Need Some Quick Make Ahead/freezer Meals for Activity Nights

During the school year the crockpot becomes my best friend. I also plan out my menus for a month at time - that way I can make sure I have what I need for each meal. I do make some things in big batches and freeze (like homemade pasta sauce, chili, etc.). I also buy chicken and steak on sale (well I buy all my meat on sale) - but I separate into freezer ziplock bags and put marinade right in the bag - then freeze that way. You can pour the whole frozen blob into the crockpot on low all day!

I have a great crockpot cookbook. I also LOVE www.recipezaar.com just type "crockpot" in the search bar and it pulls up all kinds of great recipes.

Crockpot ravioli is a great one!

I love that I can put frozen meat right in my crockpot!

You might also enjoy the Once a Month Cooking plan - OAMC - you cook all day on a Saturday or Sunday - and it tells you how to freeze, what you will need to complete each meal etc. I use some of those ideas...

I do this all the time! Before our daughter was born I made a bunch of extra stuff up ahead of time and put it in our deep freeze..it has been a sanity and life saver! I always have a few things in the freezer for those nights I just don't want to cook!

Getting things packaged right is key to freezing things for longer periods of time. I have a vacuum sealer, but for many of the items I freeze, the sealer won't work. It's not good for larger items or liquids. And you can freeze something like a soup and then vacuum seal it, I don't recommend it...I have had bad outcomes. Before freezing anything, make sure it it is completely cool, this helps prevent ice crystals from forming.

Many soups freeze well. I made up a chicken cheese corn chowder, chicken noodle and spinach sausage. Chili also does well in the freezer. I put them in ziplock bags. I placed the bags in 2 qt juice pitchers and fill them with the soup. I put the pitchers in the freezer and when they were frozen solid, I removed the bags from the pitchers and stored them in the freezer. Putting them in the pitcher helped me with portions and they stored well in my deep freeze.

Baked ziti and lasagna, both do well in the freezer. The recipes I have make large batches, so I split them and got two meals out of each one.(http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Ziti-I/Detail.aspx) (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Worlds-Best-Lasagna/Detail.a... I store these in disposable pans.I wrap in saran wrap (really wrap...all the way around) and then put tin foil over the top. The night I cook it, I reuse the tinfoil...putting tinfoil over the top will help it heat through without browning the cheese. And often I do wash the toss away pan to reuse for another time (but not when things are insane)

Pot pies freeze well. I find these are easy to make in large batches. I make these a dozen or so at a time. They are my go to food when I don't feel like cooking.

I bought a variety of frozen veggies at Sam's to have on hand as side dishes. I also bought some frozen blackened Salmon from Sam's as well. It is surprisingly good for a packaged food.

I have my husband grill up a variety of meats when he has time. Then I vacuum sealed them and froze them, but a ziplock bag will have worked. They are definitely better fresh, but with this much chaos, who notices the difference really? These are easy to microwave or reheat on the stove top. I have noticed that pouring a little broth over the meat helps them reheat better, they don't get overly dried out.

Lumpia and egg rolls can also be made ahead of time and frozen. It helps to wrap them in wax paper before putting them in baggies. Fried rice, which can be served as a side or main dish, does well too - although if I am going to add shrimp I do that the night we are going to eat it, I don't freeze it with shrimp. Red beans and rice does well, but make sure to add a little water when you go to reheat it. I store all of these in ziplock bags (vacuum bag have a tendency to rip the egg rolls apart a little bit)

Meatballs for spaghetti and sandwiches can be frozen too. We make our own spaghetti sauce and I have that in our freezer as well.

I tried to freeze a spinach quiche, but it didn't do well in the freezer, it got a bit grainy.

I also make up dinner rolls, garlic bread and bread bowls and froze them. You just want to bake them for about half the time, let them cool completely and then freeze. They store well in ziplock bags. When it comes time to heat them up, you can throw them in the oven frozen and cook for the remaining time.

Hope this helps!

Let me know if you want specific recipes...I can email them to you.

Thank you N. for posting this question, I'm getting ideas too. I also make for 2 nights with my dinners. It might not be that we eat the 2nd dinner that same week, but I freeze the meal and we will have it at some point. My favorites to freeze other than roast is spaghetti of lasagna. So much easier to put in microwave and go.

This may not be your idea for back to back dinner but as a busy mom you can hopefully appreciate this quick and easy recipe to have on hand.
I get the turkey breakfast sausage and cook that, take out of pan and set aside
Scramble 6 eggs and a little pepper in the same pan, add back in sausage and mix.
Add whatever else you want, my husband and I add jalapenos but you may not want anything else for a young child.
I spoon that into 10 tortillas and wrap in foil, then freeze. That's it! I just microwave one in a paper towel for 1:40 on power 8. We love to have those on hand for breakfast or whenever you want something quick. I use to love breakfast dinners when I was little so it could work if you needed. :)

I have a great lasagna recipe that I split and freeze, but unfortunately, it takes like 3 hours for it to cook in the oven from frozen state. It's good for Sunday dinners or something where you're home all day. I really like it for a day when it's raining or an ice day when you are home bound.

I also make enchiladas and freeze them. My husband likes that.

For the crock pot, spaghetti and meatballs are great. I have a wonderful homemade meatball recipe that I can do the night before. It's great for hectic nights. If I make the salad the night before too, it takes 20 minutes for the noodles and bread to cook. My recipe makes enough for 2 meals, so one night we'll have spaghetti and another meatball subs. I also have a yummy beef tips recipe that my kids absolutely devour!

Other quick meals, smoked sausage, breakfast supper or BLT's, tacos (from a taco kit), sloppy joes (just brown meat and use a can or seasoning packet that you like - my husband prefers manwich), quesadillas or nachos, chili (you can get an easy seasoning packet and serve alone or as frito pie), fajitas (again, they have great seasoning packets), or hamburger helper. Tyson also has some good chicken products that are premade and can be thrown in the oven quickly while you heat up some sides. I like the crispy chicken crispers and the chicken fried steak patties make good sandwiches.

Another great thing I keep on hand is the prepackaged hamburger patties from Schwans. They are really good and can be thrown on the grill frozen. Once they are cooked it's like a Kincaids burger for the price of a McDonalds one. Those can be done in about 10 minutes on the grill.

Speaking of Schwans, they have tons of meal ideas that can be put together in 10-20 minutes. I recommend checking them out. I've been pretty pleased with everything I have bought and it's reasonably priced.

I love to be in my kitchen cooking. My crockpot, collects dust.

Things I keep on hand at all times is a jar or 2 of my home made marinara sauce. We love pasta and it is quick and easy. While pasta cooks, I cook a couple of hot sausages from Hirsch's.

We enjoy good soups, stews and chili and they freeze well. I make a lot of homemade soups with fresh chicken or beef stock. When I make soup, I double my portions so I have some to freeze. My daughter finished the minestrone last night. She LOVES Carraba's minestrone and she actually said this mine was better!!! WOW!

I listen/watch the Food Network often and get lots of good ideas there. I get the ideas then incorporate the tastes and textures that my family likes in the recipes.

I keep bags of frozen veggies and lots of meats in my freezer. I make enough for dinner 1 night so that it will last 2 nights.

Good luck! Our activities start tonight!