A Freezer Full

In an effort to close the gap between the adult/mother/wife I want to be and the person I really am, I have started a freezer meal plan.  Cooking isn't my forte and meal planning is strenuous.  Every time I get on track, I get tired and distracted by everything else I am trying to accomplish.  I have admittedly been doing much better the last few months but there is still room for improvement.  I'd also like to decrease my grocery bill.  Last month I did a test drive of cooking a bunch of freezer meals ahead of time and vaccum sealing them for freshness with my friend Annie.  It worked out splendidly.

So with the aid of two of my sisters in law, I am going to start making 20 excellent entres ahead of time every month.  Then we will have 5 meals a week planned and prepped.  The other 2 will be vegetarian or eating out occasionally.  Some meals are fully cooked and just need to be dumped in a pan to reheat.  Others are ready to be put in a dish and baked.  They look delicious.  I'm so excited for dinner this month.  We emailed back and forth until we had a good list of meals and recipes ready. Then we divided up the list and brought all of our groceries up to the lake house last weekend.

In five hours of intense food prep and cooking we made three sets of 20 meals.  Everything was vacuum sealed and put into the freezer. We filled the entire thing top to bottom.  I am totally in love with my foodsaver.  Now I have a plan for the month with lists of sides etc. ready.  Wish me luck!  It will be interesting to see how smoothly things go and see what my food bill total is. 

Taco Meat- shredded chicken with lime, redwine vinegar, seasoning
Crock pot chicken mix - shredded chicken, beans, corn, chicken, salsa and add cream cheese when you finish it in the crock pot and serve over rice- makes 2 meals
Lemon Garlic Chicken- salt, pepper, garlic powder, a lemon, chicken
White chicken chilli- olive oil, cumin, onion, oregano, chicken broth, 2 cans Great Northern Beans, can corn, can green chilies, lime,
Russian Chicken  - Russian dressing (or French or Catalina, Russian is hard to find and they pretty much taste the same), apricot jam, onion soup mix and chicken breasts.
Cranberry Chicken- Russian dressing, cranberry sauce, onion soup mix and chicken breasts.
Chicken adobo- onion, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar- serve over rice
Taquitos-  cream cheese, green salsa, lime, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, cilantro, green onions, chicken, pepperjack cheese, corn tortillas, kosher salt
Spicy Honey Chicken- Garlic powder, chili powder, onion powder, coriander, kosher salt, cumin, honey, cider vinegar
Sloppy Joes- 1 lb. ground beef, onion, green pepper, garlic, ketchup, mustard, ibrown sugar, red wine vinegar, worcestershire sauce, tomato paste
Chicken roll ups-  package of crescent rolls, cream cheese, garlic, salt pepper, shredded chicken, gravy
Orange Teriyaki Chicken- soy sauce, onion, garlic, olive oil, ground pepper, ground ginger, red pepper, orange juice
Tater tot casserole (makes a 9x13 pan) - hamburger, tater tots, canned milk, dried onion, cream of mushroom soup.
Yogurt chicken - chicken, ritz cracker crumbs, plain yogurt, parmesan cheese, garlic salt, salt
Italian chicken - (may be similar to Russian chicken) chicken, cream of chicken soup, Italian dressing mix, cream cheese
Creamy chicken - chicken, cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, package of onion soup mix