrex for mine). Pour half of the remaining enchilada sauce can into the bottom of the trays, just enough to coat the bottoms. Lay a tortilla on your counter, fill it with 2-3 spoonfuls of the chicken mixture and then roll up tight and place in the tray. Keep going until your trays are full. Spread the remaining sour cream in a thin layer over the enchiladas, then top with the remaining enchilada sauce. Sprinkle with remaining 2 cups of cheese (or more. We like cheese sorry.) and garnish with leftover cilantro.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly. (I write this on the aluminum pan covering and tell them they can also freeze it to eat when they need it.) I usually include chips & salsa with this meal, too.

And now I only eat popcorn for dinner once a week. Enjoy!