If you follow this blog regularly, you know I’m a pretty big fan of simple, easy recipes that taste great and don’t take a lot of time, effort, or expensive ingredients to throw together.  I’m also a huge fan of recipes that can be made and frozen ahead of time to save time on hectic weeknights.  Because let’s face it:  Life is busy and none of us need MORE things to do (or to feel guilty about.)

Over the past few months I’ve been working on developing some great go-to “cheater” recipes that I could use to create a comprehensive quick & easy freezer cooking meal plan.  My goal was to develop five foolproof recipes that I could then use to create ten freezer meals in one hour or less.  In order to make the cut, each of these recipes would have to meet ALL of the following criteria:

Deemed delicious by both my kids and husband
No pre-cooking required (aside from browning ground beef)
Freezer friendly
Easy to cook
Uses everyday, budget-friendly ingredients and pantry staples

Well friends, I am happy to tell you that all these months of trial and error have finally come together, and today I am sharing my very first LWSL Quick & Easy 10 Freezer Meals in an Hour plan!  In this one post you will find everything you need to prep ten awesome freezer meals in about an hour of hands-on time (not including grocery shopping.) Just think, in just one quick Saturday morning session you could have two weeks worth of absolutely delicious, family-friendly weeknight meals all ready to go! Sound good? Let’s do it! Before you begin, you will need to gather your tools & supplies and also make sure that you have all your groceries on hand. I find it is easiest to go grocery shopping the day before I do my cooking.  To save time unloading, only put away the items that need to be refrigerated.  Finally, make sure your kitchen counters are cleared of clutter and sanitized and empty your dishwasher and sink of any dishes.  If this is your first time doing any freezer cooking, be sure to check out this post for more tips on freezer cooking like a pro!)

Here are the five recipes we will be making:

Honey Lemon Garlic Chicken
Oh-So-Easy London Broil
Quick & Easy Taco Soup
Orange Glazed Pork Chops
Creamy Italian Chicken

 

Here are the supplies you will need:

10 gallon size zipper freezer bags
Avery 8163 shipping labels or permanent marker
large mixing bowl
cutting board
sharp knife
garlic press
can opener
dry measuring cups
liquid measuring cups
dry measuring spoons
liquid measuring spoons
12 inch frying pan
stand or hand mixer

 

Here are the ingredients you will need:

Produce
18 cloves garlic
2 lemons
Fresh parsley (optional)
1 large sweet onion
 
Pantry Staples
Honey
Olive oil
Soy sauce
Dried minced onion
Seasoned salt
Black pepper
Cayenne pepper
Red wine
Ketchup
Worcestershire sauce
Dried thyme
Brown Sugar
 
Canned/Dry Goods
Dijon mustard
1 8oz jar orange marmalade
1 15oz. can pinto beans
1 15oz can black beans
1 15oz can kidney beans
2 15oz cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 8oz can tomato sauce
2 packets taco seasoning
1 16oz bottle Italian salad dressing
1 package Italian salad dressing mix
2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup
 
Dairy
Sour cream (optional)
2-8oz packages cream cheese
Shredded parmesan cheese (optional)
 
Meat
8 pork chops (approximately 6-8 ounces each)
7-8 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
2 pounds London Broil beef
1 pound ground beef
 
Frozen
1 16oz bag frozen corn

 

PRINT

Be sure to print the following pages before getting started:

Printable labels (designed to work with Avery 8163 shipping labels)
Printable Shopping List and  Printable Prep & Prepare Instructions (all one document)

Be sure to also print the following recipes:

Honey Lemon Garlic Chicken
Oh-So-Easy London Broil
Quick & Easy Taco Soup
Orange Glazed Pork Chops
Creamy Italian Chicken


PREP

Set out cream cheese to soften
Prep your bags—either print labels using these ready-made printable labels or use a permanent marker to label each bag with the name of the recipe, date prepared, and cooking instructions.  DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!  While you might think that you’ll remember what is in every bag, I promise you will forget!
Brown ground beef and set aside
Drain & rinse kidney, pinto, and black beans; set aside.
Chop onion and set aside
Peel garlic and set aside, (or mince if not using garlic press, then set aside.)
Prep chicken if necessary

 

PREPARE

Prep Quick & Easy Taco Soup using instructions found here.  (Use only 1 cup or about half of the already chopped onion.) Divide mixture into 2 freezer bags, press out excess air, and seal well.  Place bags in refrigerator.
Prep Oh-So-Easy London Broil using instructions found here. (Use remaining chopped onion.)  Place meat into 2 freezer bags and cover with marinade, then press out excess air and seal well.  Place bags in refrigerator.
Prep Orange Glazed Pork Chops using instructions found here. Place meat into 2 freezer bags and cover with marinade, then press out excess air and seal well.  Place bags in refrigerator.
Prep Honey Lemon Garlic Chicken using instructions found here. Place chicken into 2 freezer bags and cover with marinade, then press out excess air and seal well.  Place bags in refrigerator.
Prep Creamy Italian Chicken using instructions found here.  Place chicken into 2 freezer bags and cover with cream cheese mixture, then press out excess air and seal well.  Place bags in refrigerator.
Once all prep is complete, place all bags in freezer until needed.  After you’ve made your meal plan for the coming week, consider setting an alert on your phone to remind you to take your bag out to thaw the day before you plan to make it!

 

 And that’s it!   Pretty darn easy right?  Ten delicious freezer meals in about an hour–does it get any better than that?

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Have you ever tried freezer cooking?  What are your family’s favorite freezer friendly recipes?

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