Monthly Freezer Cooking Plan – Make 111 Meals in 3 Hours
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Interested in tackling a monthly freezer cooking plan? In this post, I’m sharing a new freezer cooking plan to make 111 meals in 3 hours.You can stock your freezer with one month of meals in an afternoon!
Making freezer meals to stock your freezer is the best way to still eat at home on the busiest nights.
I love to have ready to go meals that just need heated up and are ready to serve. This saves us so much money, because we can still eat a frugal meal at home instead of eating out or getting fast food.
This freezer cooking plan is a big one – I cooked about a month’s worth of meals in one afternoon!
If you are getting ready for a super busy season of life – back to school, new baby on the way, etc. – this freezer cooking plan will help you have so many meals ready to go.
Monthly Freezer Cooking Plan: 111 Make Ahead Freezer Meals
I thought that my Aldi freezer cooking session was the most freezer cooking I could do at once. Well, I was wrong. I just planned a monthly freezer cooking session and made over 100 meals in about 3 hours!
Our freezer is stocked with 77 dinner meals and 34 breakfast meals.
That’s 111 meals made up, ready to just thaw, heat and serve. And guess what? I’m not cooking for 2 months!!
Freezer cooking is such a life saver for me, especially in the winter months. I really do love to cook (or else I don’t think I would have tackled this plan), but in the winter time, I would much rather snuggle up under a blanket.
The nights already feel so short with the time change, so I really don’t feel like spending an hour cooking dinner every night.
If you’re brave enough to try this monthly freezer cooking plan, I’ll show you the plan!
Monthly Freezer Cooking Plan – Make 111 Meals in 3 Hours
A quick word of caution:
If you have never made freezer meals or are a beginner freezer cooker, I would suggest you hold off on this plan. This beginner freezer cooking plan would be a great place to start!
I don’t want you to get overwhelmed and turn you off from freezer cooking! You might want to work up to this plan.
These are some great plans to try before tackling the monthly freezer cooking plan:
I would try a couple of those before this one, just to get the hang out freezer cooking and not get too overwhelmed.
Ok, for the granddaddy of them all! Here we go! 😉
Monthly Freezer Cooking Plan – Make 111 Meals in 3 Hours
Please feel free to alter this plan to better suit your family. If you have a favorite lasagna recipe, make that instead. If your family eats tacos twice a week, make more of those.
This is all about what best fits your family’s needs. I promise I won’t be offended if you change it. 😉
Here’s what we’re going to be making:
Make sure to grab the free PDF to print and keep you on track!
If you shop at Aldi, I would grab as much there as you can so this can be a frugal freezer cooking session. I will list the prices of everything I got there.
Make sure to grab the free PDF to print and take shopping with you!
First off, you are not going to feel like cooking a regular dinner the same day you tackle this freezer cooking plan.
For that reason, I suggest you put a pot of stew in the crock pot to cook all day, and it doubles as part of the plan!
Make stew in the crock pot.
Place your beef stew meat, 3 or 4 peeled potato chunks, a bag of baby carrots, and a container of beef stock in the crock pot. This will cook on low all day and be ready for dinner when you get home from work! Yum! Let your family serve themselves while you work on your freezer cooking. Place the leftovers in the fridge for extra meals.
Start browning your ground beef.
Place 4 lbs of ground beef in your largest skillet and brown. This will be the meat for your spaghetti sauce and chili.
Start making your spaghetti sauce and chili.
On your two back stove burners, place your biggest pot (for spaghetti) and another large pot.
For the spaghetti, add: 4 large cans tomato sauce, 3 cans diced tomatoes, dash of worchestire sauce, dash of hot sauce, and spices. I add garlic salt, chili powder, onion powder, basil leaves (fresh or dried), dried oregano, paprika, and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. Mix everything up and let simmer on low.
For the chili, add: 1 can pinto beans, 1 can kidney beans, 1 can rotel, 1 can diced tomatoes, 12 oz can tomato paste. I add cumin, chili powder, paprika, and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. Mix everything and let simmer on low.
