Do not waste your time with freezer meals that will do not work. These10 make ahead freezer meals that are not casseroles are tested after three babies.
When we found out we were pregnant with our third baby, I freaked out a little bit.
We had just gotten into a rhythm with Zoey and William and were almost consistently sleeping through the night again when we realized we would be thrown back into the newborn stage of things.
Yes, I was happy that our third was on the way, but I was terrified about how it would change our dynamics and the exhaustion of it all.
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Before each child was born, I nested in the form of stocking our freezer. I poured over Pinterest recipes, categorized meals, hunted down healthier freezer meal ideas, and was genuinely sad when a meal that looked delicious was not going to make the cut.
After two previous epic freezer cooking rounds before Zoey and William were born, I knew which meals were going to work well when Hazel arrived and which I should avoid.
For instance, if you opt to make stuffed shells, you have to add an extra can of tomato sauce when you put them in the oven otherwise they will come out too dry. A rookie mistake I made after Zoey was born.
In the 22 meals I made before Hazel was born, I had a few criteria for meals that made it into the freezer:
- I had to be able to eat them one handed.
- It had to be already made. Just marinating some meat or putting ingredients together to throw in the Instant Pot was not going to work for me. The entire meal had to be done and oven-warming ready.
- There needed to be a mix of pasta, Mexican, turkey, and chicken recipes.
- I wanted more than just dinners, but an equal number of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks.
- They had to be meals the older kids (ages 2 and 4) would most likely eat.
- It had to be easy to make unless I already knew it was beyond delicious. (Enter stuffed shells, lasagna, and enchiladas. Good bye chicken pot pie.)
Freezer Feasts gives you over 40 freezer-friendly recipe ideas that are organized into 10 different sets. Each set contains a breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack. All you have to do is buy the items on the done for you grocery list and you can easily make all four dishes in the set to store in your freezer.
Get your Freezer Feasts recipe ebook here.
Top 10 Make Ahead Freezer Meals That Are Not Casseroles
After cooking more than 40 different freezer meals in the last few years, I have our top 10 absolute favorites.
Breakfast Burritos
This is the OG breakfast freezer meal that I made even before I was preparing for postpartum exhaustion. With easy ingredients that you probably already have on hand, whipping up a batch of scrambled eggs is a quick job.
Many a morning was spent eating a breakfast burrito one handed while rocking a new baby in the other around 10am when I realized I forgot to eat. It is a warm, comforting breakfast after a long, wakeful night of newborn life.
Blueberry Oat Muffins
While I am not a huge baked goods person in general, I cannot resist anything with blueberries, or the ease of nuking a muffin for 30 seconds and being good to go.
Muffins are also an easy recipe to make with young kids who really want to help. I have memories of Zoey and William standing on stools in the kitchen and pouring in ingredients while I tried to keep my big belly out of the way.
Sweet Potato Lentil Pockets
It is not easy to find a vegetarian freezer friendly recipe that is not pasta. This one took a little extra time to cook both lentils and sweet potatoes, but it was totally worth it.
Throwing one of these pockets into the microwave and being able to eat it one-handed during the midday meltdowns was key. Since it is a meal that is out of the ordinary for our family, it felt rather special to be eating it amidst the chaos.
Turkey and Swiss Sandwiches
Yes, you can throw a sandwich together in just a few minutes on a regular day, but add in a day that you are one-handed, sleep-deprived, in pain, and have two other people needing food and attention.
Putting a pre-made sandwich in the microwave, wrapping it in a paper towel, and eating it as you get everything else taken care of ensures that you eat.
Spinach Sausage Shells
Fair warning that stuffed shells are labor intensive.
Fair warning that these are 100% worth the time.
After all three children were born, this was the one meal that we would grab first from our freezer stash. It could be that I just adore anything with pasta and cheese, but this dish is warming and comforting after those long days.
You can add some cooked sausage to these as well.
Chicken Pesto Calzones
Take your pick of Parks and Rec quotes about how delicious or terrible calzones are, but this is one of those meals that I put some random things in a bowl for and it turned out completely delicious.
When the whole family goes back for more, you know you have a winner.
This recipe is included in Freezer Feasts Set 11, which you can only get by signing up for my email list. It includes a breakfast, lunch, dinner (calzones), and a snack that are all freezer friendly. Print the shopping list and follow the plan of attack to get everything made in no time.
Enchiladas
It took me a while to learn how to cook, which you can read more about here, and enchiladas were one of the meals I was terrified of trying.
When I finally made them, I was shocked at how delicious they were and how simple the ingredients to make them were. They are super versatile as well and you can opt for meat or vegetarian fillings.
Enchiladas are slightly labor intensive, but once you get into the burrito rolling swing of things, you can easily make 2-3 pans to have on hand. They reheat so well!
Almond Joy Energy Bites
I made these little bites of healthier heaven even before babies and always in a double, or triple batch.
One of my students tried one once when we were eating lunch together in my classroom and for the rest of the school year he tried to convince me to make a batch solely for him.
These are another fun recipe to make with the kids because they can get their hands dirty when they roll the balls.
Blueberry Cheesecake Bites
Straight out of the freezer as a dessert or snack, these little bites of goodness are easy to grab and go.
There were too many times that I had on a half dirty shirt, had just finished a marathon baby feeding session, and was utterly exhausted that I would just grab 2-3 of these from the freezer. That kick of energy powered the next cluster feed.
Energy Yogurt Bites
The only reason I can keep enough of these in the freezer for myself is if I add a few nuts to the top. The kids are purists and want theirs plain.
Regardless, these bites are quick to make and serve well for a snack or dessert that feels almost decadent.
Top 5 Freezer Meals We Could Not Stand
While those are the top 10 freezer meals we absolutely love, here are the five that we could not stand. The ones that sounded good, but once they reheated we had to grit our teeth and eat because we do not like to waste food.
Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
This did not work out. The cheese did not melt and everything just got greasy and rubbery. Avoid it!
Beans for Burritos
I cooked down some black beans and froze them into ice cube trays to use as a spread in burritos.
It worked, but I had to force myself to eat it. Save the time and just buy some black bean spread already made.
Tortellini Tomato Soup
Tortellini is delicious, yes, but pasta is generally easy to make even when you haven’t slept and only have one hand.
Soup is not an easy dish to eat one handed, which is a main criteria for any meals you are preparing for postpartum. This one just made everything a mess and was not flavorful enough to make the subsequent babies cut.
Bagel Pizza
I really wanted these to work, but I tried twice and could not get it right. The cheese kept falling off, the bagels would be too chewy on top and too hard to bite on the bottom, and they were a general mess.
Taquitos
Who doesn’t love a crunchy, cheesy tortilla?
I tried taquitos before William was born and found them to be too labor intensive for very little nutritional value. Skip it.
Make your freezer stocking time more efficient with Freezer Feasts. Start with Set 11, which you can only get by signing up for my email list. It includes a breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack that are all freezer friendly.
Print the shopping list and follow the plan of attack to get everything made in no time.
I’m Brooke Selb, a Personal Trainer and Health Coach specializing in helping busy moms and moms to be to easily juggle mom life with family friendly recipes, and easy exercise routines to help you achieve your fitness goals that fit in with your already busy life with sound nutritional advice.
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