Farmer's Wife: 13 Healthy Freezer Meals*

I am not much of a food blogger, considering cooking isn't my strongest forte. However, when you marry a farmer you learn real quick that the fastest way to his heart is through his stomach. Over the years, I have managed to add quite a few edible recipes to my arsenal, and have learned to truly enjoy my time in the kitchen! We are all still healthy and happy, so my culinary skills, or lack there of, can't be all that bad! 

So recently I had been wanting to try out freezer meals and since I had so many requests from friends and family to share I thought it would be easier to blog them. The reason I decided to do freezer meals was because 1. our schedules are getting pretty hectic with munchkins softball, student council events, and 4H and now that I'm working Monday through Friday I wanted to make life a little easier on myself at the end of my work day. And 2. We are getting ready to head into planting season which means a lot of our free time will be spent in the fields, and I want to be able to help out when I can by bringing some dinners to the guys while they are working. That is if these trial meals all go as planned ;)

So after scouring Pinterest-for way too long according to my hub- I put together a list of meals I wanted to make: 

13 Healthy Freezer Meals : 

2 Crock-pot Chicken Terriyaki 

2 Crock-pot Chicken Salsa

2 Crock-pot Balsamic Beef 

2 Crock-pot Peppered Steak

2 Italian Sausage and Peppers

3 Veggie Lasagna Roll-ups 

After I picked what meals I was going to make I put together my grocery list (I wish I'd kept it, but here's what I have from memory) : 

What you'll need: 

MEAT: 

10-12 chicken breasts (depending on your family size) 

2 lbs beef for stew

2 lbs flank steak 

2 lbs italian sausage 

PRODUCE: 

3 red pepper

2 green pepper 

2 sweet onion

2 zucchini

2 squash

1 pkg white mushrooms

1 pkg shredded carrots

1 pkg baby carrots

1 head broccoli 

1 clove garlic 

1 bunch fresh parsley 

CANNED GOODS: 

1 can tomato paste

1 can italian style tomatoes

2 cans beef broth

1 can tomatoes w/ green chilies

1 can black beans (no sodium) 

1 can sweet corn (I of course only use the fam's sweet corn that we put up last year!) 

1 can diced tomatoes

1 jar salsa (I used homemade from my father in law) 

1 can pineapple chunks (or fresh, since they are in season)
DAIRY: 

15 oz ricotta (part skim)

1lb mozzarella cheese

grated parmesan
OTHER: 

lasagna noodles

Salt

Pepper

steak sauce

steak seasoning

italian dressing

balsamic vinaigrette (lite)

terriyaki sauce

Worcestershire

Total cost: $78.00 which breaks down to $6.00/meal. Can't beat that if you ask me! 

Here are a few tips before we get started: 

•First, I laid everything out on my breakfast bar (which thankfully opens to a huge table and is a perfect size to stand over for meal prep!)

•I labeled each bag with cooking time and side dish suggestions 

•I cooked the lasagna noodles and laid them flat to dry

•I washed and cut all the produce and set aside

•I removed all lids to cans

•For each recipe I mixed all the liquid ingredients into a spouted bowl 

•Lastly, I moved the trash can close to my work site to save me from running all around the kitchen

*All recipes are separated into 2 bags 

Now to assemble! I am not putting measurements or any of that. I eyed most of mine, and as much as I love you all, I don't feel like writing them all out. 

Also, the veggie lasagna roll-ups recipe is from Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman) so I'll add a link to that recipe! 

Okay here we go, time to get our hands, and kitchens dirty! 

Ingredients for Crock-pot Chicken Terriyaki

6-8 chicken breasts diced

Chopped broccoli 

Shredded carrots

Chopped mushrooms

Terriyaki sauce

soy sauce

Worcestershire sauce 

minced garlic 

To cook: Thaw, add pineapple, snap peas, cook on low for 8 hours. 

**[update: 4/21] I cook this meal in a wok on medium heat for 30 min stirring occasionally. So far this one is my favorite! 

Ingredients for Crock-Pot Salsa Chicken 

6-8 chicken breasts whole 

1/2 chopped onion

1 can black beans

1 can corn

1 can tomatoes w/ green chilies

1 jar salsa

taco seasoning of your choice (I make my own healthier version I found on Pinterest)

To cook: Thaw, cook on low 8 hours. Serve w/ mexican shredded cheese

Ingredients for Crock-pot Balsamic Beef

2 lbs beef for stew

1 onion cut 

chopped mushrooms

balsamic vinaigrette

minced garlic 

To cook: Thaw, add baby carrots, cook on low 8 hours. 

Ingredients for Crock-pot Peppered Steak: 

Cut flank stank in strips

1 chopped onion

1 red pepper sliced

1 green pepper sliced

1 can italian style tomatoes

1 cup beef broth

steak sauce

Worcestershire

steak seasoning

minced garlic

salt and pepper

*toss steak in flour before adding to bags. 

To cook: Cook on low 8 hours. 

Ingredients for Italian Sausage w/ peppers:

Italian sausage

1 red pepper sliced

1 green pepper slice

1 onion sliced

Italian dressing 

To cook: Cook on grill or in skillet. 

*I originally had this as a crock-pot meal but after trying it I think it would taste a lot better cooked a different way.  

Veggie Lasagna Roll-ups: 

Click Here 

Ok folks! Enjoy! So far my family, and I have been loving the extra time (and mula) these freezer meals have given us!