Freezer Meals

During the holiday season this year I get the privilege of working six days a week. Boo. So when I have time off the month of december I want to be having fun with the kids and not stressing out about dinner. I am wanting to avoid the drive thru as much as possible as well. So my goal is to have 6-10 meals in the freezer by then. Realistically 6 but my ultimate goal would be to have 10. It all depends on how time and budget go between now and then! I found this great article with tips on how to freeze meals. It was really pretty helpful. The only tip that I would add is if you don't have time to thaw your meal in the fridge you can put it in the oven as it is preheating and it will thaw a bit. Do this especially if you freeze your food in glass. Frozen glass+hot oven=a big explosion. That would not be fun! To save yourself just stick it in the fridge first thing in the morning. Oh one more thing! I am thinking of investing in a food saver to make my meals really air tight. No freezer burn for us! 

I am sharing two of my favorite meals for freezing. Baked Pasta 2.0. Which is a lot like the other baked pasta dish that I posted a while back. I am sharing Tater Tot casserole too. That is a family staple!  

Baked Pasta 2.0

1 pound medium shell pasta

1 pound Italian sausage

1 pound mozzarella cubed

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1 pound ricotta cheese

Boil pasta. While pasta is boiling brown sausage. After ever thing is cooled to room temperature mix all ingredients and pour in pan. You want everything cooled to room temperature before you freeze to prevent food poisoning! When ready to bake put in oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Bake one hour if frozen and 30-45 minutes if thawed. 

I put a layer of freezer paper over the food before I freeze. It helps to make things not stick. Make sure you remove the freezer paper before you bake! It has plastic on one side and that would be bad. Then a layer of foil goes over that. Then wrap as much as possible with plastic wrap. If you have a food saver you can forget all that and just use the food saver. Which I will be investing in! You want it air tight! Otherwise you will get freezer burn which won't hurt you but it tastes disgusting. 

Make sure to clearly label what your dish is and when it was made. It is only recommended to keep casseroles for 2-3 months in the freezer.

Tater Tot Casserole

2 pounds ground turkey

1 medium onion

1 large can cream of mushroom soup

1 pound bag tater tots

3-4 cans green beans

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Brown turkey on sauce pan. Add onion and cook until translucent. Turn off heat and add cream of mushroom soup. Let cool to room temperature. In 9x13 pan put a layer of tater tots. Then add layer of green beans. Then layer with meat mixture- you may need to thin a little with milk. At this point you can get it ready to freeze just like for baked pasta 2.0. Do not add cheese on top if freezing. Cheddar cheese can get a little weird when you freeze it. When going to bake from frozen add the cheese the last 5-10 minutes of cooking time. If cooking immediately add cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes if thawed, 60-75 minutes if frozen. 

MMMM layers! What meals do you make and freeze? I need more ideas! It feels good having a couple down. I will be posting more over then next few months so stay tuned! Any suggestions for meals? Is asking that twice too much? HA!

Peace out- AnneMarie