For all the recipes below they all start with the base of carrots, celery, potatoes and onion. We chop all of these up and divvy them up into freezer bags. For every bag we chop finely (except for stews chop chunky) and add roughly:
· 4 carrots
· 6 celery stalks
· 2 ½ - 3 potatoes
· 1 small onion
We go to Costco and grab the big bag of carrots, onions, potatoes and 2 bags of celery. This costs roughly $30 for a tonne of food and makes 6 big freezer meals.
Now with all these ingredients you can make such a variety of things, so we are constantly switching it up and we never get sick of these meals.
Meal #1 Mexican Tortellini Soup
· 1 premade freezer bag
· 1 can corn
· 1 can diced tomatoes
· 6-7 cups of soup broth (I use no salt added chicken or vegetable)
· 3 tbsp tomato paste
· 1 tsp oregano, thyme, paprika, pepper
· 1 bay leaf
· ½ packet (or to taste) low sodium taco seasoning
· ½ package of Costco’s tortellini pasta
· Optional- top with Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle if you’re feeling extra spicy
Directions:
· Thaw freezer bag on the counter overnight
· Add all ingredients to a crockpot (minus the tortellini)
· Cook on low for 8 hours
· In the last 30 minutes add the tortellini and cook until desired tenderness
Viola, that’s it! This meal is delicious and so easy to make. Would easily serve 8 people. This lasts the two of us for 2 nights of supper as well as our lunch the next day and costs roughly $10-$12 to make the entire thing.
Vegetable Barely Soup
· 1 premade freezer bag
· 1 can cut green beans
· 1 can diced tomatoes
· 8 cups vegetable broth
· ¾ cup pearl barely
· 2 bay leaves
· 1.5-2 tsp of each spice -oregano, thyme, paprika
· 3 tbsp tomato paste
· 2 tbsp cornstarch
Directions:
Add all ingredients (minus the cornstarch) to a crockpot and set on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
In the last hour mix cornstarch with 1 cup of the broth and return to crockpot.
Add S&P to taste
Beef Stew
Now for this one I make sure we make a few freezer bags with the veggies cut in larger chunks and mark them “Stew”.
· 1 premade freezer bag
· 1 lb of beef cut into 1 inch chunks ( Costco da bomb)
· 3 cups beef broth
· 3 tbsp tomato paste
· 2 bay leaves
· 1.5-2 tsp each of paprika, thyme, rosemary
· Salt & Pepper to taste
· 1 cup Peas
· ¼ cup flour
Directions:
Add all ingredients into crockpot (minus peas and flour) set on low for 8 hours. In the last 30 minutes add peas (I use frozen) and flour to thicken.
Boom! Three easy and quick meals for a busy week.
Like most people we are busy with all of life’s ups, downs and daily hustles so we like to have a bunch of freezer meals on hand for the days we don’t have time to cook and don’t want to waste money on takeout. Disclaimer: I love to eat out and the initial meal prep push was encouraged by my hubby who is always the voice of reason and now I love it! The recipes above has saved us so much time and money. Bon Appetit!