Once your beef is browned, drain, and add about 2 1/2 lbs to the spaghetti sauce and about 1 1/2 lbs to the chili. Mix and continue to simmer. These can just sit and simmer until you are done with everything else.
Cook your sausage.
While your beef is browning, you can cook your sausage in another skillet. Make 6 sausage patties, cook, and place on a paper towel to drain. Using the remaining sausage from the same package, brown into crumbles. Place the sausage crumbles on a paper towel to drain. You can place these in the microwave until you are ready to make your breakfast burritos.
Mix and bake muffins.
Preheat your oven to 425 (or the recommended temp on your mix), and mix your muffins. I love using reusable, silicone baking cups. Bake the muffins as directed on your mix. Set aside to cool when done.
Make taco meat.
While your muffins are baking, and you have a free skillet/burner, go ahead and brown 4 lbs. of beef for your taco meat. Drain the grease. Mix 2 packets of taco seasoning with about 2 cups of water and add to meat. Let boil, then reduce to simmer. Divide into 5 containers and let cool.
Cook your meat for the lasagna.
The next free burner you have, use your largest skillet to brown 3 lbs of beef and 1 lb of sausage. This will be your meat for the lasagna. Once browned, drain the grease, and add a 12 oz can of tomato paste (2 really wouldn’t hurt) and a can of drained, diced tomatoes. Let this simmer and mix together.
Cook your lasagna noodles.
Once your taco meat is done, you should have a burner to cook your lasagna noodles. Set aside when done.
Assemble your chicken meals.
If you are waiting for your lasagna meat and noodles, go ahead and start assembling your chicken meals. These are super quick and easy.
For the salsa chicken, place 2 small or 1 large chicken breast in a freezer bag, and add about 1/3 jar of salsa to the bag. Seal and label. Make 6 of these.
For the honey mustard chicken, mix equal parts honey and Dijon mustard in a bowl, with a sprinkle of crushed red pepper (sorry I don’t measure most things!). Place 2 small or 1 large chicken breast in a freezer bag, pour in enough honey mustard mix to lightly cover the chicken, seal, and label. Make 4 of these.
Make hamburgers.
When you are waiting for things to cook, go ahead and pat out your burgers. I made 7 burgers out of 3 lbs of ground beef. Sprinkle with seasoning and place in freezer bags.
Assemble your lasagna.
By this time, your lasagna meat and noodles should be ready. Make your cheese mix by mixing 3 cups of cottage cheese, 2 beaten eggs, and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. Cover the bottom of your baking dish with noodles, then add half of the cottage cheese mixture, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese, add half of your meat mixture, then more noodles, the rest of the cottage cheese mix, shredded mozzarella cheese, and the rest of the meat mixture. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese and freshly chopped basil. Cover with aluminum foil. You can place this in the fridge to bake the next day, go ahead and bake it now, or freeze it to bake later.
Make your breakfast burritos.
Did you forget about the sausage in the microwave? Scramble 6 eggs, divide onto 4 tortillas, sprinkle with sausage crumbles and shredded cheddar cheese, and roll into burritos. Place in freezer bags and label.
Place everything in freezer bags and containers.
Divide your spaghetti sauce, chili, leftover stew, and taco meat into freezer containers. Place the muffins, breakfast burritos, and sausage patties into freezer bags. Then, find a place for everything in the freezer.
I know your kitchen is probably going to look like a tornado when you get done. How do I know that? My husband might have called me a tornado a few times… 🙂
The dishes are going to be a little messy, but WHO CARES BECAUSE YOU JUST MADE 111 MEALS!
For the 2 of us, that means I don’t have to cook for 2 months! 2 months!! All we’ll have to do is thaw, heat, add some sides, and dinner is ready! And even breakfast is made already!
Keep reading to see how to finish the freezer meals when it’s time to serve them!
