Freezer Meals for Busy Baseball Moms

 Like I said in my previous post, baseball season makes it really hard to plan meals when things are a moving target.  Once practices are done and they are only playing games, it should get a bit easier.  But until then, I really needed to up my meal planning game.  It took me from 11 am until 2 pm yesterday, but I was able to get several meal options in the freezer. 

The first thing I did was to make two 2 pound batches of venison taco meat.  My guys could eat tacos every day so this one was a no brainer.  I browned up the ground venison, added taco seasoning and once it was cooled, I divided it up between to freezer bags.

The next item up was to make hamburger patties to freeze individually.  The grocery store had ground beef and ground turkey on sale (not a fabulous sale but a sale nonetheless). So I bought 6 pounds of ground beef (80/20) and some lean ground turkey.  I managed to get 36 beef burger patties and 4 turkey burger patties (should have been 8 patties but one of my packages of turkey smelled TERRIBLE so I tossed it).  I froze the burgers on a sheet pan with a layer of wax paper between them.  Once frozen, I put them in freezer bags.

 

 Next up was two servings of  Slow Cooker Broccoli Beef and two servings of Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken

So all together, that should give me 12-14 meals that I can pull out and use in a hurry.

I also had some bananas going bad, so I decided to make some THM Chocolate Banana Muffins for the Hubby and the Little Guy to have for breakfast this week.

There are many great recipes on Pinterest for freezer cooking.  I happen to be partial to Jamerill Stewart at Large Family Table and even though my family isn't as large as hers, I can modify portion sizes to fit our family of five.

I wanted to make this Keto Meatball Recipe but ran out of meat and time.

I have made this Twice Baked Potato freezer side dish in the past and they are fantastic.  I hope to be able to make them again some time after the Easter holiday.  

Do you have any favorite freezer meal recipes that you use?  Leave a comment below and let me know.  I'm always looking for new ideas.

Menu Plan Monday 3-29-21 - Holy Week 2021

 Another week is upon us, and another month is passing by.  Soon it will April and Easter will be upon us.  We are also starting the baseball season.  While practices have been going on for a while, the Little Guys have been consistent, but the Middle guys high school schedule is like a moving target.  And we don't get the schedule for the week until Sunday afternoon.  It's been making dinner and meal planning difficult and I had to switch things around last week to make it work.  And it didn't always work and one night I had to do take out pizza.  Now I love take out pizza but not when I didn't actually plan for it.  I put together a freezer meal plan and I spent all morning and early afternoon after church yesterday, getting some quick and easy freezer meals together so we can avoid take out pizza in the future (unless we plan on it!).  I will put together a separate post this week on that.  But below is this weeks menu:

Friday:  Homemade French fries and fish sticks (salmon for those with food allergies):  Meatless Friday
I used this recipe for the fries from Abby Thome and Heinen's

Saturday:  Skillet sausage, peppers, and onions and instead of the kielbasa, I used fresh Italian sausage.

Sunday:  Grilled boneless chicken breast, sautéed shiitake mushrooms, and baked potato

Monday:  Loaded slow cooker potato soup from Made It. Ate It. Loved It.

Tuesday:  Venison tacos

Wednesday:  Hamburger Steak, veggie, and salad

Thursday:  I was going to make this "clean up day" but we really haven't had much to clean up lately.  Since it's Holy Thursday, I would like to do something special but I'm not sure exactly what, so Thursday's meal is a work in progress.

I do know that Good Friday is a day of strict fast and abstinence.  So Friday's meal will be 

Spanakorizo for all and I will add fish for the kids.

Have a blessed Holy Week and a very Happy Easter!!

For more menu planning ideas, visit Orgjunkie.com

Menu Plan Monday 3-22-21

 Happy First Monday Of Spring!  Weather here in Ohio is giving us total spring vibes.  It's perfect!!

Baseball has started for the Middle and the Little.  Weekends will be totally full until further notice (beginning of July)..  It's a LONG season.  But it's fun to watch the boys play.

Menu Plan for 3/22/21

Friday:  Fish, Veg, and Potato.  My grocery pick up only gave me 1 pound of cod vs. the 2 pounds that I asked for and there was no way that my 3 guys could share 1 pound of fish for dinner.  So we decided that the child with food allergies would get the fish and the rest of us would order take out.  Normally we have meatless Fridays, but this Friday was the solemnity of St. Joseph which is a celebration in the Catholic church so it ended up being a "Meat Friday" (yes, even during Lent).  The two guys still opted for the fish fry and I ended up having a chicken florentine flat bread.  It was HUGE and I only at 1/2 and the 8 year old finished the other half for lunch the next day (that kid can eat).

Chicken Florentine Flat Bread.  It's so good!

Saturday:  Hamburger and hot dogs on the grill; baked beans

Sunday:  Slow Cooker Garlic Butter Chicken with Cream Sauce, baked asparagus, and brown rice

Monday:  Veggie stir fry and brown rice (meatless Monday)

Tuesday:  Mexican Spinach Hamburger Casserole

Wednesday:  Middle Eastern Meatballs with Dill Sauce (I'll be using ground turkey), salad

Thursday:  Clean up day

Sunday Brunch:  Smoked Salmon, with bagels or gluten free toast

Lunches:  Left overs or sandwiches

Have a wonderful and blessed first full week of spring!!  Visit Org Junkie for more menu planning or organizing ideas.

