Now is a great time to stock up on fresh produce and whip out healthy and savoury freezer meals for winter!
August/ September bring out the hoarder in me. Fruit and veg are in season, so I go crazy-cooking-mode and stockpile my freezer with ready made meals in preparation for cold winter nights.
Well, Facebook sees me coming somehow and sends me ads for different programs that fit with my moods… in this case, I was fed an add from The Family Freezer that boasted 12 family-sized freezer meals made in 2 hours.
At the time, Kelly was offering a free class for making all of these pre-prepped meals using Costco ingredients – so that you don’t buy Costco quantities and have leftovers in your pantry. She also promised that you didn’t need to pre-cook anything – not even the meats – before bagging it all up in freezer bags. (as of 08/27/23 the program is still FREE!)
I couldn’t resist!
Family Freezer provides you with a complete grocery list for everything you need for all 12 meals:
Then they provide you with the step-by-step for the most efficient way to turn out a dozen meals in less than 2 hours.
I told you the course is free right? The video tutorial is free, the printable shopping list and recipes are free – and no, this isn’t a sponsored post – The Family Freezer has no idea who I am or that I’m writing this. This is just about sharing a good thing.
I picked up these ziplock bag stands from Amazon (affiliate link) and started pouring ingredients into each bag.
Oh – you should label the bags before filling them… it just makes life easier. Each bag contains enough ingredients to make dinner for a family of four. You’ll want to buy the XL freezer bags if you are trying this.
These crockpot meals aren’t bland; The Family Freezer provides you with lots of spices and flavours in each dish. Measure out and go down the line dropping teaspoonfuls into each bag.
Then divvy up your meat for each package and drop it in. No pre-cooking whatsoever!
I cook these family freezer meals in the crockpot, so those are the only instructions I wrote on the bags, but Kelly does give InstantPot timing for each recipe if you prefer to go that way.
Look at the layers of savoury yumminess!
This free tutorial and recipe book is for:
My grocery bill came to just over $220 CDN – meat included, but not the ziplock bags or bag stands – and with my youngest helping me, we whipped out a dozen freezer meals in less than 2 hours… INCLUDING CLEAN UP!!
We made 3 bags (12 portions) of turkey black bean chilli.
Three bags of red pepper chicken.
Another 12 portions of honey sesame chicken,
and three bags of garden vegetable soup.
Look at all of those fresh-picked ingredients!
Think of all the time I’ve saved in meal prep, and all of the healthy dinners that will smelling up my house while I’m at work!
I’m so excited!
I froze the bags flat on a cookie sheet for a few hours. Once each freezer meal was solidly frozen, I was able to stand the bags up on end so that the freezer looks a bit like a library of books; easy to see and choose, and not taking up a ton of space.
I actually started this family freezer meal project with more than just my family in mind. My brother and SIL just had a gorgeous baby boy the other week and I vividly remember the tiredness that comes with life with a newborn. I wanted to whip up easy meals for them so that it wasn’t a stressor each day as they learn the ropes of life with an infant.
I delivered one of each package of crockpot meals to them just after my nephew was born. With each bag able to serve a family of 4, it should be enough for 8 easy dinners for them.
Again, I have no affiliation with The Family Freezer or Kelly at all – and I’m not selling you anything that comes with a membership fee, or payment. This is just something I came across and decided to try, and am SO PLEASED with that I wanted to share. (Note: if you do like the program, there are paid options to continue with more recipes etc, but I’ve only done this free version)
I guesstimated the cost, per portion, to be around $4.80 CDN. That’s $19.16 to feed a family of four with a hearty, savoury and healthy meal.
Go try it!
Have a great one.