12 Freezer Meals for $70

So this is going to be a huge blog post. I've been wanting to spend a few hours one day to make a bunch of freezer meals for my family. So today, me and three friends got together at my house and did just that. We made 48 meals total for $70 a person. That's $70 for 12 meals! So first of all, I made a list of a variety of meals that would be good for this time of year. I picked 8 of them, but doubled 4 making 12 total. Here is the list:

Black Bean Taco Soup
White Bean Chicken Chili
Potato Soup (2 meals)
Baked Ziti (2 meals)
Italian Sausage and Peppers
Creamy Chicken Casserole (2 meals)
Chicken Pot Pie (2 meals)
Italian Beef Sandwiches

After making my meal list, I wrote down every ingredient that I would need, and then made my grocery list. I decided to just do all the shopping for each girl, and then split it 4 ways. I figured we would probably save money doing it that way. The biggest money saver I think is that I was able to buy almost everything at Aldi. I even checked Costco's prices of stuff and Aldi was cheaper. A few things I had to pick up at Wal-mart. Several of the recipes call for cooked chicken, so I bought several bags of frozen chicken breasts and cooked them in the crockpot. I borrowed my mom's crockpot so I could cook two bags of chicken at one time. So I put one bag of frozen chicken breasts in each crockpot with about half a cup of water, and cooked on high for 6 hours. Then I shredded it to use in the recipes. I boiled all the noodles for the recipes the day before, and also chopped up all the onions with my handy-dandy veggie chopper from Aldi! This was our first time to do this, so it was definitely a learning experience, but I think we did pretty good considering. Also, I will say not every recipe in this bunch would be considered "healthy," but most of them are not bad. The worst one is probably the Baked Ziti, so just save that meal for a day when you really worked out hard! :) Another step I did to prepare beforehand was label all the freezer bags with the meal name and instructions on cooking them. Ok, I'm listing the recipes below and will note where I made substitutions. 


Black Bean Taco Soup

(from sixsistersstuff.com)

1 lb ground beef (We used shredded chicken because I overestimated on our chicken needs and forgot to get ground beef for this recipe, so it all worked out)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 package mild taco seasoning mix
1 16 oz bag frozen corn
1 16 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed (you could use kidney beans or pinto beans)
2 14 oz can stewed tomatoes (we just used diced)
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 4 oz can diced green chilis
tortilla chips
Other taco toppings you like (cheese, sour cream, avocado, etc)

Brown meat and onion, drain. (Of course if you're using chicken, just precook it and shred it). Dump meat into resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. Dump the remaining ingredients into the bag, mix together, and zip bag closed. When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook in HIGH for 1-2 hours or LOW 2-3 hours. Serve with tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole.

White Bean Chicken Chili
(from bakedinthesouth.com)

2 Tbsp olive oil                                      
1Tbsp corn starch                                          
1 medium onion, chopped                            
1 can chopped green chilies, drained             
2 cans white beans, drained                          
2 tsp cumin                                                      
2 tsp chili powder                                            
1 lb chicken tenders                                       
2 cups chicken stock                                        

Add all ingredients except chicken stock to gallon-sized freezer bag. When ready, place ingredients in slow cooker, add chicken stock and cook on low 4-5 hours. Remove chicken, shred and return to crockpot. Serve with warm cornbread.

Potato Soup
(from Tricia @ onceamonthmeals.com)
We split this recipe into two gallon-sized freezer bags since it serves so many. That way, we would have two meals from this recipe.

5 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, diced (peels still on)
1.25 cups onion, diced
10 tsp garlic, minced
8 cups chicken broth
16 oz. cream cheese, softened (used neufchatel cheese)
1 Tbsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt
cheese (optional)
bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional)

Add potatoes, onion, garlic, seasoning and chicken stock to slow cooker. Cook on high for 6 hours. Stir the softened cream cheese and allow to melt (approximately 30-60 minutes.) Stir every 10-15 minutes until soup is well blended. Garnish with cheese and bacon.

Freezing Directions:
Follow all directions above, including adding the cream cheese. Allow to cool, portion into freezer containers and freeze. To serve: Heat slowly on stove, slow cooker or microwave until heated through. 

Alternative Freezing Directions: (this is what we did)
Divide and place all ingredients except cream cheese (and cheese/bacon) into gallon size freezer bags, seal and freeze. To serve: Thaw. Place in slow cooker for 6 hours on high. Stir in cream cheese and allow to melt. Stir every 10-15 minutes until soup is well blended. 

Baked Ziti
(from sixsistersstuff.com)

1 lb dry ziti pasta (we used whole-wheat penne)
1 onion, chopped
1 lb. lean ground beef (season with pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and minced garlic)
2 (26 oz.) jars spaghetti sauce
8 slices provolone cheese
1 1/2 c. sour cream (we used reduced-fat)
6 oz. mozzarella cheese
2 Tbsp parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, cook until al dente, about 7-8 minutes; drain. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 8x8 inch pans with non-stick cooking spray. Layer as follows in each pan: 1/4 of pasta, 1/4 of ziti, 1/4 of sauce, 4 slices of provolone cheese, 1/2 of sour cream, 1/4 of pasta, 1/4 of mozzarella cheese and 1/4 of sauce mixture. Top with grated parmesan cheese and remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake covered for 30 minutes in preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted. We put both casseroles in aluminum pans for the freezer. Then to bake, thaw for 24 hours then bake as directed.

Italian Sausage and Peppers
(from bakedinthesouth.com)

1 lb Italian sausage links (we used italian turkey sausage)
1 large pepper, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cups diced tomatoes (we just used one can)
2 tsp. onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder

To make ahead:
Mix all ingredients in freezer bag and freeze.

To prepare:
When ready to cook, place all ingredients in crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours. Serve on warm hotdog buns.

Creamy Chicken Casserole
(from triedandtasty.com)

4 c. uncooked egg noodles
4 c. cubed cooked chicken
1 pkg (16 oz.) frozen peas and carrots
2 c. milk
2 cans (10 3/4 oz. each) condensed cream of celery soup, undiluted
2 cans (10 3/4 oz. each) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 c. chopped onion
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Drain noodles, add to chicken mixture. Transfer to two greased 8-inch square baking dishes (we used aluminum pans). Cover and freeze for up to 3 months.

To use frozen casserole: Thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 10-15 minutes longer until heated through. 

Chicken Pot Pie
(from my mom, Connie)

2 cups of cooked chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can mixed veggies (we used frozen)
1/4 c. butter, melted (used only 2 Tbsp)
2-3 Tbsp milk
2 refrigerated pie crusts

We doubled this recipe to make 2 pies.

Drape one pie crust on bottom of pie pan (We used aluminum pie pans). Lay chicken over pie crust. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix together cream of chicken soup, veggies, butter, and milk. Add this on top of chicken. Cover with remaining pie crust. Trim away edges. Freeze in pie pan covered with heavy duty aluminum foil. When ready to cook, thaw for 24 hours. Bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches
(from sixsistersstuff.com)

3 lb bottom round beef roast (ours were about 2.5 lbs)

2 (1 oz each) packages dry Italian salad dressing mix

1 cup water

1 (16 oz) jar pepperoncini peppers (can substitute milder, sweeter peppers if desired, which we did)

Mix together salad dressing mixes, water, and peppers in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. Add the roast and zip the bag closed.When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on HIGH for 7 hours or LOW for 10-12 hours.

Serve on your favorite kind of buns.

I will try better next time to take pictures of the actual meals. The only one I managed to take was us girls, our babies, and all the meals we prepared!