Freezer Meals-- GUYS FOR REALS DO IT!!!!

Last night, I compiled a list of ingredients that we would need to buy at the grocery store, along with 8 recipe cards (thanks Pinterest!-I'll post the link), for FREEZER MEALS.

This has been on my "mama-to-be" list for a few weeks now, and I was over the moon excited that my angel of a mother volunteered to help me. 

Pinterest link for the D E L I C I O U S recipes:

http://thekrazycouponlady.com/tips/recipes/10-delicious-slow-cooker-freezer-meals-that-are-perfect-for-weeknights/

Here is my grocery list so it gives you kind of an idea of what you'll need to buy. There are 10 recipes total listed, we opted out of #1 and #6 because husband wasn't really fond of those two. So, if you plan on doing #1 and #6 in addition to the others, you will need to modify your grocery list.

ALSO, YOU SHOULD KNOW-- We doubled EVERYTHING, because my mom worked right beside me and made the same 8 freezer meals for visiting teaching and such. So, the grocery list is doubled. I REPEAT, THE GROCERY LIST IS DOUBLED. 

Grocery List:

Meat:

6 lbs. ground beef

2 bags of 10 lbs. chicken breast

2 lb. ground sweet sausage or spicy Italian sausage

Dairy:

2 cups shredded cheese

1 ½ c. milk

4 eggs

Veggies:

2 cans kidney beans

6 cans of corn

2 cans of tomato soup

6 small yellow onions

2 large white onion

2 bags frozen broccoli florets 

2 cans cannellini beans

2 boxes of frozen chopped spinach

6 large carrots, chopped into bite-sized pieces

4 cans black beans

4 bell peppers sliced

Spices:

1 ½ tbsp. chili powder

2 packages of taco seasoning

1 c. white sugar

1 c. vinegar

5 garlic bulbs minced

4 Tbsp soy sauce

Salt and pepper

½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp sage

Other:

4 jars Alfredo sauce

2 cans of mushrooms

2 jars red pasta sauce

2 cups salsa

6 chicken broth 

1 c. pineapple juice

2 c. honey

2 c. ketchup

2 c. soy sauce

4 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

8 tsp. cornstarch

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

4 tsp. cumin

2 tsp. paprika

1 can bread crumbs

The first thing we did, was brown the hamburger. My dad is an avid hunter, so we used elk burger and also beef (for her visiting teaching ladies). We seasoned the beef with salt and pepper. We then let the meat cool after browning.

Next, I opened all the canned food. Remember, I'm not really supposed to be on my feet long so we had to be creative. After I opened all the cans, I took a sharpie and wrote all the directions on the freezer ziploc bags. 

As I was doing this, my rockstar mom was chopping green peppers, onions, and garlic. She was crying the whole time during the onion part, bless her heart.

After all the veggies were chopped, my mom started browning the Italian sausage.

We then assessed all of our supplies and made sure everything was in order so that we were ready to start packing the bags.

The prep-time took about an hour and a half. 

The filling of the bags took about 45 minutes. AND I highly recommend double bagging everything.

Clean up was brutal . . . . as you can imagine. 

I couldn't have done this on my own so thank you, thank you, thank YOU mama. It took about a total of 3.5-4 hours but think of all the time it will save me in the future. With left overs, I have two weeks of meals. All I have to do is thaw out the meal in the fridge overnight, pop it into the crockpot when thawed, and WAH LAH! Imagine how nice this is going to be with a newborn baby.

Let me know if you have any questions.