Weekend Perk: Freezer Meals

Ok, so maybe the weekend wasn't a total loss. We did prep some freezer meals to use throughout the upcoming weeks. I realized how amazing freezer meals were when we were in the first few weeks of Vince's life. It was so nice to be able to have something healthy to eat without needing to cut, mix and simmer first. This time around I made two meatloaves, some chicken corn chili, and black bean soup.

We had purchased a few cans of black beans while I pondered what to do with them. We also had some left over spiral cut ham from the holidays, the first time we made it. Ham and black bean soup seemed like a good idea. I consulted the power of Google and did a modified version of a recipe I found there.

It was really good, so we bought another spiral cut ham and made a bulk group of it.

Ingredients

1 cup of chopped onion

3 cloves of minced garlic

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 15oz cans undrained cans of black beans

1 cup chicken broth

1 pound diced ham

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon ground cumin

Procedure

1. Sweat down the onion and garlic over medium heat

2. Add the beans, broth, and spices (salt, pepper and cumin)

3. Simmer for 20 minutes

4. Using a potato masher, mush some of the beans (can be left whole if desired)

5. Add ham

6. Simmer for another 10 minutes

Pictures

Ham diced up 

The finished product

I was taking care of Vincenzo and helping prep the chili while Marc made the black bean soup, so that's why there aren't very many pictures. I highly recommend using spiral cut ham vs pre-done diced ham from the market. It tastes much better. I also add some lime juice and a tad bit of cheddar cheese to the soup. Crusty bread also goes really well with this.

Another perk to the black bean soup recipe? It can be made vegetarian and vegan friendly. Remove the ham and cheese completely, and utilize water instead of chicken broth and voila! 

Do you freeze meals? If so, what do you make? If not, why not?

Our Deep Freeze

One of the more frugal things we did was get a deep freeze and a membership to a wholesale club. Since then we've bought meat in bulk, packaged it into approximately 1 pound packages and frozen them. We separate them into 1 pound increments since 4oz of meat is considered 1 serving, so that way both of us get 2 servings of meat when we use these and split it - which isn't too bad for dinner.


The bottom portion:

You'll note our frozen pizzas. I love them, and I will miss them dearly. If we're going to be having pizza around here we should be making our own. While I have no doubt that we will still order in; a reduction in these will have to be a healthy thing.

I also have a small stockpile of OJ. It freezes really well, and it's way cheaper at the wholesaler. While pregnant I learned that iron absorption is hindered by calcium intake and enhanced with vitamin C intake. Knowing this I'll have orange juice with dinner if we're having something that is iron rich.

You'll also see Marc's morning companions. I don't like eggs, or many forms of cheese for that matter, so these are all him. While I don't see them going away any time soon, especially since I stopped making breakfast in lieu of more sleep, I would rather he eat SOMETHING in the morning, than nothing at all. There's also a bag of frozen ravioli. Since I don't eat ravioli, we keep some on hand for a "fend for yourself," type of night.

There's also extra pumped milk for Vince. Everyone gets some part of the freezer. The milk will stay good this way up to one year, and it'll provide me with a little bit of freedom!

And let's not forget the core to our ice cream maker. I <3 it. By far one of the best Christmas presents ever.


The top portion:

We have chicken, steak and ground beef here. (Oh...and more milk). The ground beef we put into ziploc bags, smush them flat and put them in like a filing cabinet. They are arranged by date and when I would purchase more than one type of fat amounts, they would be marked on the bag too.

There's a million things to do with chicken, therefore I feel we never have enough. Thus why we have breasts on the top and those thighs down below. I love chicken and as a kid my mom didn't cook it often. Vince, will probably be sick of it as an adult.

Our steak selection includes the one on top (I think it's a ribeye but to be honest I don't remember anymore) and skirt steak. I LOVE skirt steak and the funky things that I can do with it.

The candy canes are for decoration only - I promise. Marc likes having them on the tree, but we never seem to eat them and I refuse to toss them just to buy new ones next Christmas. I remember my mom putting them in the freezer when I was a kid for the same purpose and it seemed to work just fine, so we'll give it a shot too!


We've been working on clearing out our freezer inside the house. There's some frozen flavored chicken and a mish-mash of other things in it. It's amazing how much food can accumulate in your freezer and how much money you can save by eating the things you've already purchased.


What staples are in your freezer? What can you just not live without?