Freezer meals

So I have this wonderful friend who is just so organized and "together" and the best part is that she is also very REAL. Anyway, before I go on and wax elephants about dear Gretchen, I'll get to my point. Gretchen very successfully uses the freezer meal method of cooking. If you want to do searches on this and get recipes, you can either google "freezer meals" or "once a month cooking (oamc)".
I am just a baby at this but do want to share that even for a "Creative type" (that's the nice way of saying disorganized) it is possible to do this and greatly benefit from it.

I would like to share two recipes that are now tried and true favorites for our family. I got these from Gretchen, so they will have her notes on them, then I will also add my own notes. Hopefully it doesn't get too confusing.


The following is the recipe as I got it. It includes her notes. I will add my notes up here. We multiplied this recipe times either 12 or 15 to do for a huge project at church. It still turned out wonderful! When multiplied that many times, it made way more than we expected. I am going to *guess that if you multiply by 3 or 4, you may still get a little extra.

Jody's notes:
-the recipe calls for potatoes. I have made it both ways and to be honest, I prefer it without potatoes.

-when we made it for the big project, we had like a gallon of just sauce left. I couldn't bear to throw it away, so I took it home and put it in freezer bags. I used it for my chicken casserole recipe and liked it 100% better than my usual sauce of cream of chick & mushroom soup. It's a really good and savory chicken white sauce, so if you have leftovers, make sure to save them.

- we have had it made as a potpie in a pie crust and also as a pot pie where it uses a buiscuit crust (more like a cobbler). Jeff prefers the biscuit crust, so now instead of making and freezing the entire pie, I make the sauce, add the chicken and veggies, and then freeze it in a bag. When I want to make it, I thaw the bag of filling, and do it in a biscuit crust. You could also make just the sauce and the veggies and just save it to use after you have a baked chicken --pick the chicken and the next day thaw the sauce and make the potpie. It is still way quicker than starting from the beginning to make a good chicken potpie.

- you can make this as "scratch" or "ready made" as you want. you can start with whole chickens and fresh veggies and make your broth from the chickens or you can start with canned chicken broth and precooked chicken (you can find bulk bags of precooked grilled chicken strips) and go from there. Or you can do something in between by cooking the chicken but using frozen mixed veggies.

Chicken Pot Pie (makes two pies)
2 cups diced peeled potatoes
1¾ cups sliced carrots
2/3 cup chopped onion
1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup all-purpose flour
1¾ t salt
1 t dried thyme
¾ t pepper
3 cups chicken broth
1½ cups milk
4 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
Pastry for two double-crust pies (9 inches)
Place potatoes and carrots in a large saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and set aside.

In a large skillet, sauté onion in butter until tender. Stir in the flour, salt, thyme and pepper until blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. (this is a roux or white sauce, if you are making it in bulk, be prepared to whisk for a LONG time--don't try to do this while cooking other things, you will likely burn your roux)

Add the chicken, peas, corn, potatoes and carrots; remove from the heat.
Line two 9-inch pie plates with bottom pastry; trim even with edge of plate. Fill pastry shells with chicken mixture. Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pies. Cut slits or decorative cutouts in pastry. Place over filling; trim, seal and flute edges.
Bake one potpie at 425 for 35-40 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting.
Cover and freeze remaining potpie for up to 3 months.
Yield: 2 potpies (6-8 servings each)
To use frozen potpie: Shield frozen pie crust edges with foil; place on a baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 350; for 70-80 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown.

G’s notes: This is my all-time favorite frozen recipe! It is best with my grandmother’s pie crust recipe, but I will buy pie crusts next time to save time (Shhhh! Don’t tell my mother!!!). It does use potatoes, but since they are in a sauce they do not turn color. They are a little mushy, but it’s still delicious!

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These are delicious! I haven't tweaked anything about it, they are sooooo good. My only suggestion is that even if you think you want them really "saucy" they honestly cook up a lot better if they aren't too saucy. Also, a small sprinkling of cheese on top is fine, it looks sparce, but really, they are so good, that you don't need too much on top.
I was very surprised at how very well these freeze and cook back up, not mushy at all!

Chicken Burritos
1 large onion, chopped *I haven't tried it yet, but plan to try using the frozen onion/pepper stirfry blend
¼ cup chopped green pepper
6T butter or margarine
½ cup all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken broth
1 can (10oz) diced tomatoes & green chilies (like rotel)
2T chopped jalapeno pepper, optional
1t ground cumin
1t chili powder
½ t garlic powder
½ t salt
1 can (15oz) chili with beans
1 package (8oz) cream cheese, cubed
8 cups cubed cooked chicken
24 flour tortillas (6 or 7 inches)
6 cups (24oz) shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese
In a large skillet, sauté onion and green pepper in butter until tender. Stir in flour until blended. Gradually stir in broth.Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Reduce heat; add the tomatoes, jalapeno pepper if desires and seasonings. Cook for 5 minutes or until heated through. Stir in chili and cream cheese until cheese is melted. Stir in chicken. Spoon about ½ cupful down the center of each tortilla; sprinkle each with ¼ cup Colby-Monterey Jack cheese. Fold ends and sides over filling. Place in 2 greased 13x9 baking dishes. Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Cover and bake the remaining casserole at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 2 casseroles (1 dozen burritos each).
To use frozen burritos: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes or until heated through.
G’s notes: I have also done this with cheddar & Mexican blend cheese and they work fine. I add more cheese, and also top it with cheese. I find that it tends to make more than 24 – I usually get 4 casseroles of 7 each.

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Like I mentioned above, there are plenty of sites online to get more recipes and information about freezer cooking. There are certain "rules" about freezing foods, for instance, potatoes will turn weird colors. I am not advanced enough yet to try to freeze my own recipes because I'm not sure how they will turn out, so I'm sticking with recipes I've gotten specifically for freezing. This site is very helpful and will get you started. One note, some of the recipes are marked "members only" and you can't access them without purchasing something, but many of the recipes are accessible.