Week One of the freezer challenge for Menu Monday is off to a good start! If you are curious about this challenge, it is inspired by my last post Stock Your Freezer the Easy Way. The basic concept is to choose two to three recipes to include in your meal plan for the week that will have leftovers that can be frozen. This is great if you have family members who do not like leftovers. Put the leftovers in the freezer and then pull them out a few weeks later. Heat them in the oven or on the stove and they won’t even realize they are eating leftovers! 😉 I’ll be doing this for six weeks and I would love for you to join me.
Yesterday, I started off by making a batch of Whole-Grain Mini Donuts for our breakfast. I went ahead and doubled this recipe to make sure we had leftovers. The kids really like a couple of these for breakfast during the week with their smoothies. I was able to freeze a good portion of a gallon size freezer bag of donuts. These may not last us to the end of the six weeks unless I continue making baked goods each weekend.
For dinner, we had Chicken Tetrazzini. This recipe makes a very large pan. I used a store bought rotisserie chicken to make it pretty easy to prepare. I was able to freeze three additional pans of this. I purchased this set of three foil pans at the Dollar Tree. I am anxious to see how they do once I get ready to reheat it. I’ve heard mixed reviews!
For our third freezer item this week, I’ll be making a large batch of Crockpot Chicken Taco Soup. I plan to add extra cans of tomatoes, beans, and corn to increase the servings of this recipe. I’ll freeze this in a plastic container since I will be pouring it into a saucepan once I am ready to reheat it. I’ve estimated that my family will eat about 5 to 6 cups of soup for dinner.
Here is what our meal plan looks like this week:
- Sunday – Chicken Tettrazini served with Salad
- Monday – Grilled Chicken Salads (made with leftover chicken from the weekend)
- Tuesday – Prosciutto Pasta served with Green Beans
- Wednesday – Leftover Night
- Thursday – Crockpot Chicken Taco Soup (Leftovers to be frozen)
- Friday – Sheet Pan Chicken & Veggies served with Cous Cous
- Saturday – Grilled Sausage & Veggie Foil Packs
Since school has started back, I’ve started doing leftovers on Wednesdays since we have after-school activities. So far that has worked out well. I have to admit that it was pretty exciting to stack those pans into my freezer last night. I may just be a bit of a nerd when it comes to that kind of stuff!
Let me know if you are starting the challenge! I’d love to support you along the way. I also have a new Facebook Group called Healthy Meal Planning on a Budget if you are interested in joining to share pictures and recipes or just ask questions.
Those mini donuts are so cute! I will be interested to hear how the tetrazzini does coming out of the freezer. Hope you have a great day.
Thanks Emily! I’ll be sure to do a follow up once we start breaking into our freezer stash!
Pinning for later! That tetrazzini looks delicious. 🙂
Awesome Becca! I hope you find it helpful. It was delicious!
Love freezer meals! I often make double recipes to freeze. Thanks for sharing! I will definitely be giving these a try!
Thanks Robbi! What are some of your favorite recipes to freeze? I’m always looking for new recipes to try!
Oh! There’s curry, jambalaya, spaghetti sauce, stuffed pepper casserole, honey lime chicken enchiladas….rice or quinoa for fried rice and quinoa….
Thanks Robbi! These all sound wonderful!
This is perfect! I will be traveling soon and I always pre-prepare meals for my husband and kids before leaving. I’ll try out your recipes! Thanks for sharing!
That is a great idea Jolene!
These are all great ideas! I’ve been wanting to get better about using the crockpot and freezer meals
Thank you Jordyn! It really makes life much easier when I can use my crockpot and have meals in the freezer!
I loved freezing leftovers! My husband doesn’t like them so I like to freeze them and then serve them another time. It’s so much easier to just make a large meal and freeze part or double a recipe than it is making it brand new another night.
Yes, this is definitely perfect for those that have family members who won’t eat leftovers. I am all about making things as simple as possible!
What an efficient Momma you are! Your menu guarantees you’lll have happy family around your table.
Thank you Alexandra! That is always the goal!
I’m planning on making your taco soup this weekend! 🙂
That is awesome Corey! I hope you like it! Let me know how it turns out!
I’ve been wanting to get more into freezer meals. Perfect timing!
Great Lynn! I hope you find this helpful!
I need to get better at freezer meals! Thanks for the inspo
Doing it this way is so easy!
I should really do something like this. It always feels like such a time squeeze to get dinner on the table at a reasonable hour after I get home from work.
I feel your pain Marie! Dinnertime can be such a struggle especially for working moms. Give it a try by making a meal on the weekend that would be good for freezing leftovers. You’ll be amazed at how quickly the freezer starts to fill up!
I love this! So inspiring! I totally want to do more of this!
I am so glad Jehava! You can join in on the challenge at any time! 🙂
I love this idea of having everything prepped. Life comes at me fast during the week, and there are so many times I’m wishing I had meal prepped!
I have been there too! Those are the times it is so easy to pull through the drive thru! This definitely makes those days so much easier when you know you have already done all the prep and dinner just needs to be popped in the oven.
nothing from a crockpot turns out for me. i’m going to try these!
Yes, give it a shot Jessica! The crockpot taco soup is super easy!
Such a good idea! Your recipes look so good. I can’t wait to follow along on this series.
Thanks so much Kristen! I am excited about this series and hope I can inspire others while making my life easier as well.