April Menu Plan & 7, 30 Minute Tasks for Filling the Freezer

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It’s April and time for another meal plan! Here’s another month’s worth of recipe ideas plus seven more 30-minute tasks for filling the freezer! I hope you are enjoying these posts. I know they are really helping me stay on track.

April Menu Plan & 7, 30 Minute Tasks for Filling the Freezer

Monthly Meal Plan & 7, 30 Minute Tasks for Filling the Freezer

Recap from March’s Plan:

I did really great with my meal plan early in the month of March. I added three gallon ziplock bags of spaghetti sauce to the freezer and a bunch of  ground beef stroganoff, too. I also froze breakfast scone mixes and kept fresh bread in the freezer most of the month as well. But later in the month, my menu plan sort of feel by the way side. The weather turned nicer and we were outside a lot. I helped my husband on the passive house some, and we traveled a bit too. So we ate up most of what I had in the freezer and I’ve only got one bag of spaghetti sauce left now. But honestly, that’s why I freezer cook! So we have something homemade to eat when the plan goes south!

Monthly Menu Ideas


Meatless Mondays

Taco Tuesdays

  • Tacos with all the fixins {extra meat for the freezer – this is my most favorite taco meat ever and I make a HUGE batch to freeze}
  • Beef Fajitas
  • Taco Soup – cook up extra beans for the freezer – these beans SAVE me on busy days. We eat them for lunch, in bean burritos etc.
  • Homemade Taco Pizza {plus extra pizza dough or maybe even whole pizzas for the freezer if I get crazy.} {made using taco meat from earlier in the month}

Wing It Wednesdays

Porker Thursday 😀

Slow Cooker Friday

 Beef  Saturday

  • Spinach Mozzarella Meatloaf {extra for the freezer}
  • Pot Roast in the Crock Pot {save the bones to turn into broth}
  • Meatballs! And make extra for the freezer.
  • Beef & Barley Soup using the broth from earlier in the month

From the Sea Sunday

Homemade Breakfast Ideas

 

Seven, 30-minute {or there about} tasks for filling the freezer

I’ve got lots of freezer tasks this month! You can pick and choose your favorite, or visit JanuaryFebruary or March meal plans to see what else you could do.

1. On the night you have Pot Roast, save the drippings and the bones and make a lovely bone broth out of it the next day by adding more water to your crockpot, onions, carrots, and celery, and cooking on low all day. Freeze in 2-cup portions.

2. On the night you have Taco Soup, cook up a big mess of beans to freeze and freeze the extras in 2-cup portions, if you’d like to have the equivalent of canned beans on hand. I freeze mine in larger portions because I always cook more than one can of beans at a time.

3. On the night you have tacos,  cook up a big batch of taco meat and freeze the extras!

4. On the night you eat Chicken Oreganto , go ahead and throw two complete meals together and freezer one. I would suggest holding the potatoes. After eating this meal numerous times, I think it’s better to add fresh potatoes the night you cook it.

5. Cook up a huge batch of waffles the day you eat them and freeze the extra. To eat, just pop them in the freezer and enjoy. I used to make a ton of waffles to freeze but have fallen out of the habit. My kids are begging for more!

6. My Spinach Mozzarella Meatloaf freezes very well. I quadruple the recipe and freeze the rest.

7. On the day you have meatballs, cook extra! I’ll probably quadruple the recipe and then freeze the rest.

8. BONUS – Also make up extra packets of muffin mixes. It really does cut out a lot of time when you only have to pull a packet out of the freezer instead of gathering all ingredients and measuring and mixing.  I plan to make up 4-5 extra Mix and Match Muffin packets as well.

And that’s it! One month of recipe ideas PLUS tasks to fill your freezer! Have you jumped on the freezer cooking bandwagon yet?? How’s it going for you? What would you like to see more of?

About Michelle Marine

Michelle Marine is the author of How to Raise Chickens for Meat, a long-time green-living enthusiast, and rural Iowa mom of four. She empowers families to grow and eat seasonal, local foods; to reduce their ecological footprint; and to come together through impactful travel.

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10 Comments

  1. What a delicious menu plan. I am so grateful to be in such great company, thank you for including my ham and split pea soup.

    1. Looks great! Can’t wait to try it. And I’ve had some dried peas in my pantry for too long. They need to be eaten. <3

  2. I love the way you organize your monthly menu…I especially love from the sea sunday…adorable! Looks like a tasty menu!