Freezer Meals #5, 6, & 7

Again, I am really loving the freezer meal concept.  It works really well for my family.  I like to cook but by the time I get home from a hectic day of being a K-12 Principal, I hardly have the energy to keep my eyes open, let alone make a healthy and filling meal for my family!

I always start out by making of list of recipes I want to try.  At this point in my freezer meal journey, I have some favorites and I find myself wanting to make more of those recipes.  However, I get bored with the same meals and my friend, Pinterest, has a way of bombarding me with pins that they think I'll like.  And, truth-be-told, they get it right A LOT.  I pin a lot of freezer meal pins.  

On average I would say that I can get 1 or 2 recipes off of someone else's freezer meal ideas.  My family is not very adventurous in the way of seasonings or ingredients.  We have a pretty traditional and mild diet.  Nothing spicy.  Nothing exotic.  We are a beef, chicken, and pork type of family.  

I have 3 kids.  A 13 year old, a 6 year old, and a 4 year old.  The oldest will eat pretty much anything edible.  He is a growing teenager who is taller than me at this point.  The 6 year old is hit or miss.  She's very much a "mood" eater. If she feels like eating, she'll scarf it down.  If she's not in the mood to eat, well she'll be sitting there all night! :)  My youngest is a toughie, too.  Some days she is a bottomless pit and will eat all day long, everything you give her.  Other days she picks at her food and I swear she hasn't eaten anything!  It's a tough crowd to please!  So, if you have adventurous eating tastes, my recipes will probably seem very bland and boring.

I haven't posted since my fourth try at this and since then I have completed #5, #6, and #7.  I also have an 8th ready to go once I get the energy to do another one!

Also, I am terrible at citing the sources I find these recipes.  Usually I have a google doc started and when I find a recipe I like, I will jot down the recipe on my list.  Once I have 10-15 recipes, I call it good and start collecting ingredients.  So, if one of these recipes is yours, I give you all due credit.  These are not MY recipes, just ones that I try.

Meal Session #5 included Chicken Taco Chili, Mongolian Beef, Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole, Beef Tips, Slow Cooker Hawaiian Pork Chops, Beef Enchiladas, Chicken Enchiladas, Bourbon Chicken, Chicken Stuffed Crescent Rolls, and Spaghetti Pie.

Here is a link to the recipes:  Session #5 Recipes
Here is a link to the shopping list:  Shopping List #5

I would say this recipe set is one of the best I've done so far.  The only one we were iffy on was the chicken taco chili.  It's a bit bland for me.  The Chicken Stuffed Crescent Rolls were a HUGE hit and SO tasty, but very time consuming to make.


Meal Session #6 included Cottage Pie, Chicken Spaghetti, Mongolian Beef, Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole, Savory Chicken, Teriyaki Chicken, Slow Cooker Hawaiian Pork Chops, Bourbon Chicken, Ranch Chicken Tacos, and Beef & Broccoli.

Here is a link to the recipes:  Session #6 Recipes
Here is a link to the shopping list:  Shopping List #6

Favorites in this one was the Ranch Chicken Tacos and Beef & Broccoli.  Both are SO good.  We did not care for the Savory Chicken at all.  I actually found it to be absolutely tasteless (which is the opposite of savory, isn't it?!).


Meal Session #7 included Spaghetti Casserole Bake, Hamburger Goulash, Slow Cooker Hawaiian Pork Chops, Mongolian Beef, Bourbon Chicken, Beef & Broccoli, Cheddar Chicken Mostaccioli, Beef Tips, Beef Enchiladas, Chicken Broccoli & Rice Casserole, Crockpot Chicken with Apples & Sweet Potatoes, Crockpot Balsamic Beef Roast with Carrots, Crockpot Pear, Apple, & Pork Deliciousness, and Ham & Cheddar Calzones.

Here is a link to the recipes:  Session #7 Recipes
Here is a link to the shopping list:  Shopping List #7

With this session, I doubled the recipes so that for 15 recipes, I really got 31 meals!  (The Chicken, Broccoli, & Rice Casserole already makes 3 so I didn't have to do any math there!)  And a side note for the spaghetti bake is that you're supposed to use the canned spaghetti in sauce already made (think Chef Boyardee).  I remember eating this when I was young, but had one HECK of a time finding it!  
This was an epically long cooking day.  I had made great progress and had half of the recipes made in 3 hours, but then kind of hit a wall.  I was prepping this stuff on the 3rd of July and had fireworks to go watch at some point.  Some family was going to be coming over and I was SO worn out from cooking, but I pulled it out at the last minute, had hubby clean the kitchen while I showered, and I made it in time to greet my family.  Fun day!

We haven't eaten through this 7th batch yet.  I had a few favorites in there as well as some new ones that I am looking forward to trying.  I did more crock-pot meals because with summer, I hate using the oven!

I also used half venison for the beef and mixed 1/2 venison, 1/2 beef in recipes.  My husband bagged his first deer this past fall so we need to use up the ground venison we got.  We aren't huge fans of it on its own, but mixed in with other ground beef, it's not noticeable to us at all!  Especially in things like lasagne or chili.


My husband and I make out a meal plan each week using 3-4 of the frozen meals and have other nights of left-overs or simpler meals.  Having that plan ahead of time really saves us time and brain-power and helps ward off that "I don't know what to make, so go get me a Big Mac" problem that I have.  

I don't want to claim that these recipes are super healthy, because I know there are sugars and sodium levels in these (and heaven forbid, the dastardly "cream of whatever" soups), but I will venture to say that these are healthier than a Big Mac and fries.  And if I get a Big Mac & fries, I have to wash it down with a hot-fudge sundae, so ya know, I'm thinking this is a good deal ahead of that curve! :)

I've already planned session #8, but haven't made a shopping list or bought any ingredients.  I'm just slowly planning.  This is my favorite part, the planning and organizing.  That's my thing.  Organize, organize, organize! :)  {Here's a sneak peak to #8!}

Happy Freezer Cooking!
-JR

Reading

Ali has been reading books back to me lately after I read them to her.

A few nights ago we read the Mr. Mischief book. The way she said "Mr. Mischief" was so cute! She cracks me up!

She also amazes me with how well she tells back a story. She really listens and re-tells almost every detail.

I am so proud of her. 

In these pictures, she's reading to her baby sister, Adrienne.  She's such a good big sister! 

Sometimes I am worried (well, not sometimes, really. Actually it is almost always!) that I am not doing everything I can to activate and engage her brain. I constantly worry that I'm missing or forgetting something. But, in moments like these, she calms my heart and reminds me that I can't be a perfect mommy, but I am doing a pretty good job so far.

Ali has taught me so many things in her mere 2 1/2 years of life: patience, unrelenting all-consuming love, and faithfulness in God.

I can't imagine what more she'll teach me in the future, but I know she is a blessing straight from God, right into my arms & heart. <3