Easy Freezer Meals for Back to School

 

Back to school means back to busy schedules and juggling all the exciting things the new school year will bring. Often, it also means eating on the go - between practices, recitals, and school events. After last year, our system of meal prepping went out the window! With everyone being home all the time, I found myself doing less planning and more “I don’t care what you eat, as long as you eat.” Sounds terrible, right? I’m blaming it on pure exhaustion. After cooking more than I have ever cooked in my life, I was running out of ideas and energy. Four kids, a picky-eater husband, and one tired momma hanging on by a thread thanks to coffee and energy drinks – it was a mess.

Thankfully, we are starting to see a light (at least, we think) and I’m choosing to focus on that!

For me, I have learned that the more prep work I can do to make meals ahead of time, the more likely I am to actually cook, haha! My crockpot is my saving grace. I have learned to make some delicious meals in it, and it works great with freezer meal prepping.

I’ve also learned to keep our menus simple during the school week. No fancy new recipes or anything that requires a ridiculous amount of time, the key is convenient. Otherwise, I’ll end up calling out for delivery on our way home from baseball practice or pulling through a drive-thru in between shuttling the kiddos after school.

My meal plans are weekly, but I used to plan out a month at a time. That changed during the lockdowns of 2020, mainly because our small town struggled with getting deliveries and buying in bulk was no longer an option. We ran out of more than just toilet paper down here! So, like so many, I adjusted to buying what I could, and making weekly meal plans from what was available. Now, I’ve started going to Sam’s Club once a month to stock up on items we need in bulk and making weekly grocery trips to our local grocery store for fresh items. It’s helped me plan more efficiently and even allowed me to avoid wastefulness and start a stockpile for our family.

Now, when it comes to planning a week’s worth of meals, it means planning all our meals, including snacks. If I only plan dinners, that leaves to much room for slip ups. Here is an example of what one day of meal planning looks like for our family:

Monday:

Breakfast – Freezer bacon, egg, and cheese English muffins.

A.M. Snack – Protein shake, Greek yogurt w/ fresh fruit.

Lunch – Grilled chicken salad.

P.M. snack – Hazelnut spread on chocolate rice cake

Dinner – Meatloaf (freezer meal) w/ garlic mashed potatoes, sweet peas, and a dinner roll.

I don’t usually include a dessert during the week but do on the weekends or special occasions. Instead, everyone gets to pick from the snack baskets. It may be a Hostess Cupcake or a snack size bag of Cheez-its. Believe it or not, most evenings they are too worn out to want an extra treat!

Also, I should add that now that school is back in session, I do give the kiddos an option to eat breakfast and lunch at school. We have the school’s menu for each month posted on the fridge and they simply say “yay or nay” on the days they want to eat there or take a packed lunch, I circle the days they’ll eat at school and prep meals for the other days.

A couple of other tips when planning your menu; some foods freeze better than others, some foods need to be precooked before freezing, set aside time each week just for prepping, and of course, making sure you have the right tools on hand will help you plan your menu accordingly.

Here’s a quick list of items I use when preparing freezer meals:

Let’s start with breakfast freezer meals. Y’all, having quick meals ready in the morning has been a game changer for my family, and just as important as prepping dinners. These do require more prep time than buying premade frozen options at the grocer, but nothing absurd! Here’s a list of some of my family’s favorites (links to recipes too!):

1.     Bacon, egg, and cheese English Muffins

2.   Sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits

3.   Steak, egg, and cheese bagels

4.   Sausage & veggie breakfast burritos

5.    Mini bacon & strawberry pancakes

6.   Omelette muffins

7.    Sausage Gravy Biscuit Casserole

*Tips for shortening prep time for breakfast freezer meals:

- Make sheet pan eggs for sandwiches. Whisk together some eggs like you are going to make scrambled eggs, pour into a sheet pan and bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until eggs are fully cooked. Use spatula to divide eggs into square sections (or biscuit cutter to make round) and add to sandwiches!

- Use precooked meat options. I buy precooked sausage links and patties for sandwiches and burritos.

- A food chopper can make quick work of chopping up veggies and more. I use this one to chop peppers, onions, hard boiled eggs, etc.

 

For lunches and snacks, most ingredients are fresh, no freezer prep need. I do prep meal containers for my lunches and often use precooked frozen chicken strips or grilled chicken on my salads or wraps. Click here for recipes on easy snack ideas and here for meal prepping lunches.

Next, let’s talk about dinners!

I may differ from others out there, but in my humble opinion, a freezer meal shouldn’t require hours of prep time. I envy those who can devote an entire day to precooking meats and prebake casseroles, but I know I just can’t, nor do I need to cook a month’s worth of meals in one day. I opt for freezer meals that do not require me to cook any of the ingredients ahead of time, apart from browning ground beef (and I honestly do that in the crockpot half of the time too!).

I cook chicken, a lot! Sometimes, probably too much but it’s our go to source of healthy protein. Getting creative with chicken is easy too. Marinades and seasonings make it an easy entrée to change up. Naturally, I’ll start with chicken dinners!

Here’s a list of my personal favorite chicken crockpot freezer recipes:

1.     Hawaiian Chicken

2.   Pulled BBQ Chicken

3.   Creamy Ranch Chicken

4.   Chicken Pot Pie Stew

5.    Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

6.   Garlic Ranch Chicken

7.    Lemon Garlic Butter Chicken

8.   Chicken Fajita Mix

9.   Teriyaki Chicken

10.                      Buffalo Chicken

Here are my top ten ground beef (or ground turkey) freezer recipes:

*Note: some recipes call for ground beef to be precooked before adding to these meals.

1. Lasagna Roll Ups

2. Meatloaf

3. Oven Baked Burgers

4. Taco Mix

5. Hamburger Casserole

6. Cowboy Chili

7. Dad’s Chili

8. Beef and Bean Burritos

9. Sloppy Joe Casserole

10. Tater Tot Casserole

Here are 13 more freezer meals that my family enjoys using a variety of meats and ingredients:

1.     Brown Sugar Pork Loin

2.   Smothered Pork Chops

3.   Lemon Garlic Cod

4.   Smoked Sausage Alfredo

5.    French Dip Sandwiches

6.   Ravioli Lasagna

7.    Taco Casserole

8.   Beef Stew

9.   Meatball Stew

10.                      Pizza Casserole

11.                        Sheperd’s Pie

12.                       Beef Pot pies

13.                       BBQ Pulled Pork

 

Here’s to another school year! I hope this gives you some great ideas on how to make meal planning just a tad bit easier and takes some of the stress out of your day.

Stay safe y’all!