Freezer Meal Monday

I love Mondays. I think I'm the only person on the planet who probably says that, but I do! On Fridays, while I'm happy to be at home with my little Tory Bean, I'm also dead tired from my work week and getting up with Tory all night long. Weekends are fun, but they're full of places to be and visitors at our house. I'm not complaining by any means, they're just busy. Mondays, though, are glorious. They're quiet and peaceful and usually just Tory and I at home. We play toys, take good naps and tackle household chores. On Monday, I kicked butt at domesticity.

I was inspired by Mama Tully's blog post the other day to make some freezer meals. I used to go to one of those places where you make a month's worth of freezer meals at once, but I tired of the same menu items and the inability to use organic / local ingredients to my liking. After I had Tory, the thought of getting out of the house to make meals, even for an hour, was overwhelming. Five months later, I finally felt ready to tackle a big cooking project in the kitchen.

I borrowed several meal ideas from Mama Tully's blog and also perused this website to formulate a list of meals to suit our family's taste and budget. In the past, I've always thought the hardest part about making freezer meals is the lack of direction in what steps to hold off on until day of cooking or how far to assemble the meal. That's why I loved the Once a Month Cooking website so much! It clearly listed all of the steps I needed to prepare my meals ahead of time.

I selected the meals linked to below, but halfed the portion sizes to 3-4 servings. It makes sense in theory to prepare 6-8 servings and split them into two meals (or make it all and have leftovers) since I already bought the ingredients and am going through the work of assembling the meal, but I know from past experience we won't eat something again if we didn't like it the first time. If I split it into two meals and we don't end up liking the recipe, the second meal will sit in the freezer for months before I finally end up tossing it out. We're not big leftovers people so I know we won't re-heat a meal and eat it for dinner a second night. I'm not creative enough to take one meal and transform it into an entirely different menu item the next day. I thought it was better for us to make smaller-portioned recipes, try them first and add them into our meal rotation if they're winners. Lately, I've been preparing a plate for our nanny to eat for lunch the next day with our small amount of leftovers and she loves it when I do. I think it's easier for her to heat up whatever we ate the night before instead of making something for herself and it's easier (and cheaper!) for me, too. I don't have to buy extra snacks and groceries for her meals on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. So, all this to say this list won't feed us for an entire month because I halfed the recipes and won't have leftovers to re-heat for another dinner. But! It's a good start.

Recipe List:
Orange-Beef Stew, Chicken N' Cherries, Italian Beef, French Dip Sandwiches (featured in context of Tully blog)
Easy Ranch Chicken
Cranberry Chicken

I also made Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas to deliver to a friend with a new baby and doubled the amount of black beans and tomatoes to make enough for a second meal. I bought disposable square tins to store the enchiladas in (6 enchiladas per tin). This made enough for two freezers meals for us, plus a third to give away.

I especially selected these meals because they required few ingredients and many of which I already had on hand. I assembled them during Tory's morning and afternoon naps (which as everyone knows are VERY SHORT) so I would guess I spent a total of 1 1/2 hours assembling the freezer meals. I felt so accomplished after my success in the kitchen, I scooped Tory up and snuggled her for the rest of the afternoon. She snoozed a bit and I read The Hunger Games on my Kindle. What an awesome way to spend a Monday.