Want to get ahead of the game and fill your freezer with some easy lunches? Have I got the plan for you!
Last week was Fill the Freezer Week. I mean, really. filled. the. freezer. There is no way to squeeze anything more in there.
It took a lot of work to shop and cook and play Freezer Tetris, but it worked. You can see all the grocery shopping I did last week here.
Stick a fork in me. I am done. But, I have a full freezer!
I’m so happy when this happens. You know what this means, right? I am ahead of the game! At least in one area. It won’t last long. Like a freshly-mopped floor, my work will come undone. But, for a few blessed minutes meals I am ahead.
I’ve created a meal plan for the week with all these yummy things I made and I am over the moon happy.
Easy Lunches for the Freezer
Last month I did breakfasts. This month is lunches. Next month? Yep, dinners.
Here’s what I ended up doing for my freezer cooking daze this month.
I shopped Tuesday afternoon and evening at two stores to get the things that I needed to cook. I am so tired of the grocery store. Ha! Thought I would never say that.
That night I made tacos with some of the beef I bought at Costco. While the package was open, I went ahead and made the hamburger patties to freeze. Beef is so expensive these days, it’s almost the same price to get burgers at In-N-Out, but I believe it’s still healthier to make them at home, particularly when I make homemade buns, which is my plan.
The next day was Wednesday. The morning was sucked up by medical appointments, so our school didn’t finish until well after four. I got a pretty late-in-the-day start on freezer cooking.
Thankfully, I had the foresight to put a bag of chicken tenders in the Crock-pot to cook for the shredded chicken that’s part of the plan. Nothing could have been easier. Seriously. It was so tender that I didn’t even have to shred it. A few flicks with my kitchen tongs and it was all done!
I stashed that in the fridge to chill while we finished school. This was an important step. Some people don’t know that proper chilling is the key to avoiding freezer burn and food that looks like Elsa gave it a dirty look. Cold food freezes quickly. Quick freezing reduces the ice crystals and freezer burn. So, always chill food prior to freezing, and prior to assembly when possible.
The Chicken Bacon Subs do better filled with cold ingredients than hot. The bread won’t get soggy from hot fillings and the sandwich freezes more quickly.
I hadn’t made the subs in a long time. For ease of serving, I made them on torta rolls from Costco this time. This worked perfectly! I also cheated and bought precooked bacon at Costco. It’s so nice to just pull a few slices out of the freezer. I doctored up the garlic butter with a little Herbes de Provence (super yummy!) and left out the cheese. Some of my kids have cheese issues, so it’s better to leave it off.
I also went off plan and made a sausage and pepper sandwich instead of the Pizzawiches. I already had a batch of those in the freezer, so I went with an experiment. Can’t wait to try them!
Once I had the sandwiches done, I got the tamales ready to go. They are so good and easy, my cheater tamales. I ended up taking a dinner break at this point.
The tamales were ready to cool by the time we were done eating and all cleaned up. That left me with pizzas and burritos to make. The littles helped me with the pizzas. I ended up doing the burritos the next day because I was wiped out.
But the freezer’s full! It was totally worth it. I’ve now got over 100 lunches for our family into the month. The kids and I will probably do a lot of them at home where we can reheat in the oven, but FishPapa can take the tamales and burritos to work with him.
Make some easy lunches!
Here’s what’s included in this month’s freezer cooking plan:
- Cheesy Corn Chile Tamales – 1 batch (about 30 tamales)
- 5-Ingredient Pizzas – 2 batches (20 small pizzas)
- Pizzawiches – 2 batches (18 large or 36 small sandwiches)
- Chicken and Bacon Subs – 2 batches (2 large loaves or 12 sandwiches)
- Green Chile Burritos – 2 batches (24 burritos)
- Burger Patties for the Freezer – 2 batches (8 patties)
- Pulled Chicken for subs and extra for salads – 1 batch (using 2.5 lb bag) – directions included in the plan
- Baked Bacon – 1 pound use some in subs; freeze the extra for salads and sandwiches
- Jamie’s Spice Mix for use in recipes – 1 batch
If you’d like to prep this cooking plan, you can download it here.
Not in the mood for lunches? No problem. CHECK OUT ALL MY FREEZER COOKING PLANS HERE.
Have you done any freezer cooking lately?
Tell us what you’ve been up to! What’s chilling in your freezer?
wendy
The link for this page is not working. When I click on it it just goes back to the original page.
Jessica Fisher
Thanks so much for letting me know! We did some site changes last week and you found a bug. The post is updated and you can find the cooking plan here: http://lifeasmom.com/easy-lunches-freezer-cooking-plan-2/
Lori
Hi Jessica-
Did you assemble the pizza’s with all of the ingredients and then freeze?
Thanks!
Jessica Fisher
Yes, I laid out all the pita breads on trays, sauced and topped them, and then frozen them until the toppings were firm. Then I wrapped them for freezing. Bake from frozen like you would a pizza from the freezer section of the store.
AmyG
So here’s a question and/or a challenge. My daughter goes to college and works, so is rarely home for meals. I often run out of leftovers to send with her and she gets tired of sandwiches and salads, although this chicken and bacon sandwich is next on my list to make for her. At Costco (oh, how we love Costco!) we have seen Asian noodle bowls that she thinks look good. I would like to make my own, add beef, pork or chicken for protein and her favorite vegetables. She isn’t a fan of rice which would make these easy because I know cooked rice freezes well. She likes the somewhat chewy wheat noodles, a little wider and flatter than spaghetti, that I find in the Asian section of my Grocery store, called yaka soba. As the Internet has not revealed a recipe for freezer noodle bowls, I have questions. I “think” the noodles will freeze successfully if cooked al dente and cooled (that must be how they make the frozen noodle bowls), the broccoli and carrots if first blanched and cooled, the protein if stir fried and cooled. Should the sauce, probably teriyaki, be mixed with the vegetables and protein component before freezing, poured on top of the bowl contents before freezing or packed separately to be added when the frozen bowl is heated. Any tips on successfully freezing something like this or is the only way to know just doing it.
Jessica Fisher
That sounds yummy! I think your plan is a good one. Maybe make one and see how it works before you make 20? I’d be tempted to add the sauce later as it could make the noodles soften more, that can happen during freezing.
Rose
I almost died at what you spend shopping. I went this past week and spent just under $60.00 to feed a family of four. I have a budget of $180.00 a week but usually spend under $100.00
Jessica Fisher
Just for clarification. I don’t spend that every week. I bought a month’s worth of lunch groceries at one time plus stocked up on breakfast stuff. My budget is $1200 for the month, which is less than your budget doubled for 8 people. 🙂
Cherie
Nice work! I realized yesterday I need to start thinking about summer lunches – and need to figure out some fast eats for my teens – they work with special needs kids in the summer and the goal is always to eat in as few seconds as possible because your buddy is usually off and running as soon as you blink LOL – I am going to show them this list to start the conversation . . .
Jessica Fisher
What a wonderful way they’re serving your community! Love that!
Cherie
As with most things – they feel they gain more than they give 🙂 But they would like to not come home starving LOL
Tara
Do you wrap each torta for the chicken bacon sub individually in foil? Do you heat them up in oven from freezer or fridge?
Jessica Fisher
Yes, I wrap them individually and reheat either way, frozen or thawed. I’m going to try reheating in the Crock-pot. I think it should work well. Hoping.