It’s March! It’s March! That means spring is coming. Here’s another month’s worth of menu planning, 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.
Monthly Meal Plan & 7, 30 Minute Tasks for the Freezer
Recap from February’s Plan:
While I’ve always tried to cook some meals in huge batches to end up with extra for the freezer, planning my menu in this manner is relatively new for me. I explained the hows and whys in January’s Meal Plan if you need a recap. February’s plan worked pretty well for me. However, I did not end up with eggrolls for the freezer, nor did I make a double batch of the Spinach Enchiladas {though I did make them and I thought they were very good – the rest of the family wasn’t convinced!}. I did end up frozen, pre-cooked bacon, bacon wrapped egg muffins, more cooked beans, chili, beef barley soup, and a couple extra meals of Parmesan Garlic Chicken in my freezer!! This month, I am changing my Friday category to be crockpot meals instead of pizza as Fridays are pretty crazy days for me and the homemade pizza just isn’t happening on that day. I’m also changing out one other day that wasn’t working so well, either – Souper Saturday. While I knew my family wasn’t huge on soup, I had hoped to convert them. Didn’t happen, so we’ll try something else this month.
Monthly Menu Ideas
Meatless Mondays
- Bean & Rice Burritos {made with beans from the freezer}
- Broccoli, Cheese, and Potato frittata
- Deep Dish Stuffed Veggie Pizza
- Slow Cooker Veggie Lasagna
Taco Tuesdays
- Taco Soup {cook extra beans for the freezer}
- Crunchwrap Supreme Tacos – these look fun! {extra taco meat for the freezer}
- One Pot Cheesy Chicken Taco Rice
- Pork Carnitas
Wing It Wednesdays
- Chicken Oreganto {extra for the freezer}
- The End of Chicken Parmesan as You Know It.
- Spicy Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas {extra for the freezer}
- Lemon Chicken Piccata
Porker Thursday 😀
- Easy Ham in the Crockpot {shred up leftover ham for the freezer and save the ham bone too!}
- Stuffed Shells with Ricotta & Sausage {extra for the freezer}
- One Skillet Smoked Kielbasa with Green Beans & Potatoes
- Homemade Eggrolls {extra for the Freezer – never got to this last month}
Slow Cooker Friday
- Balsamic Glazed Pot Roast
- Scalloped Potatoes & Bacon for Slow Cookers
- Ham & Bean Soup {made with a ham bone – so don’t throw it out!}
- Slow Cooker Chicken Fajita Soup
Ground Beef Saturday
- Spinach Mozzarella Meatloaf {quadruple for freezer}
- Ground Beef Stroganoff {double recipe for the freezer}
- Traditional Spaghetti with homemade sauce {recipe quadrupled for the freezer}
- Unstuffed Green Peppers {freezer friendly – I may make extra of this, too. We’ll see…}
From the Sea Sunday
- Cheesy Salmon Pasta with Spinach & Mushrooms
- Breaded Tilapia Parmesan
- Herbed Mediterranean Shrimp Pasta
- Easy Salmon burgers made with wild caught, Alaskan salmon {recipe coming soon}
Homemade Breakfast Ideas
- German Pancakes
- Yogurt and granola
- Smoothies & toast
- Bacon Wrapped Egg, Spinach & Cheese Muffins – {bake extra for the freezer}
- Mix and Match Muffins {extra packets for the freezer}
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 January or February meal plans to see what else you could do.
1. Cook a whole ham in your crock pot. Eat some for dinner, shred the rest and save in 2 cup portions. Also, freeze {or save for the next night} the ham-bone and juice as well. I usually skim off the fat and save for a delicious, bubbly crock pot full of ham and bean soup.
2. On the night you have tacos, either cook up a big batch of taco meat to save, or cook up a big mess of beans to freeze, or BOTH! Again, freeze the meat and/or beans in meal sized portions.
3. 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.
4. The day you make the Spicy Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas, go ahead and cook up extra chicken to shred. I either buy organic chicken from a local farmer or from Costco and then slow cook until it falls apart. Freeze the leftovers in 2 cup sized portions.
5 & 6. Choose two of the ground beef meals from the Saturday list and made huge batches to freeze. I like have ground beef based meals in my freezer as I find they are really easy to make and freeze. It’s work for me to add other meals sometimes, which is why I am also focusing on chicken and pork in this meal plan.
7. Bacon Wrapped Egg, Spinach & Cheese Muffins – this is a new recipe for me and one that I promise you freezes very well. Since we don’t do cereal, I can’t tell you how nice it is to have breakfast items that are quick to prepare as well as nutritious. Make up a double batch of these and freeze them! You will be glad you did.
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?
Linking up: MPM; Mostly Homemade Mondays;
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