Menu Plan Monday 3/15/2021

 Happy Monday!  New week, new menu.

Friday: GF Mac and Cheese from the Chunky Chef (meatless Friday)

All put together and ready for baking

Baked Mac and Cheese.  Yum!

Saturday:  Charcuterie Night.  The guys bought me a charcuterie board for Christmas and wanted to do charcuterie nights once in a while.  This was the "once in a while".  I bought several different cheeses (sharp cheddar, pepperjack, smoked gouda, brie, and colby jack), different meats (prosciutto, salami, peppered salami, and pepperoni), Kalamata and green olives, fruit, and gluten free crackers.  It was a really nice, casual night that helped make family conversation more intimate.  I think I'll do this quarterly.

Sunday: Brunch - Eggs, sourdough toast, and bacon.  GF toast and bacon for the those with food allergies.  The last few weeks I started to do a brunch after church.  As long as sports don't take over, I think we will continue to do this.
Dinner-  Cowboy Casserole (Tater Tot Casserole) from The Cutting Edge of Ordinary

Monday: St. Patrick Irish Cheddar Soup from Twelve Months of Monastery Soups cookbook and rolls (meatless Monday)

Tuesday: Venison Tacos

Wednesday: Slow Cooker Corned Beef I'm giving you the recipe from Damn Delicious because it's close to what I do.  Basically I 1. trim off any excess fat (and usually cut myself in the process), 2. put the beef in the slow cooker and 3. top it with the seasoning packet and garlic, then 4. add enough water to cover it and 5. slow cook it on low for 8 hours.
Potatoes and carrots, sauerkraut, rye bread, and swiss cheese.

Thursday: Clean Up Day

Breakfast: Trim Healthy Mama Bust A Myth Banana Cake

Lunch:  Leftovers and sandwiches.  Last week I made the soup and we ended up having too much food for lunch and some of it went to waste.  

Happy St. Patrick's Day and have a blessed week!!  Visit Orgjunkie for more menu planning!

Menu Plan Monday 3/08/2021

 Happy Monday!!  It's sunny here today and we are supposed to get a few days in the 60's.  I'm so ready for Winter to be over.  I know winter isn't gone for good yet, but it's nice to see an end in sight.

I've been shopping at Aldi's the past few weeks trying to save money.  I've also been going to our local butcher for lunch meat and a few extras.  I do see some savings, but I still need to do better.  I'll be working on that over the next few weeks.

Menu for the week of 3/5-3/11:

Friday:  Egg and cheese sandwiches (like an egg McMuffin but homemade), boxed gluten free Mac and Cheese, and fruit. (meatless Friday)

Saturday:  Hamburgers and Hot Dogs on the grill: potato chips as a side dish 

Sunday:  Cowboy Grub This is from the Trim Healthy Mama cook book (pg 59)

Monday:  Gluten Free stuffed shells (I made a double batch for Christmas Eve and these were in the freezer); salad; Italian bread (meatless Monday)

Tuesday:  Chicken Tacos:  I don't really have a recipe for these. I usually make them in the slow cooker, but I'm going to make them in the Instapot tomorrow.  I'm basically going to make shredded chicken in the Instapot and I'll be making enough for Wednesday's dinner too.  I'll separate Tuesday and Wednesday's chicken and add taco sauce to Tuesday portion.  I have corn tortillas that I need to use so I am going to fry those on the stove, add the chicken and all the toppings and serve.

Wednesday:  Chicken Fried Double Rice (brown rice and cauli rice mixed).  Again, this recipe is from the Trim Healthy Mama cook book.

Thursday: Clean up day

I also made a veggie and cheese frittata for breakfast this week

Trim Healthy Mama Trim Train Taco Soup for lunches.  The hubby will add a sandwich to his lunch and I'll have a salad.

And I made all the rice for last nights dinner, to go with Taco Tuesday, and for Wednesdays Chicken Fried Double Rice.

So that's our week of food.  I hope you have a wonderful and blessed week ahead!

Visit Orgjunkie.com for more menu planning ideas or to join in on MPM.

Menu Plan Monday 3/01/21

 Happy March!!  New month, new week!  We are seeing signs of spring here, but this is Ohio so I'm not ready to put the snow boots away yet.  But we are definitely on the down side of winter.  I have my seeds started.  Fingers crossed!  I don't have good luck with seeds or plants in general.  But I planned for this and I really hope that most of them take.

habanero peppers for the hubby.

When I started doing this, my family thought these were brownies. 

This weeks menu:

Friday:  Take out fish fry and pierogi's (meatless Fridays).  I made a fish dinner for the son with food allergies.

Saturday:  Aldi pizza and frozen gf pizza.  It's not my favorite, but you can not beat the price or the ease of dinner.  

Sunday:  Baked chicken thighs and legs, bacon wrapped green beans, and salad

Monday:  Tik Tok Pasta  I have seen this everywhere!  It looks delicious, so we are going to try it.  I couldn't find a block of feta cheese at the two stores I went to, so we are going to try it with crumbled feta. (meatless Mondays)

Tuesday:  Venison tacos

Wednesday:  Cheeseburger Soup

Thursday: Clean up or Venison hamburger steaks.

Have a wonderful first week of March!  Visit Orgjunkie.com for more menu planning ideas.