When it’s time to serve breakfast or dinner, here is how to finish these meals from the freezer.
Breakfast Meals:
4 sausage, egg, and cheese burritos – Thaw in the fridge overnight and heat in the microwave about 45 seconds
6 sausage patties – Thaw in the fridge overnight and heat in the microwave about 30-45 seconds. Serve with a muffin or with fruit!
24 muffins – Thaw in the fridge overnight and heat in the microwave about 30 seconds.
Dinner Meals:
6 servings of beef stew – Heat for about 2 minutes.
7 hamburger patties – Thaw in the fridge overnight, grill or cook in a skillet. Serve as a hamburger, hamburger steak, or cover with gravy.
1 pan of lasagna – 8 servings – From the fridge: Bake at 350 degrees for 30 mins, From frozen: thaw overnight, bake at 350 degrees for 30 mins.
12 servings of salsa chicken – Thaw in the fridge overnight, place in the crockpot to cook all day on low. Serve on tortillas with taco toppings.
8 servings of honey mustard chicken – Thaw in the fridge overnight, grill in skillet, top with bacon and cheese.
10 servings of beef taco meat – Thaw in the fridge overnight, heat in skillet or in microwave. Make tacos, nachos, or a taco salad with all of your favorite toppings.
8 servings of chili – Thaw in the fridge overnight, heat in pan or microwave. Serve with fritos and shredded cheese.
18 servings of spaghetti sauce – Thaw in the fridge overnight, heat in sauce pan, serve with noodles.
And once you complete this monthly freezer cooking plan, you have to take a “I’m so exhausted, but so proud” picture!
I make batch freezer meals regularly. I am familiar with the process and the ease it lends to daily life. When you said you do not have to cook for 2 months-I honestly do not see how you could do that. Surely you have to microwave, stove top, oven heat sides-bread, a veggie to go with the meals? And eat breakfast more than 34 times in 60 days? And what do you do for lunch? For snacks? If that is all the two of you eat for 60 days it is a very stark diet with not a lot of nutrition. I don’t mean to sound critical I am just curious how you handle these other aspects. Thanks!
Yes, there is still meals to heat up and sides to prepare, but no major cooking involved. More just getting everything on the table quickly. It definitely cuts down on the time spent in the kitchen!
If you are freezing potatoes, sometimes they can get a weird texture, but the stew meat and vegetables should be good. I usually make an easy crockpot meal like stew when I do my freezer cooking so I don’t have to cook a whole other meal. Then, you can have the stew for leftovers the next few days if you don’t want to freeze it.
Mandi says
I make batch freezer meals regularly. I am familiar with the process and the ease it lends to daily life. When you said you do not have to cook for 2 months-I honestly do not see how you could do that. Surely you have to microwave, stove top, oven heat sides-bread, a veggie to go with the meals? And eat breakfast more than 34 times in 60 days? And what do you do for lunch? For snacks? If that is all the two of you eat for 60 days it is a very stark diet with not a lot of nutrition. I don’t mean to sound critical I am just curious how you handle these other aspects. Thanks!
thelittlefrugalhouse says
Yes, there is still meals to heat up and sides to prepare, but no major cooking involved. More just getting everything on the table quickly. It definitely cuts down on the time spent in the kitchen!
Shay says
Whenever I try to freeze stew it separates and gets a grainy texture when it warms up. Is it just me or is stew not good for the freezer?
thelittlefrugalhouse says
If you are freezing potatoes, sometimes they can get a weird texture, but the stew meat and vegetables should be good. I usually make an easy crockpot meal like stew when I do my freezer cooking so I don’t have to cook a whole other meal. Then, you can have the stew for leftovers the next few days if you don’t want to freeze it.
Justina says
Love!! Love!!! Love!!! Thank you. How can I change it for a family of 6?
thelittlefrugalhouse says
You can double or triple the recipes. Or just change how you portion the meals up. Enjoy!